Miami-based mentor Robert Loredo has spent the last 11 years volunteering with American Corporate Partners as a mentor to military officers and enlisted men and women, helping them to successfully transition to tech-related careers.
The once high school dropout who mowed lawns for a living has a soft spot for veterans, as he had dreams of becoming a Navy aviator and has many friends in the military. Today, he is a quantum technical ambassador lead at IBM in Florida.
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Among Loredo’s advice to vets who are transitioning from the military to civilian workforce: Decide whether you need to be a night school student who works during the day or a full-time student who works at night. He frames this as an exercise in time management and financial strategy.
Loredo said that many transitioning vets feel uncertain about the value of their skills, and how they will translate to a private-sector job.
“The first opportunity where mentoring helps vets is to help them map those very unique skills from the military into the private sector,” he said.
Loredo said one of the most important strengths veterans bring to the civilian workforce is being able to handle stress.
“They pretty much wrote the book on it,’ he said.
Loredo reminds his veteran mentees they had to prepare meticulously for military campaigns, and have planning, testing, and execution proficiencies. He also tells them they know how to take the initiative, undertake and manage risks, learn and adapt.
They just need to appropriately frame these qualities to themselves and to employers, he said.
When talking to civilian job recruiters, Loredo urged veterans to tell the entire story of their military experience.
“You want to give them that overview of what you did, but explain it to them in a private-sector way,” he stressed.
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And if making the military to civilian transition sounds like planning for war, Loredo said it is. He gives his mentees a checklist of tasks to think about and complete so that they plan for sustainable careers that have long-term futures.
He then advises them about education and internships programs to pursue based on their general interests. He then helps service members narrow down the disciplines to study, so they can more efficiently pursue classes that best match their interests.
Loredo’s proteges have gone on to very successful careers at large tech companies as well as senior executives at startups.
To learn more about American Corporate Partners, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.