Kerri graduated from the Naval Academy in 1997. During her nine years in the Navy, she served in a variety of leadership positions, ranging from the Supply Department Head on a Guided Missile Destroyer to Material Division Officer on an Amphibious Assault Ship. During her most recent assignment, her ship was diverted to Southeast Asia and played a critical role in supporting the 2004-2005 Tsunami Relief Efforts. Kerri is attending business school through the Navy Supply Corps. Upon graduation, she will continue her career as an active duty Supply Officer.
How was your transition back into the school environment?
Transitioning into the school environment was fairly seamless. Prior to school, I was deployed to the Western Pacific in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and was accustomed to working long hours and feeling pressured to accomplish everything. Surprisingly, school (especially first semester) was not much different. Just as in the military, I was challenged with trying to balance various requirements (i.e., school work, team projects/group meetings, interviews, etc.) in a short time period. However, in contrast with the military, business school provided me with a lot more flexibility and control over my schedule. There were also a few other students at our school with previous military experience, which helped ease the transition.
My military experience allowed me the opportunity to provide a unique perspective to my professors and peers. A lot of our leadership and business practices are very transferable and I enjoyed sharing the challenges I faced as a Supply Officer with my classmates.
How did you leverage your military experience in the job/internship search?
Since I am still on active duty, I did not need to pursue a full-time job. The Supply Corps, however, highly encourages us to seek an internship with a top business to leverage our military experience with corporate best practices to bring back to the military. I interned at a Fortune 500 distribution company during the summer. The internship search is very similar to the full-time job search. Many companies are now placing a stronger emphasis on a person’s soft skills (leadership, public speaking, presentation skills, etc.) during the interview process. A lot of the interview questions are also behavioral and interviewers want to see how you think and operate under various settings. The military provides us a wealth of experience and I leveraged it during the recruiting and interview process to show how I led my department, executed various projects, and implemented change.
My school also has a great recruiting program and arranges mock interviews with various companies to help us improve our interview skills. I took advantage of the mock interviews with recruiters to help me strengthen my resume and effectively translate my military experience.
