My Cameron-Brooks SkillBridge Experience (E190)

Cameron-Brooks

The DoD launched a pilot program in 2011 called SkillBridge. The intention of the program is to provide service members and spouses with an in-depth and real-world training opportunity as they prepare to move from active duty to post-military employment. Today, the program has grown to almost 3,000 different SkillBridge opportunities.

Cameron-Brooks is one of them! So what is the Cameron-Brooks SkillBridge experience like? It’s the ideal opportunity for high-achieving JMOs that want to transition to a growth position in business.

Cameron-Brooks has been an approved DoD SkillBridge provider since 2022 and many officers have participated in our 12-week, curated training program as they prepare to attend the Cameron-Brooks Career Conference and follow-up interview process.

What can come from a Cameron-Brooks SkillBridge opportunity? Lots more opportunity!

In this episode, I talk to Wyatt Boyd. Wyatt shares his Cameron-Brooks SkillBridge experience in preparation for the January 2023 Career Conference. At the conference, he interviewed with 10 industry-leading companies, and just about every one of them demonstrated a high level of interest in pursuing him for follow-up interviews. Wyatt conducted multiple follow-up interviews and received offers for employment along the way. He ultimately received and accepted an offer with Abiomed, a Johnson and Johnson company. Wyatt describes how he was able to benefit from the Cameron-Brooks SkillBridge program in order to maximize his opportunities, earn multiple offers for employment, and ultimately select the opportunity that best matched his career goals.

So, what does Wyatt attribute to his success? In a phrase:

Preparation is the Key to Success

Wyatt was able to focus on some key areas while on the SkillBridge, including:

• Development and Preparation Program (DPP©) Tabs and Modules: This 5-tab curriculum is designed to lead the participant through a thorough self-analysis, business skill development, in-depth career field option research, and interview answer construction.
• Development and Preparation Program (DPP©) Required Reading Program: This 10-book reading program is designed to educate and inform the participant on crucial business concepts such as Lean/Six Sigma, Project Management, Corporate Finance, Data Analysis, Business to Business Selling, Operational Excellence, Rapport Building, Team Leadership and other important business concepts.
• Resume Creating Guidelines – This tool, in conjunction with a proprietary pre-formatted Microsoft Word template, is designed to guide the participant through a resume creation process in preparation for business interviews.
• Interview Skills Workshops – The participant will participate in 3 different levels of an Interview Skills Workshop:
  – Basic Interview Skills Workshop: This workshop is designed to teach the fundamentals of interviewing, including how to build rapport, connect their military background, and the methods to answering the 28 most commonly asked interview questions.
  – Intermediate Interviews Skills Workshop: This workshop is designed to continue to instill the fundamentals of
  interviewing while allowing the participant to practice their interview skills under the supervision of a trained Transition Coach.
  – Advanced Interview Skills Workshop: This workshop is typically provided in a smaller setting (4-5 participants) in
  order to allow the candidate to practice advanced interview skills like answering less common questions, asking
  quality questions, and closing the interview.
• Career Field Media: This resource is primarily comprised of seven 1-hour videos designed to educate the participant on the 4 major categories of career fields that Junior Military Officers typically pursue: Engineering Management, Team Leadership, Business Analysis, and Business-to-Business Sales.
• Interview Preparation Workshops: This workshop, in conjunction with the proprietary Interview Guideline Worksheet, is designed to guide the participant to create a game plan for each interview in which they will participate. The game plan will include a strategy for connecting their military background and experience directly to the position for which they will interview, creating statements of interest about the company and position, asking quality questions that demonstrate their interest and ability in the position, and closing the interview with a strong steaming of interest.

If you want to learn more about how to make a successful transition and are interesting in participating in the Cameron-Brooks SkillBridge experience let’s connect. You can reach me directly at [e-mail].

If you want to learn more about how we help military officers move from the military to the business work, yo can find a ton of valuable information on our website, YouTube Channel and on LinkedIn.