You’re in Control of Your Transition
What do you do when your community has an abundance of people and organizations looking to help military families? You pool the resources!
Learn how NextOp is doing just that and ultimately helping dozens of nonprofits thrive while touching the lives of countless military families on this episode of the Hiring Our Heroes Sitrep podcast.
Top Takeaways from “You’re in Control of Your Transition”
1. Houston is home to nearly 270,000 veterans and each year, more than 5,000 transitioning service members will move to this Texas city to begin their civilian lives. NextOp recruits, trains, and places middle-enlisted military leaders into industry careers in Texas and Louisiana.
“We’re trying to be the strongest link between military leaders and industry careers. As an employment coordinator, I am focused on making sure that our middle enlisted have all the tools necessary to make their transitions into the civilian sector as easy as possible.” – Dina Anderson, Employment Coordinator at NextOp
2. NextOp is located at the Combined Arms Transition Center, a co-located space for veteran service organizations in Houston.
“We’re making sure that a veteran doesn’t have to travel all over the place to find a resource and go to a different place to find another resource there. It’s all co-located, so it makes it seamless for the veteran.” – Dina Anderson, Employment Coordinator at NextOp
3. Before joining NextOp, Anderson served 20 years in the Air Force. Her advice to transitioning service members is to be prepared to showcase yourself to potential employers.
“Own your transition because you’re the one that’s in control of it. Be confident and be able to market yourself. You are your own walking billboard.” – Dina Anderson, Employment Coordinator at NextOp
4. Employment coordinators work closely with veterans on their resumes.
“A lot of times, we get resumes that we like to say ‘smell like combat boots’– they are resumes that read like they’re from the military.” – Dina Anderson, Employment Coordinator at NextOp
5. NextOp partners with more than 150 corporations that are looking to hire military talent. This year, the nonprofit organization has placed 1,600 candidates in careers.
“We’re that warm connection to the company. A lot of times, veterans will apply and say ‘I don’t know who to talk to’ or ‘I never heard back.’ We’re that ‘in’ for that company.” – Dina Anderson, Employment Coordinator at NextOp