Career Options for Military Veterans General Management/Operations & Business Opportunities

You may have been in tough environments out in the field or at sea and are now ready to work in a nice office, sit at a desk and “just make decisions.” Are there jobs out there like that?

Yes – we call that “management.”

On a serious note, there are a wide variety of opportunities that don't fit neatly into manufacturing, sales or engineering. These positions generally fall into one of the following categories within management/operations:

Leadership Development Programs
Some companies hire a large number of people to enter into very well defined “programs” where you rotate through a variety of functional areas (finance, operations, logistics, engineering, sales, etc.) and then ultimately assigned to a very specific function (store management, production management, etc.). While you will receive excellent training, exposure and compensation, if you are selected for one of these programs, you will be expected to be geographically flexible in accordance with the needs of the company - - sound familiar? Be careful about what other headhunters call “developmental positions” – some call all of their positions “developmental.” That's deceptive. Unless a program has the rotational nature outlined above, it's not a true developmental position.

Business Unit Manager
In these positions, you are often tasked with running a profit and loss center within a business. Your budgeting, purchasing, sales and management skills will all be tested (or developed) and your results are measured by the bottom line. Examples include retail management and branch management.

Team Leaders
These positions are similar to other leadership roles (such as production management), but often the people you manage are working in a field environment at customer sites, as opposed to a fixed site (like a manufacturing facility or warehouse). You might find these positions in telecommunication companies where you manage a team of repair technicians and installers or consumer product companies with delivery people and customer service reps.

“Individual Contributor” Positions
Other opportunities are available in general operations roles. In these positions, you would typically be in an individual contributor role as opposed to a leadership role. These positions often demand strong analytical and communication skills. While there can be as many different types of opportunities as there are companies and industries, a few of the more common ones include:

• Management Consultant – Analyze business opportunities and problems, advise executives on potential courses of action, and draft business recommendations. These positions require a high undergrad GPA and usually a graduate degree, excellent communication and presentation skills, and superior analytic ability. High travel and very high compensation are possible after several years.
• Buyer/Planner – Also known as “sourcing,” “purchasing,” or “supply chain management,” these positions are like sales roles, but instead of selling a product, your goal is to reduce expenses for your company. Negotiating, technical data management, and having interpersonal skills are critical here.
• Business Analyst – Track market trends and collect data to help managers make strategic decisions. These positions exist in a variety of companies, but are more commonly found in financial institutions and large multi-national corporations.
• Other staff positions – Occasionally, you may find a role in human resources, accounting, or some other corporate staff role. Not unlike the military, you usually find that you must first spend some time in a line position prior to moving into the corporate staff.

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Manufacturing

Manufacturing involves producing and distributing the goods we use. Many ex-military choose manufacturing as a career because it's similar to what they did in the service. In the military, you may have spent your time coordinating personnel and equipment to achieve the goal of increasing readiness. In manufacturing, you would be getting personnel and machines to produce some tangible product. In both arenas, you're dealing with maintenance issues, scheduling, training, and leading. Manufacturing, like the military, usually runs “around-the-clock” so you'd probably be working on some type of shift schedule (rotating or set shifts) for the first year or two.

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Engineering

Years ago, individuals who started their career in Engineering would end up retiring from a position not too different from where they began years ago - still doing very technical work as an individual contributor. That's no longer true due to the advent of unstructured career-pathing. The ratio of engineering tasks versus management tasks you perform will shift as you progress through an engineering career. By the time you become a senior executive, you're doing very little or no actual engineering work.

Process Engineers
Process Engineers establish and monitor ongoing industrial processes. They check process and product parameters to maintain particular specifications. Often part of the production team, a Process Engineer is the resident expert for a production line. If something goes wrong that is not easily fixed, he or she is usually the first to get “paged.” If assigned to a single plant, Process Engineers seldom travel except to trade fairs and other professional gatherings. If assigned to a region, they can travel a great deal to different facilities. Process Engineers can typically choose one of two career paths. Some follow the path of Production Supervisor/Shift Manager/Production Manager/Plant Manager. Some stay in Engineering following the path of Plant Engineer/Regional Engineering Director/VP of Engineering. An understanding of plant dynamics and system interaction is very important. Engineering degrees are usually required.

Quality Control (QC)/Quality Assurance (QA) Engineers
Two key endeavors in all Process Engineering as well as some Manufacturing are QC and QA. There is a difference between QA and QC. QC uses statistical analysis and control to make sure that there is as little variation as possible in the product produced. QA is a system to make sure the products produced meet set standards. These positions are often used as stepping stones to more advanced engineering roles.

Project Engineers
Assigned to different tasks that can take anywhere from a few days to a few years to complete. Their jobs change dramatically and can sometimes require significant travel (over 25%). Working solo or sometimes as part of a team, Project Engineers work on plant and line modifications/upgrades, new facility construction and other engineering projects. They are also involved in cost estimation, budgeting, scheduling of projects, and management of subcontractors. To be a successful Project Engineer, you have to have strong people skills since you will also be negotiating and working with vendors in many cases.

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High Technology Engineering & Operations

Lucas Group has worked very hard to open up technology-based opportunities for military candidates. High technology industries that hire transitioning military members include: telecommunications, information technology (IT), management information systems (MIS), computer hardware, and software. Starting positions specific to high-tech include:

Materials Engineer/Managers
Provide component and material engineering support to the production floor. Evaluates potential risks of components identified during new product design and introduction and is prepared to execute risk mitigation plans. Evaluate, recommend, and select suppliers. Perform detailed assessments and failure analysis on various types of components. Generate procurement specifications to define and protect the design requirements for specific components. Provide early input and feedback to design, in order to realize significant cost improvement through the management of key technologies and partnering with world-class suppliers. Effective interaction with suppliers, purchasing, new product engineering, design and other internal organizations is imperative.

