John Brady ⋅ Sterling, VA Raytheon ⋅ 25 years experience

Karlton,

Many of the Defense Corporations that support DoD programs have well defined and well established Intern programs. I've had tremendous success on my programs with using College students as Interns. These corporation have ample opportunities in various fields to include PM, Finance, Contracts, Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, etc...and many look to hire interns/college students full-time once the individuals are ready for a transition. Recommend you reach out to prospective companies to learn about their intern program/job opportunities. Most companies start the intern matching to requirements process in early spring (Marc-April).

VR John

Tim Feemster ⋅ Dallas, TX Foremost Quality Logistics ⋅ 40 years experience

One "hidden gem" venue to connect with in any community is the economic development agency in your area. Here is the link to the one at Minot Area Development:
http://www.minotusa.com/about/BoardofDirectors_Staff/
Stephanie Hoffart is the President/CEO at of that team and she is also on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniehoffart/
They also have a representative of the AF Base on their board- Pat Travnieck, retired. They might already have a liaison with the base in place. Call Stephanie's office and ask. Then either network in yourself or through the existing base link to proceed with your search.

I agree that you will need to refine your finance definition to zero in on the specific field you are seeking prior to any more search effort and then focus on that segment going forward. Good luck.

Jai Chotalia ⋅ Hermosa Beach, CA Visa, Toyota/Lexus, & Disney ⋅ 12 years experience

Hi Karlton, there are many ways to achieve what you desire and a few that Yasmina has suggested.

First introspect and see what you really want to do in the finance sector, since most people will be willing to help but they'll ask you what you want to, so be specific. Think about your interests. Finance is vast: from banking to mortgage lending, investments to FP&A. Next, colleges near you will have these career fairs that you can attend and explore - attend and ask a lot of questions. And lastly network, have people you know introduce you to people you'd like to speak with, this soft introduction will ensure you get a conversation via LinkedIn.

Good luck my friend, thank you for your service!
Jai

ACP AdvisorNet Staff ⋅ New York, NY ⋅ 10 years experience

Thank you so much for your service and for your question, Karlton! I would suggest networking as a first step. You can start doing that here, if you’d like! Simply go on our community tab and look for advisors in your area within the financial field. If time permits, you can also apply for our mentoring program, here’s the application: https://www.acp-usa.org/mentoring-program/veteran-application.

As an additional step, Try reaching out to people on LinkedIn from your own network. You can then reach out to others from professional interest groups and from companies that you’re interested in. Ask them for an informational phone call, or perhaps meet up for coffee. Although this doesn’t always result in a new internship, you’d be surprised at how much you can learn from connecting with others. I find that this article from Muse can be very helpful: https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-rules-for-asking-your-linkedin-connections-for-help

If you still have questions on how to best approach this situation, please feel free to reach out to us. Our number is 212-752-0700.

Best,

Yasmina