Observations of a Transitioning Officer: JMOs - A Combat Multiplier

Please appreciate the humor in the Headline Picture Meme. Your job experience does matter. In most cases I've heard/seen is just doesn't apply like you think it does. And your work ethic matters all the more. That's why businesses want you. They hunger for Soldiers because of their work ethic. That's one of the competitive advantages that makes you different. So use it. Okay, good chuckle, now down to business. Please note that I am not sponsored or paid by any JMO firm. My experiences and opinions are my own, and do not represent the official stances or practices of the companies. It's for that reason and other legal concerns that I chose not to affiliate specific experiences with specific businesses. I absolutely will discuss with you in private if you contact me, but it's honestly irrelevant to the article, so I left it out.

Whether you are reading this as a result of the link provided in my earlier article “How to Get Out” or you are just finding this on your own accord, welcome. In this article I will specifically address my personal experiences with Junior Military Officer Recruiting Firms or “JMOs” for short. These are a fantastic option should you want to enter into the workforce vice going to school full time or just going it alone. They have standing relationships with a customer base of companies that keep them on retainer to help hire in veterans to their businesses. It really can be a win-win. The best part is they are free to sign up for, and you can work with them for considerations of your personal details (Guard/Reserve, location, pay, industry, ect).

These are a great path in the sense that to some varying degrees you have a career-coach to help you break in. Here’s how the basic breakdown of how they work. The recruiter, headhunter, Junior Military Officer (JMO) firm (all the same things with different names) take you on at no expense to you. They evaluate you on your hard skills (paper qualifications like a B.S., MBA, PMP, CMD time, etc) and your soft skills (public speaking, negotiation, team building, confident, articulate, etc). They assess your desires in the way of salary, geography, and industry, and play matchmaker with companies that pay to keep them on retainer. These companies understand the value of what a military officer brings to the table of corporate, and are eager to have you in their organization. When the JMO firm gets a match, the company pays a % of your first year’s earned salary. Don’t worry, it doesn’t come from your pocket. Let’s say for easy math’s sake that you land a job starting at $100,000 with company X. Well, in addition to paying you the $100,000 salary (because you sign a contract agreeing to that amount), company X will also pay the firm that matched you $10,000 for making the match. The specifics between each company will vary on the intricacies for those numbers and the exact parameters of the retentions and relationships, but that’s the severely watered down version. It’s sufficient enough that you get the idea. If you really want to know the precise way, ask them. They won’t have a problem telling you how right or wrong I am.

Why this relationship works. It’s a delicate balance for them. You are the commodity the firm wants to “sell” to a company that’s going to pay you a lot (good for you and the firm, bad for the business hiring you). The business wants to get you for as cheap as possible (good for business, bad for you and the firm). So the firm needs you and the business to feel as if you’ve won in the deal. Additionally, the firm, the company, and you, all want you to enjoy the job and do well at it. If you love it, but suck at it, that’s bad for everyone. Same goes if you are really good but hate it. The company will lose money if they have to hire the position again and again every few years, and eventually it sours the relationship with the hiring firm. So there’s a balance to this that you need to be aware of. I’m a very transparent person during transactions, and I don’t mind confrontation and uncomfortable situations, so I ask outright about these things, and generally I get straight answers… generally.

When it comes to choosing a firm, I have my thoughts. Personally, and this is strictly opinionated, I just want to make myself clear here, I felt that one JMO firm (ask me personally if you want to know the name) had the best developmental program for prepping you (great reading list, a roadmap to help you stay on track with your transition timeline, skills assessments, sample interview questions, a really good starter kit all-in-all. Like, the best I’ve seen. The challenge is that they require exclusivity. Meaning, they don’t want you working with anyone else. They don’t even want you utilizing your personal networks to try and find a job. They also only work through conferences, which are limited. So if you told them you’re getting out in 8 months, they’d get you the starter pack, and schedule you for a conference around the T-1 month timeframe. Think about it. That’s a really long time to stay in the dark and not have any actual interviews or at least see what’s out there. Lastly, they don’t want you to be geographically bound. If you say, “I can only work in the pacific northwest”, then they’ll outright tell you that they are probably not your best option. So, if you’re willing to put all your eggs (and that of your family, if applicable) in that basket, then go for it. They have an incredible success rate, and generally work with fortune 500 companies.

Another JMO firm I worked with is huge! The candidate prep is much less, but here’s what’s to love: they don’t care if you work anything and everything. Their stance is that they believe their placement services are so good, you’ll end up going with them anyway. So far, their 2 for 2 in my experience. Also, they inundate you with opportunity. I normally got at least 1 e-mail every other day on average (at least) asking if I was interested in a specific position based on the parameters I’d set during my conversation with them.

