On today’s show, we have Valerie Davenport. Val joined USAA in August 2013 as the Director of Talent Programs leading the sourcing and talent program efforts, including military programs.

Her team enables strategic talent acquisition through competitive intelligence and the development of proactive sourcing techniques for the enterprise. The team also has ownership of the Military Hiring strategy; setting the tone for the development and support of the USAA military hiring strategy and programs.

Val originally hails from Grand Rapids MI, followed her AF husband around the world, and lived in Europe for 12 years furthering the efforts of the DoD overseas military banking contract.

She has 35+ years of international corporate experience including channel process ownership, large-scale project and program management, risk and compliance, and strategic planning.

Val’s passion is mentoring and coaching the next generation of servant leaders.

Today Valerie and I got a chance to talk about some of the tools and resources that USAA has to offer to help the current military members, transitioning soldiers, their spouses, and much more.

We get into writing resumes, translating your military skills, and how to write a resume that is targeted toward the position you are applying for.

We talk about the application process and how it has changed over the years with new technologies and what that means to us when we are waiting to hear back about our applications.

We also get into LinkedIn and how you utilize that not just as an online resume but how to actually get out there and get seen.

Resources from Today’s Show

USAA’s Leaving the Military Resources

USAA’s Career Center

Fast Track for Heroes

Valerie’s LinkedIn Articles

• Resume Schmezume 


• Show Yourself


• Pick Me! Pick Me!

Some more you will hear in the show:

• Transition begins the Moment you Join the Military
  
  There are more pieces to the transition puzzle than you think
  
  There is no Magic Formula for everyone to have a successful transition
  
  You need to make a plan and execute that plan to succeed
  
  You need the Right Talent at the Right Time with the Right Skill Set
  
  What are the Barriers that are in your way?