Hi all, How do you deal with having a good relationship with an ex-colleague, and then that person switches jobs, becomes a hiring manager, is hiring for a position you’re perfect for (experience + credentials) and then you reach out to them saying you’re interested and why it would be a good idea - and then they completely ghost you..I also sent an application via the website and got rejected. I am really always trying to help out old coworkwrs with getting jobs, but this is just frustrating 🥲
Assuming you’re talking about junior officers I’d call this generally unrealistic but not impossible with the right background and some luck
Not unrealistic. Depends on their background. Very possible
Not unrealistic and definitely doable. It all really boils down to how well one can present(sell) themselves to whoever is hiring. I know quite a few who managed to rock that much in their base salary (in both sales and ops roles) immediately after leaving mainly through programs like Breakline, Hiring our Heroes, Tech-Qualled, and Shift.
This. Definitely realistic if you go into consulting, tech, sales, or into an ops management role through a military hiring program. I left as a junior officer and started with base at $120k (and I sold myself short I later learned). This was before the programs listed above were in full swing. For the record, do those programs, regardless of whether you’re coming out Officer or not.
Sounds unrealistic to me. Control for officers that got sponsored to go do a masters before any military work and non-technical majors, and I think more realistic is 75-100k. Engineers will always make more out the gate but the engineering org is typically crowded and hard to advance in, good if you’re comfortable making 150-200k the rest of your life tho. I think for the vast majority its tough to justify $100k salary
Overall, this question seems to exemplify the overemphasis on starting comp that can be a mistake for many coming out of the military. You join this industry for the comp trajectory, accelerated advancement and relatively high ceilings, not for the starting pay.
100k is roughly GS-13 step 7 I believe. It’s not hard to go over that depending on your rank/skills.
I left in 2016 and had a starting comp of 125k in an engineering manager role. I did not have an MBA. But a few years later, here I am consulting for PwC. As another 🐠 mentioned, engineers hit a ceiling and careers are too slow.
If I had a redo, I’d go from Army straight to an MBA program and forget trying to find a 6 fig job right out the gate.
Realistic, especially for HCOL areas.
Well within the capability of most officers. If you do some homework and move outside of govt contracting I would say 120 is average or below average.
Damn just as strategy and management? Or a more technical role?
Definitely doable, I did this 5 years ago with no MBA, etc. Most of those that got out around the same time as I did also were in the 110-120k range.
I assume salaries have gone up a little bit since then so shouldn’t be hard to do with the right prep and effort.
I think 115k - 120k is realistic. It depends if you have a secondary degree as well. Consulting that seems to be the going rate for most junior officers. I’ve seen folks with secondary degrees get more, but I think they are one offs. Agree though with P1. Salary and bonus will come with time.
Depends on their field and negotiation skills. A companies goal is to hire low as possible.
Possible but not the norm
Realistic. Left the active duty at an O3 and went to Deloitte to make $123k. Other firms offered more but I wanted to come to Deloitte. Just started at a tech firm after 2 years at Deloitte making $180k. Honestly, your money goes much farther as active duty, especially if your residence was a no income tax state like mine was, so you need that much to break even.
Like everything else, very much depends. I was a systems engineer, and had I punched to a major contractor as an engineering lead don't think this is way out of line (note that I had no idea what consulting was post-military until MBA, so wouldn't have had MBB aspirations at that point).
Possible, but not necessarily realistic. Multiple factors could make it more likely, include HCOL location. From a B4 consulting standpoint, that puts them in line with the upper end of senior consultant comp.
P1 I agree that non target MBA has little to no impact. I’m part of an initiative and I see all the new hires. Non target MBAs come in at consultant and maybe SC if they have significant work experience but def not at target mba SC pay