Genesis exemplifies quality not quantity, everything was thoroughly covered before the conference; there was not a single question I was not prepared for. The quality of the companies was absolutely amazing and the opportunities available were beyond my expectations.
Loren Stroebel
The decision to separate from the military is one that carries with it a fair amount of risk. The candidates I speak with are frequently concerned with the uncertainty involved with several factors:
- Getting a job
- Getting paid what they think they are worth
- Moving into a profession/industry/function they will enjoy
- Finding a company that will provide high growth and job satisfaction
- Moving to a desired location
- Adjusting to the corporate culture
A lot of the anxiety involved in the transitioning process can be alleviated with honest feedback from someone who understands the market and is able to fairly appraise a candidate’s marketability. Unfortunately the recruiting industry has very little incentive to provide a candidate an honest marketability assessment; this is especially true if the recruiting agency is one that demands candidate exclusivity. After all, if you knew that you had the possibility of landing ten or more offers of your choice, would you trade your free agent status for 8-12 interviews with companies, locations and functions that you have no control over.
I believe that many candidates perceive the riskiness of transitioning to be much higher than it actually is. The biggest contributor to this dissonance is the absence of quality information concerning marketability. The absence of clarity causes many candidate to offset an inflated perceived risk of getting a job by committing to lopsided exclusivity agreements that in many cases lead to candidates accepting positions that fall short of their objectives.
The internet has changed military officer recruiting for the better. Information is getting easier to find and the venues available to candidate to get jobs are growing every year. The days of the putting all your eggs in one basket with a single recruiting company are soon to be a thing of the past.