Susan Federico ⋅ Cranston, RI Citizens Financial ⋅ 20 years experience

Greetings and Thank you for your service! May I suggest looking into an online, in person or a summit offered by Human Capital Institute (HCI) found at: http://www.hci.org and Society for Resource Management (SHRM) at: https://shrm.org/
Very good organizations and well respected in the HR industry. Hope you find this helpful.

Erik Schlacter ⋅ New York, NY American Corporate Partners (ACP) ⋅ 1 years experience

Good Morning Mr. Johansen,

Thank you for your service and thank you for posting this question! I would recommend taking a look at ACP AdvisorNet's Community feature to find potential contacts. The Community page is searchable by career field and location meaning that if you come across any companies or individuals with HR related fields, you can reach out to employees and try to establish contacts. Hope this helps and feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
Erik - ACP Staff

Tim Hansen ⋅ Martinez, CA SMI Recruiting & Second Act Career Coaching ⋅ 18 years experience

Hi Joseph,

I'm a Navy Vet myself, Virgnia Beach, Asia, Middle East etc, and have successfully managed three major career transitions in my life since I left the service.

For the past 10+yrs I've run a Technology Recruiting practice and in addition for the past 4yrs have also provided Career Coaching services for people in the second half of their work lives and would be happy to discuss how you can "repackage" your existing experience into a new career. Feel free give me a call & setup a time to discuss. Tim Hansen, 510-508-0896 San Francisco CA

Judy Braun ⋅ Vernon Hills, IL Braun Leadership Consulting ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi Joe,
What specifically do you want to do in Human Resources? Many large companies have both specialists, who focus on Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, etc. and generalists, who act as Business Partners to the line business and oftentimes deal with day-to-day employee relations issues. I would encourage you to get clarity on the kind of HR work you want to do. Then get involved in your local SHRM chapter, build your network with other HR professionals. I've worked in HR for 28 years. If I can be of help to you, let me know. Thank you for your service and best wishes. Judy Braun

Jared Ruger ⋅ Denver, CO Ball Aerospace ⋅ 8 years experience

Joseph, As an HR professional who just transitioned from the Army to the corporate world, a HR certification; either the HRCI or SHRM certifications will make a huge difference. Also, network, reach out to Defense industry organizations, Raytheon, Ball, General Dynamics etc, as those will be good foots in the door. You have the leadership, process expertise, build your corporate expertise. Highlight any and all investigation related work you did as well; 15-6's, as these are a huge portion of the corporate HR field.

FRANCIS TEPEDINO, ESQ. ⋅ San Diego, CA THE CONDOR GROUP ⋅ 30 years experience

My experience, for what it is worth: In my estimation, far too many HR folks have memorized the "rules", know what "forms" to use, but lack sense of appropriate application and potential ramifications of "actions vs non-actions".

My two cents: If you have the inclination, time, drive: get yourself a Law Degree then go into HR. You will then be the "expert" in the field, the "elephant in the room": and be ready for for prompt senior and executive management opportunities.
Good luck. Let me know if I can help.

Louis Schwarz ⋅ Somerville, NJ AIG ⋅ 43 years experience

Hi Joseph, thanks for your service.
Based on my experience, the HR function can be outsourced to an HR consulting firm. This gives companies a lot of flexibility in their HR staffing and keeps the HR staff current on all issues. A lot of the functions HR departments use to do are outsourced. Look into HR consulting firms, because they will be the future for HR professionals. Companies change shape quickly and merge and expand rapidly and their HR needs vary quickly. That is why outsourcing is so attractive today. With communications today, you can support many companies, regardless of location, as a consultant.
Good luck..

martin kelly ⋅ Wilmington, DE ISM Insurance, Inc. ⋅ 30 years experience

Joseph, hi!

And thanks for your service!!!

Great advise so far!

So, I do risk management for schools, and want to suggest a different angle to help perhaps differentiate yourself.

Schools (businesses) get into trouble far too often in the area of Employment Practices. The "door" through which most claims are brought is that of Discrimination. Failure to hire, wrongful termination, failure to supervise, lack of appropriate training (sex mol/harassment), etc.

Also, the areas of lack of consistent reviews, not being consistent in how you treat one employee from the other (similarly situated), and lack of corrective action and termination protocols all present risk.

So in addition to al the offer good stuff you can tell them about your experience, think about telling your prospective employer how you'll go about reducing their risk of exposure and possible law suit!?

I'm sure some SHRM folks can weigh in on this advise.

Best of luck,
Martin

Mary Gonda ⋅ Falls Church, VA Deloitte ⋅ 22 years experience

Thank you for your service. Become a member of SHRM if you have not already done so. Become a member of a local SHRM chapter and attend some local chapter meetings to network in addition to taking some courses and workings towards a Professional in Human Resources Certification. Networking is a good way to learn about opportunities. Find an organization to volunteer your HR expertise, this would be some good additional, recent experience that you can add to your resume. Many times, local city and counter governments have HR opportunities.

James Spencer ⋅ Dowell, IL Spencer and Partners LLC ⋅ 23 years experience

Do you know what is currently required of HR people in civilian job market? Can you convince a potential employer you have those skills? Those are the two basic questions you need to be able to answer with a yes. The people advising you to explore the SHRM website could not give better advice. The SHRM people are always current with the requirements of HR personnel on a general basis or the specific requirements of one industry. Find out what you know that is a match with what industry wants and then prepare yourself to show an interviewer you have those skills. You might want to consider CPC (Certificated Personnel Consultant) credentials. It would go a long way toward showing you are a HR expert. Good Luck

Jim Jones ⋅ Getzville, NY Fidelis Care ⋅ 35 years experience

Good Morning, thank you for your service. In addition to enhancing your LinkedIn profile, ACP community and SHRM contacts, now is the time to narrow your search by location and businesses or industries where you have an interest. Then reach out to contacts and conduct information interviews to get answers to some of your career questions and also put a face (yours) to the qualifications that you bring to the table.

Joseph Johansen ⋅ Virginia Beach, VA U.S. Navy, Lieutenant Commander ⋅ 26 years served

Thanks so much, Erik. I've been building my LinkedIn contacts, and ACP AdvisorNet's Community sounds like another great way to build my network.

Joseph Johansen ⋅ Virginia Beach, VA U.S. Navy, Lieutenant Commander ⋅ 26 years served

Many thanks, Susan. I'm looking into those two sites right now.