Judy Tomlinson ⋅ Dallas , TX Energy Future Holdings ⋅ 25 years experience

Have you signed up for the ACP mentoring program? They match Vets with business professionals and do a great job of linking up people with the same interests. I am sure they could find you a mentor that could help you.

Craig Brown ⋅ Aurora , CO U.S. Air Force, Senior Master Sergeant ⋅ 25 years served

All,

I appreciate the feedback and advice. I will looking into each option.

Thank you.

Joe Paschall ⋅ Madison , AL nLogic, LLC ⋅ 26 years experience

Another aspect to consider is that "Operations Management" is not really a career field in itself. The career field would be the qualifier- "Supply Operations Management", "Maintenance Operations Management" or "Retail Operations Management". You need to first determine what field you are best suited for based on your military experience. In industry, one would not just be an "Operations Manager" and move from Amazon.com job to a Boeing Airframes job. Each of these Ops Mgrs is first and foremost technically qualified with relevant experience in their field that enables them to manage the operations of that field.

Colleen Deere ⋅ New York , NY American Corporate Partners (ACP) ⋅ 15 years experience

Hi Craig,

Thank you for your service. I'd recommend that you apply to ACP's personalized, one-on-one mentoring program. ACP's staff can likely pair you with a mentor in operations management.

Please visit www.acp-usa.org to complete a Protege application. After you apply, an ACP staff member will reach out to schedule a phone call with you in order to learn more about your career goals.

Best,
Colleen Deere
ACP Staff

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco , CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Craig,
Thanks for your service. Here are some quick suggestions. I appreciate any feedback and other suggestions. (I'm always trying to learn, and trying to make parts of the mentoring process more process-oriented, systematic, and results-oriented to be complemented by customized mentoring and advice.)

* If you think it is worthwhile, take some time and perform self and career-assessment? What do you really want to do during your next career?

There are a lot of great suggestions and resources here. Let us know what is the most useful to you:
https://acp-advisornet.org/questions/topic/self-assessment

* Research and review job listings in which you might be interested. Which qualifications, education and certifications are mentioned as required or preferred? I like using indeed.com. See the links below.
http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22operations+management%22&l=
http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22operations+management%22+pmp&l=
http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=cpim+or+cscp+or+CFPIM&l=

* As you review job-listing, research the value of various certifications. From the little I know, it seems like the PMP certification is well-respected and in-demand across many industries. But there are also many other certifications.

http://www.apics.org/careers-education-professional-development/certification
http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Project-Management-Professional-PMP.aspx

* Review prior posts that mention the value of certifications, project-management, PMP, etc.
https://acp-advisornet.org/search?Search=certifications

Joe Paschall, Information Technology, 25 years experience, Advanced Systems Development (ASD) Inc. wrote:
"Industry Certifications make a huge difference in transition because they are anchors on your resume that immediately make your experience more relevant. Companies need highly-certified folks on the team in order to be competitive, so the more certs you can master the better. 5 years ago in my own transition I had assumed that an MBA would be all I would need, so I had gotten that a few years beforehand. I now hold 7 certs in addition to that MBA, and a few of those certs were the key factors that brought my resume to the forefront of more senior/experienced folks when I interviewed for my current position. Certification is the name of the game in many sectors so you can either learn to play the game or sit on the sidelines complaining about being left out.""

* Research the certifications you can earn via the VCTP program at Syracuse (see prior posts on this board). The next deadline for VCTP's guided program is Aug 26, 2013.
https://acp-advisornet.org/search?Search=VCTP

* Please keep us updated and report what works and what does not. Please participate and try to help fellow Veterans. Achieve great success and then hire a bunch of Veterans!

Ray Martinelli ⋅ Flanders , NJ U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 8 years served

Hello Craig,

I don't have any experience with the aerospace industry, but maybe there are options you have not explored or focused on.

The VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Education (VR&E) program is designed to help get Veterans back into the workforce in areas we can be productive and successful, but there are restrictions of course. Some highlights of the program are: if selected as a candidate and lets say you wanted to become a certified mechanic and were approved for that all of your training and certifications as well as tools could be provided. Other possibilities are returning to school for a certification or degree. Each candidate will be assigned a contact and your options will be tailored to your abilities and agreed goals.

If you have a service connected disability there are time limits to your eligibility so be sure to discuss that with your VSO or if in the VR&E program. I think that a Veteran with a service connected disability of 50% or higher time limit does not expire. Also there may be grants available if no disabilities at all.

To get started know that every U.S. State has their own Veteran Service Officers (VSO) within defined regions of the State. I suggest you look up your own (each State has their own Department of Military and Veteran Affairs) and contact them directly.

These VSO's are usually very helpful to navigate through the VA programs and options for Veterans. I can never say enough of mine in Northern NJ. They can assist with understanding disability ratings, filing requests for increased benefits if conditions worsen, and many others.

Usually another option is the State Unemployment Insurance Office. They usually have some good options that may help you decide what is & is not for you.

Make sure you know all of the options and programs you qualify for as a Veteran and have your regional VSO get to know you. You might be throwing away opportunities you never knew you had!

Best Regards,
Ray