Natasha Standard ⋅ Atlanta, GA U.S. Army, Major ⋅ 20 years served

Thank you, Andrew. Three jobs away from your dream job, huh. I understand. I am definitely willing to pursue and accept a starter level position. I just can't figure out what the entry point is, I found two positions, 1. logistics assistant to VP of Supply Chain and Logistics, 2. Customs and Logistics coordinator. I really want to began anywhere, but which position, in your professional opinion would be best.

Michael Gallagher ⋅ Crozet, VA General Electric ⋅ 25 years experience

Natasha, Thanks again for your service! Have you considered targeting the large 3PLs? As Andrew notes below they are growing. It might be a good entry point to get civilian sector supply chain experience and a great way to start building a network. You would also get exposure to varied industries.

Best of luck!

Po Wong ⋅ Orlando, FL Johnson & Johnson (retired) ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Natasha,
Thanks for your service!
Just sent you a list of Supply Chain jobs through private message. J&J is hiring multiple SC,IT, Finance positions in Tampa and Globally in the coming months. (Check my previous ACP posting) Check out the J&J Job site which updates daily and contact me if there are questions.
Po

Glenn Laniewski ⋅ Chesterfield, MO Community Living, Inc. ⋅ 2 years experience

Natasha, thank you for your service. In regards to your question on whether you should start with Fedex and then leverage that experience to get into Target. On Linked In, I did a simple search "logistics target fedex". I came up with a long list of folks who are currently working at Target in logistics after working previously at Fedex. So it appears to be a viable path. You can try similar searches for other retailers to obtain a rough gauge of whether UPS experience is more viable than Fedex or vice versa. Lastly, try a Linked In Search for "logistics target army": it should give you a rough gauge of the number of job hops it took other veterans with similar experience.

Glenn

Mark Hannah ⋅ Incline Village, NV Hannah Business Intelligence Solutions, Inc. ⋅ 22 years experience

I would go to Indeed.com and search "business analyst supply chain or sr supply chain analyst" I've noticed Macy's in San Francisco, Amazon throughout, and other companies in Oakland looking for supply chain folks. Also Los Angeles and San Diego have a good number of jobs. Again I use Indeed.com and don't put a state, leave the location blank, then drill down the filters to narrow the search scope, you'll instantly notice where the supply chain jobs group. Cheers, Mark

JAY JACKSON ⋅ East Brunswick, NJ U.S. Army Reserve, Colonel ⋅ 30 years served

Check out Best Buy logistics. They are VET friendly company as well.
I'm a Col who joined them 9 months ago.Good luck

Kristin Garcia ⋅ Norman, OK The University of Oklahoma, Tom Love Innovation Hub ⋅ 15 years experience

Natasha, The first advice I would give is that you don't have to jump into your lifelong job right out of the Army; so any experience would be helpful. If you'd like some help in translating your Logistics jobs I can help and you can also check out our translator for the Army Combat Arms at guide-on.com. Even if your AOC was different, try the other AOC's to see the position translations. Secondly, apply to all the jobs with a translated resume showing you have the experience, you just lack the retail element. Finally, see if you can find a mentor at one of those companies to get their opinion and learn from them. I'm happy to help in anyway, just shot me an email. Good luck!

Andrew Woodland ⋅ Orlando, FL Ultra Electronics Sonar Systems ⋅ 16 years experience

Hi Natasha

Happy to support you. Are you able to send me the job descriptions plus your comments on each job. What matches you skill set, what concerns you etc

send to my email: andyw@woodlandassist.com

Andrew Woodland ⋅ Orlando, FL Ultra Electronics Sonar Systems ⋅ 16 years experience

In the UK we have the Royal Logistic Corp as part of the British Army which will be similar to the US Army Logistics. You should get lots of good advice on this website and I’ll start with a few comments:
• I always tell the veterans looking for a job that they are 3 jobs away from their perfect job. It is very hard, almost impossible to land the job you want with the status and responsibility you will be looking for.
• If you go in at a slightly lower level you will be able to learn so much more, see the weaknesses and start to provide suggestions as to how the processes could be improved.
• This will either lead to recognition and promotion or you will decide to move on as there is little prospect within that company.
• You will learn so much in a short space of time and you will know when is a good time to move on and develop your career further
• You may need to do some financial planning if you are going in at a lower level – make sure you budget for the salary they are offering
• The prospects in the logistics world is fantastic – some facts for you
o The logistics, transportation, warehousing and packaging sector, which currently employs over 16.74 million employees, is expected to employ more than 28.4 million employees by 2022
o "With more organised approach towards transport and logistics activities due to emergence of global third-party logistics players, the demand for trained employees with specific skill sets is expected to further increase,"
o This is a fact - outsourced logistics activity is currently growing at 52 per cent
I am happy to provide any support you need, and as I said at the start you will have a lot of good advice on this website.
Good Luck
Thank you for your service