This episode is a break from my normal format - rather than interview a veteran about their civilian career, I interview TWO veterans about their advice based on their work in helping other veterans. This episode is FULL of helpful hints, resources, and recommendations that would benefit any veteran.
In this interview I meet with Johannes Schonberg and Maggi Melina. Johannes enlisted in the navy as a Nuclear Machinist Mate, before attending the Naval Academy with a degree in English. He served as a Surface Warfare Officer in San Diego for five years before transitioning to civilian life. He has done work in Politics and as a consultant, helping companies like T-Mobile and Facebook hire veterans. Maggi Air Force ground radar systems journeyman, deploying to Kuwait. After her transition, she completed her bachelors degree, went to law school, and worked as a lawyer for seven years. After practicing law, she worked in politics, as an electrician, and then as a founder of a startup.
In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:
- Practical tips and tools to use as a veteran to help in your networking
- Coding academies and other efficient resources to help educate you for a specific job
- What companies like Facebook and T-Mobile look for in veterans
- And much, much more...
- Listen to it on iTunes.
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Operation Code- mentor people to learn new tech skill set
- LinkedIn Premium Account
- Education sources to consider: EdX, Coursera (Promotion for Veterans), Salesforce for Veterans (VetForce), udemy, Khan Academy, Udacity, Continuing education at community college
- Events to consider - Startup Weekend; Seattle Tech list serv, MeetUp.com, Lean Startup, Veterans on Wall Street, Military Conferences, Academy Conferences
- Code Schools to consider: Code Fellows, Operation Code (list of code schools that take the GI Bill)
- Glass Door - there's a lot of salary info here. I recommend you use them to see the earning potential of graduates from a program; before you invest money in an education, know the concrete numbers you can expect to make on the other side
- American Corporate Partners - connects military personnel with a senior level civilian to be your mentor
- Deliotte Core Leadership Program - helps veterans build an elevator pitch and build their personal brand
- Vet Tech Trek - go from tech companies around SF and NY and finance
- The Commit Foundation - creates tailored transition solutions for top Veteran talent and are reaching Veterans across the nation through our small touch, high impact workshops and 1-on-1 transition assistance programs.
- Upwork - freelance site; could use to build skills
- Top skills for 2015 - what skills are most valuable that year
- To consider while on Active Duty - The Defense Innovation Initiative; the Navy Innovation Advisory; Hacking for Defense (H4D), Defense Entrepreneurs Forum,
- http://seattletechstartups.com/
- To Contact Maggi - OperationCode.Org's Slack Channel (Direct Message @Maggi)
- Johannes' work at Bunker Labs - free resource, overview of what entrepreneurship looks like
- Afina project, defense entrepreneurship forum
Show Notes
- 1:30 Intro and background info Johannes and Maggi
- 7:12 What people on active duty may not understand about civilian life.
- 12:30 What is “networking” and advice for veterans about how to get started
- 17:10 Education - taking a proactive and efficient approach to education, and specific resources to consider
- 21:00 How a veteran might approach “networking” in a way that is more authentic and natural to them
- 23:26 A few other resources to consider for education
- 25:20 Common mistakes that veterans make in their transition to civilian life
- 29:50 An overview of Code Schools and Coding Academies
- 34:58 What veterans should know about applying to companies like Facebook and T-Mobile
- 43:40 Other advice and words of wisdom for veterans