Second-career secrets: Mentors help troops transition - Second Military Careers - Military Times

Second-career secrets: Mentors help troops transition

It's those first steps that are the hardest. Entering the civilian job market is like landing on the far side of the moon and setting out on an exploration that's, by nature, tough to do.

You've got to develop a winning resume, create a job strategy, make a great impression during interviews and maybe toughest of all, navigate the uncharted waters of networking.

These steps are made all the more difficult when they have to be taken without the support and camaraderie you're used to in the military.

Or do they? The need for an ongoing support system for transitioning service members spawned an idea that's now in full swing, one aimed at offering help, advice and support while you move toward a second career.

"When I got out of the Marine Corps, the first thing I noticed was that I didn't have the support network I was used to, and there was nobody there to show me the ropes," said Erik Rosenberry, the idea man behind what is now The Destiny Group's mentor program.

Rosenberry served six years as a Marine with a background as an aviation supply specialist. He's now a senior program manager for a company that builds periscopes for the Navy. But when he left the military two years ago, he found his transition into civilian life somewhat isolating. While working through the lack of support he was experiencing, he started thinking about solutions.

"I knew there were others like me who could benefit from some kind of mentor network," he said. "So I created a very simple and crude draft for a Web site that would connect veterans to mentors. I sent my idea to The Destiny Group because I knew they were a big military transition site and that they might be able to do something with it."

The Destiny Group is a company that was designed to provide corporate recruiters and hiring managers with job candidates who have military experience. As it happened, the company was already working on a similar plan when it received Rosenberry's idea. Using his draft and the company's technology and other resources, the Web-based mentor community was created.

"This is a tool that allows people to support the troops with more than a yellow ribbon," said Bill Gaul, president and chief executive officer of The Destiny Group.

The system matches mentors to veterans with similar interests or backgrounds. "When a person comes into our network, they can talk about their concerns, ask whether they should continue to go to school or not, explain that they're returning from Iraq and want to talk about the different needs they have -- just about anything they want to discuss regarding their careers."

According to Gaul, the program is set up as a blind system. Mentors sign up anonymously, describe their professional backgrounds and expertise, and offer to volunteer their time to provide support and answer questions for recently separated service members who have similar career interests or goals. Each veteran who signs on receives a list of up to three possible mentors, then chooses one.

"Once they do that," said Gaul, "the system sends a welcome message letting them know about each other and introducing them to each other. Then they begin working together and addressing whatever areas of concern or questions they have. The mentors can certainly say who they are, but the system is designed so that they don't have to reveal themselves and this puts up an invisible veil that removes them from liability."

The service is free, and according to Rosenberry, who volunteers as the mentor program director, 300 service members had signed up in 2005. They're still signing on at the rate of 30 to 50 per month.

Jim Majirsky is the director of franchise development for Pillar to Post, a Tampa, Fla., professional home inspection service. He has no military experience but signed up as a mentor last fall.

"I'm very involved in franchising and talk to people about it every day," Majirsky said. "So I decided to help those who are out there protecting us by helping them when they return. It's a way for me to be patriotic. And it's personal. I can give something back by offering the troops, or at least of few of them, some of my knowledge and the business experience I've gained. By doing that, I try to help these guys get ahead."

So far, Majirsky has mentored three former service members interested in business development and ownership.

"They all have had different levels of experience. But they all want information about franchising or have an interest in starting their own company," he said. "I've kept myself anonymous, and I'm not using this opportunity to push my company on them. The idea is to help them and answer their questions about things like getting started, business development, where to go for financing, whatever."

According to Gaul, as mentors continue to sign up, they're bringing experience from a variety of career fields.

"We've got everything from franchise owners to CEOs to heads of software design firms to retired generals who are running corporations. They all see this as an opportunity to give something back to veterans."

More than 100 employers have signed on as mentors. They are encouraged to give approximately 15 to 20 minutes each week as schedules permit, and to answer questions and offer support via e-mail.

The connection between veteran and mentor doesn't have limitations. It can be as brief as one e-mail exchange or develop into a relationship that sees a service member through the separation process into landing a civilian job and beyond.

For more information, contact The Destiny Group at www.destinygrp.com.