Geography, industry, salary, are all up for setting minimum standards on. Remember that the more picky you are, the less opportunities will come across your virtual desk. They also have conferences, and even one annually for service academy graduates exclusively. I can tell you (and yes, I’m a bit biased here) that everyone I talked to there was so incredibly supportive and encouraging. I never felt pressured to work towards a job just because it was in front of me. As I stated before, the challenges are that they don’t really have the same quality of prep as the other, and they don’t work to develop you quite as much. So if you are at a point where you know what you want to do, what areas you want to live in, and how much you think you are reasonably worth, this JMO firm may be an incredible option.

You get the idea JMO firms. Do research (Lucas Group, Orion, Alliance, Cameron-Brooks, Bradley-Morris, etc) as you see fit, but just know that each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Let’s talk about conferences for a minute too, since we hit on that earlier. There are two basic types that I’ve encountered. For simplicity’s sake, I’ve dubbed them: The speed dating type, and the arranged marriage type.

Speed dating is what the Service Academy Career Conference offers. This style is also replicated at Military Mojo and by a vfew other hosts/venues. If you’ve graduated from Army, Navy, Airforce, Merchant Marine, or Coast Guard Academies, you may at any point sign up for a conference that the collective AOGs host 4 times a year. (I'm speaking about SACC specifically here, but you get the idea). I attended the one in Savannah, GA (not for a job, just interview experience). Make no mistake that this does not result in immediate interviews. This is more like a college job fair, but for people who are generally either at the 5 and fly mark, the 10 years I need to get out or stay in for the long-haul mark, or the 20 years ‘I’m about to retire and I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up’ mark. It’s a free-for-all middle-school dance style event where the businesses are attractive singles and you are the prospective suitor trying to woo them into agreeing to go on a date with you (an interview, in case you’re not following). Sometimes there are interviews that take place at the conference, but it’s no guarantee. It’s rare, but some people even walk away with a job offer. Don’t expect that yourself though. If it comes let it be a surprise (albeit one you are prepared for). You travel from booth to booth, flawlessly executing your elevator pitch and putting on your best smile. You get a few nibbles, a couple bites, and leave exhausted and full of hope. You grab your stack of collected business cards and stay up late that night reviewing notes and writing thank you e-mails back to each prospective business in hopes that they’ll ask to interview you. It can be daunting, but if you’re determined and driven (and have what they want), it can work.

I knew what I wanted to do, and I did research prior to figure out which companies had my desired careers available. It helped narrow my search a bit. Protip: don’t start with the companies you really want. Go to ones you really don’t (2nd, 3rd string) to help work out the kinks and butterflies. Save the top tier desired companies for mid-morning once you’re warmed up. And if you don’t want to work for a defense contractor, then just stay away from them. I saw a long line of defeated Academy grads towards the end of the first day standing in line at a defense contractor booth waiting to sign up. These were the same guys I’d seen earlier with smiles on their faces talking with Bank of America, Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft, and other big name industries. Only now they stood there solemn and defeated, waiting to sign-in to the booth and drop their resume because they felt it was their last hope. Don’t lose heart! Even if you go the whole dance getting “no” as a response to your invitation to dance, it doesn’t mean you’re unloved and alone forever. Somewhere out there she’s waiting. Don’t settle, just work harder.

The other type of conference is the “arranged marriage” style. This is where a JMO firm has “matched” you with certain companies they have on retainer, that have certain jobs that you may have varying interest in, and can potentially earn through the interview process. These are very regimented and structured. The JMO firm mandates how many, which companies, which positions, and how much time you spend with each company for each position. It’s efficient, but there’s not a lot of choice for you, and the companies are left to do a bit more of the fighting over candidates.

You get the idea. Conferences have their own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s important to understand what you face if you choose to go to one.

All in all, I attended three. Although I didn’t end up getting a job through the conference I was able to rehearse my intro-pitch (aka: elevator pitch) a hundred times over, and perfect certain interview question responses as well as work on constructing good questions to feed back to the interviewer to demonstrate knowledge, interest, and capability of whatever potential job I was applying for.

It was harrowing, it was stressful, and it was worth it. Similar to the first time you attended one of these dances in middle-school, you need to get your jitters out before you hit high-school so you can gain confidence and learn some dance moves. Who knows, you may even find out you’ve got some groove you never knew you had.