Shawn Strandberg

I had been considering retirement from the Marine Corps for several years, so my wife was ecstatic when I turned down promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. The transition out of the military was exactly what we wanted to do. Fortunately, we were in a great position when I retired. Our finances allowed me to not work while focusing on our future. I interned at a local hospital while researching full time MBA programs and career opportunities.

I was stationed in Yuma, Arizona, when I retired from the military. After retirement, I started an internship at Yuma Regional Medical Center working for the hospital’s corporate leadership. Because I already had a plan for my transition, I did not utilize any on-base transition programs aside from the mandatory classes I had to attend. I applied to several MBA programs with the intent of starting school in the fall of 2008.

I took the internship in order to keep me occupied until my planned schooling began. While in the service I was very active, so the leisurely pace of the internship caused some self-induced stress to stay busy. I did, however, enjoy the abundance of time I had with my family.

Transitioning from the military was a fairly stress-free experience for me. In fact, the easiest part of the transition proved to be actually leaving the military. My wife is a CPA, so my transition out of the military gave her a chance to pursue her career full time in a metropolitan area. It also enabled me to spend more time with my family, which includes small children.

When my initial transition plan did not work out like I had hoped, I ended up working with Orion International to secure a position with CIRCOR Aerospace. I applied to several top five MBA programs with the intent of attending school full time if accepted. I was not, however, accepted to the programs to which I applied, so I had to decide whether I wanted to attend state schools full time or work while completing the MBA in the evenings. I received an offer from CIRCOR Aerospace about the time I was notified that I had not been accepted to the MBA programs, so the decision was easy at that point.

My new position is in Corona, California. I relocated to Orange County, California ahead of my wife and children. My family stayed in Yuma for four months after I started work until our children completed that school year. This also enabled my wife to finish tax season. The military moved us to our current home as part of my retirement compensation.

One of the most difficult parts of my transition was leaving the network of friends we had established during our time in the Marine Corps. We were truly starting over. Our family moved to a new area without any local friends or family, and I began to work in an industry that was completely new to me. I still keep in touch with my close personal friends but try to avoid the military circles which I feel has made the transition easier.

I’ve worked at CIRCOR Aerospace for six months. I started as Value Stream Leader (a traditional Business Unit Manager’s role). I was responsible for all aspects of a 25 million dollar machining center that manufactures aerospace components for our assembly operations. Five months after joining the CIRCOR team, I was advanced to a Site Leader role for the entire facility where I work. This location houses two business units; my original product line and another that manufactures landing gear components for military and commercial applications.

I was hired at CIRCOR Aerospace along with another military officer from the Army. The leadership skills we learned in the military enabled us to rapidly excel within our peer group. My civilian success can also be attributed to the ability to make rapid yet accurate decisions based on data and to my superb team building skills that I learned from leading Marines. I’m currently enrolled in an MBA program and will finish certification as a black belt in lean and six-sigma in December 2008. I feel the coursework is vital to my successful transition as a business leader.

Having attended an Orion hiring conference both as a candidate and a company recruiter, I have some valuable pieces of advice for anyone wondering how to make the best of their interviews:


FROM THE CANDIDATE POINT-OF-VIEW:

•	Structure your resume, and format it properly.
•	Read the suggested books the recruiters mention. They helped me prepare for the interview. All questions asked during the interview were directly related to the prep questions in some form. Rehearsals helped me answer the interviewer’s questions without much effort.
•	Research the companies on the internet and with the pre-conference reading. The majority of the companies I interviewed with asked me to tell them about their company.
•	Have a question prepared for the interviewer about the company. Ask only one question, and then let them close the meeting.
•	Ask for a position in the company and hand the interviewer a business card.
•	Attend the company presentation the night prior (if possible). This allowed me to gauge the type of candidate the corporation was looking for and structure my responses accordingly.
•	Have fun and relax.

FROM THE COMPANY RECRUITER POINT-OF-VIEW:

•	Companies come to the conference intent on hiring. My corporation had plenty of technical experts but they were interested in acquiring managers with strong leadership skills. Make sure your leadership skills are portrayed in your resume and in the responses you provide to the interview questions.
•	Most of the civilian work force is uninformed about military life or command structure. Avoid the use of military acronyms and explain leadership roles based on numbers (e.g., most will not know the size of a battalion or squadron). Try to relate your prior positions to a civilian equivalent.
•	Be honest…you never know who your interviewing with. A few of the candidates we interviewed told outright lies that were easily detected by someone with prior military experience.
•	My corporation embraces lean manufacturing like many other large corporations. It would be beneficial to know about lean and six-sigma process improvement methods.
•	Mention combat service, but don’t dwell on it. A few of the candidates couldn’t stop talking about their OIF experiences and that distracted from the interview questions.
•	If you’re looking for a management position, expect to perform office work. Mention skills sets in Excel, PowerPoint, Access, etc. We had one candidate who mentioned right off the bat, “I hate staff.” The candidate went on to tell us that he hated office work. My position requires a tremendous amount of time on the production floor but all of our managers perform a fair amount of administrative work.
•	Inappropriate clothing and a disheveled appearance highlight a candidate with issues. The companies are looking for managers who can be a role model. Adhere to the guidelines provided by Orion since it shows you can follow directions.
•	The best candidates were relaxed and prepared. In reality, the VP liked some of the candidates with weaker resumes that interviewed well. Highlight your strengths and areas you’ve excelled in. Time constraints precluded us from reviewing resumes in detail while at the conference. Ensure your resume is structured to reveal your strengths and accomplishments easily.
•	The following questions were asked on every interview I attended. Additionally they are part of the required questions that were provided by our Human Resources Department: 1. Tell me about yourself (rehearse). 2. Tell me about your strengths (discuss leadership, then 2, and 3). 3. Tell me about one of your weaknesses. Be honest, but turn it into a positive (e.g., I know I’m impatient, but I improved myself by ____ ). 4. Tell me about a time when you worked on a team to accomplish a task (ensure you portray yourself as a leader).
•	Be a good listener and use positive body language during the interview.