William Orr ⋅ Greenwood, IN Edward Jones Investments ⋅ 4 years experience

Ryan,

Your background indicates that you have a Criminal Justice and Public Admin education with some sales (Canvassing?) experience. What profile tool are you using that leads you into each of the sectors you mention?

I would echo the same as Drew...get a mentor. I thought I was going to be a shoe-in for Project Management roles because all the profiles I completed said that would be a good fit. As I discovered, PM was extremely dissatisfying to me once I found a mentor to show me what it was all about. Let me ask you a very important question:

If you woke up tomorrow and were out of the Navy--and money was not an issue--what would your ideal day look like? What would you be doing with your time if you could choose anything?

Think on this for the long weekend and let us know what you come up with.

Regards,

Will

Drew Schildwächter ⋅ Wilmington, NC Salesforce ⋅ 8 years experience

Ryan: I think you'd be best served by applying here to be assigned a mentor from a company like Deloitte, among other things you are already doing. Consulting is kind of a broad aegis under which there are many types and roles. It might help to have a dedicated mentor with whom you could explore and see if some of those do indeed match with your interests and experiences.

Best,
Drew

Hunter Jones ⋅ Berwyn, PA U.S. Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel ⋅ 20 years served

Ryan,

Thank you for your service brother. A lot of good advice here in response to your question, so take heed and move out on all of it. Like the others, I cannot overstate the emphasis on networking. Bottom-line, networking is what gets you hired, not applying blindly on job sites, etc. I networked into my current job with Booz Allen that way...had three people advocating for me on the inside to get me on board after I retired from the Air Force. I am doing the same now as I am exploring other career opportunities myself to physically get me to the Philadelphia area as my wife just took a promotion with her federal agency up there. All my time is spent on networking, so leverage this forum and Linked In (amongst others) to find veterans in your target companies and seek their assistance and support. You will find most vets will help you...it is all about vets helping vets.

Hopefully, you find this information useful....God Speed!!

Gloria Sinclair Miller ⋅ Glen Mills, PA AstraZeneca ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Ryan,
Let's connect via Linkedin. I can help you get connected to Booz Allen, Northrup Grumman and Lockheed to recruiters as well as their military/veterans affinity group. Are you looking to stay in San Diego or open to relocation to the east coast? There are also some smaller similar companies to consider if you are open to moving.

Bob Maher ⋅ Dallas, TX MAHER Associates ⋅ 35 years experience

APPLYING for a specific job forces the employer to judge you YES-NO-MAYBE, before they have a chance to know you...

SOLUTION: Network your way to an opportunity... create visibility for your candidacy... get them to request your resume. A requested resume is actually read more often.

Barron Evans ⋅ Ann Arbor, MI Customer Experience Change Management ⋅ 30 years experience

Ryan...

Foremost, thank you for your service ... and I concur with William and Drew's counsel. Safe to assume you're willing to participate in local business networking events, i.e., these:

Tue, Sep 27 / Network After Work at LOUNGEsix 616 J St.
Thu, Oct 27 / Network After Work at Porto Vista Hotel 1835 Columbia St.

In addition to Network After Work, these 6 San Diego professional organizations:
1) 6 Degrees
2) SCORE San Diego
3) San Diego Young Entrepreneur Network
4) LeTip of Greater San Diego (unique: they have spots for one person for each profession)
5) Mission Bay Networking Group
6) San Diego Pros

Finally, in context of networking, I would incorporate William's observations and make sure you have a well thought-out 'story' of what you're seeking. Regardless of what you have as a background/skillset, I'd suggest you pivot the story in networking situations to 'how you can help a client or company.' What that means is being clear on how you think (either) program management, training development, or intelligence analysis benefit an organization. Ultimately, the proof of value is simple: does what you do create greater 1) efficiency, 2) effectiveness, or 3) mitigate loss.

Best wishes for success!

Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville, MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

Mr. Hearn,
Please request connection with me on LinkedIn, I think I found you, but do not want to go through the wrong Ray Hearn's profile. I will gladly look at your profile and provide advice. Social media is a great way to network, but depending upon where you live, this can be be done locally via professional associations, information interviewing (live or phone). Again, reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn, Jerry Welsh, Master Trainer should find me. P.S. I provide all feedback at no charge, any where along the line-thanks for your service.