Applications Engineers
Interface with marketing and design engineers in order to define the next generation of products; provide technical support on existing products; perform technical interface to customers and field applications in order to provide technical assistance and training; and provide front-end support to the design of new products.

New Product Introduction Engineers
Drive the introduction of new products from conceptualization in R&D all the way to the marketplace.

Product Marketing Engineers
Internal product experts who work closely with sales reps to configure systems that are marketed to major corporate clients. You will work directly with customers and design engineers to define product specifications and generate product proposals to support the sales process. You must be able to participate and contribute to technical discussions with customer engineers. These positions involve product management, forecasting, customer presentations and contract negotiations.

Product Support Engineers
Follow the systems when shipped to customers and are product experts who make sure installed systems are successful and work as advertised. They also serve as experts for customer support after installation.

Software Development Engineers
Evolve current software systems to support customer needs. Modify and react to problems uncovered during testing and trails of the software. Responsibilities often span beyond design, implementation and testing to large scale project management.

Network Managers
Responsible for various combinations of configuration management, hardware/software installation, fault location and repair, security issues, performance management, and accounting.

Telecommunications Systems Engineers
Responsible for providing pre- and post-sales technical support including: product presentations and demonstrations, analysis of customer network operational requirements, on-site training and consulting support, installation of evaluation equipment, writing detailed network specification proposals, execute product trials with customers, and solutions for application problems. These positions require an extensive background in design, installation, operation, maintenance, and management of medium to large-scale data networks. Hands-on experience with networking hardware is also an imperative.

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Professional Corporate Sales

A career in sales is tough, but it is also a great opportunity for those who are competitive and want a chance to earn higher levels of compensation. Successful sales representatives always make more money than their counterparts in management operations, and engineering. Their job security in tough economic times is also better (sales reps are the last people companies cut in a downsizing). But since there's greater compensation potential, there's also greater risk. In sales, you will be held accountable for the results of your efforts. If you are listed at the top of the sales report (where all the sales reps are ranked), you can take the credit. If you're at the bottom, there's only one person you can blame. That excites some people and scares others. Which are you?

Debunking Sales Myths
When you ask fellow servicemembers what they think of when you say "salesman" and most will say "a guy selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door" or "Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman" or "Al Bundy selling shoes on Married With Children" or the like. It's usually not a very positive image.

There are certainly some sleazy salesmen out there (we've all had unpleasant experiences at car lots and with telemarketers). But business-to-business corporate sales can, in fact, be an extremely rewarding, professionally enhancing, and personally satisfying career. It's about being an expert in the product or service you represent. You don't design or manufacture a product; rather, you present the finished product to existing or new customers who need what you have for their business.

SALES PROFESSIONALS ARE USUALLY DIVIDED INTO TWO TYPES: most salespeople tend to be either "hunters" or "farmers." Hunters are categorized as salespeople who welcome and actually enjoy the thrill of identifying and selling new accounts. Farmers are characterized as sales reps whose strength is the maintenance and growth of existing customers. If you can determine which type of sales suits you best, direct your career search within sales that lends itself to that.

Starting your career in sales can lead you to great professional success! Some noteworthy captains of industry who started their corporate careers in sales after their military time include John Akers (former Navy aviator to CEO of IBM), Ross Perot (former Navy SWO), Roger Enrico (former Navy supply officer to CEO of Pepsico), and many others.

"But isn't sales risky?" The failure rate for military veterans entering into sales is no higher than for those in other positions. If you think about it, the alternative is far more risky. How would you like for your career and compensation growth tied purely to how your supervisor "feels" about you? That's what you can face in a management or engineering job. In sales, you are evaluated based on results, not what someone "thinks" about you.

"Being on commissions seems scary and unpredictable." The professional corporate sales opportunities represented by Lucas all pay solid base salaries. Additionally, there should be legitimate "up-side compensation potential;" so we look for opportunities with significant, verifiable commission structures. It's generally true that the smaller the base salary, the higher commissions you can earn. Successful sales reps will frequently focus less and less on their base salaries, while enjoying the earning power of large, uncapped commissions.

Commissions are typically calculated as a percentage of the sale (% of each widget sold) OR as a targeted percentage (achieving 100% of quota equates to 25% of your base). Additionally, commissions or bonus can be paid monthly, quarterly, biannually, or yearly. A company car is another component usually associated with sales. Its value is calculated at 8-9K, and is usually authorized for personal use. If a company pays a car allowance (instead of a car), it is paid monthly at $450-650.

"Don't people in sales travel a lot?" No . . . most sales positions do not involve overnight travel. If there is travel involved, it's usually isolated to a metro area and you're given a car or car allowance.

"If you're going to be successful in sales, don't you have to learn how to manipulate people and get them to do things they don't want to do?" Some people think successful salespeople learn some kind of mystical mind control that allows them to persuade people to do things against their will. Nothing could be further from the truth for corporate sales. The ONLY sales corporate salespeople make are the ones that add significant value to what a company is trying to accomplish. As a sales rep, you won't sell anybody ANYTHING unless you understand their needs and solve problems. So the MOST important skill successful sales reps have is their LISTENING ABILITY.

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