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NextOp: Serving Enlisted In Career Transition
NextOp: Serving Enlisted In Career Transition
By CAPT Shelby Mounts, USN (Ret.)
NextOp was founded in 2014 by veteran and industry leaders who sought to build a strong military talent pipeline to industries. Our founders identified a gap between Enlisted military members and companies looking to hire military talent. Transitioning service members and veterans are a talented group who bring years of experience and leadership to the table. NextOp’s goal is to bridge the gap by connecting these talented individuals to existing career opportunities. Through one-on-one mentorship, we help them understand how their training and experiences translate into valued qualifications in the workforce after their military commitment.
Our services are free for military and veteran candidates. Our team of Employment Coordinators work one-on-one with veterans and transitioning service members to identify civilian professions that are right for them, translate their military experience, refine resumes, build professional networks, prepare for interviews, and ultimately start new careers. As veterans themselves, our Employment Coordinators understand the hurdles and struggles of transitioning from the military and are best equipped to provide the necessary skills translation.
NextOp Advisors as well as those that provide specific expertise like career coaching and financial education, or provide services outside NextOps mission. These partnerships ensure efficient and effective services for our candidates and employers.
Headquartered in Houston, TX, NextOp started placing candidates in the oil & gas industry, but quickly broadened into construction and logistics. In 2018, NextOp started its first geographic expansion into Louisiana and continued that expansion across the Gulf of Mexico. Today, NextOp matches candidates from across the entire United States to careers from a variety of industries. Regardless of where a candidate is, they can connect with a NextOp Employment Coordinator who can provide transition services.
NextOp partners with employers across many industries, many of whom have a strong desire to recruit and retain veterans. We actively work with recruiters and corporate leadership to ensure the translation of military skills to civilian experience is not a barrier for veterans when being considered for the workforce. We match work-ready individuals to employers who are passionate about hiring military members.
We also partner with supporting organizations for recruiting, marketing, and large scale employer engagement, s well as those that provide specific expertise like career coaching and financial education, or provide services outside NextOps mission. These partnerships ensure efficient and effective services for our candidates and employers.
In October 2022, retired Captain Shelby Mounts, a former Navy helicopter pilot, took over as the Executive Director of NextOp. His primary responsibility is to ensure the NextOp Team has the strategy, resources, and leadership required to deliver the mission as efficiently as possible with maximum impact. His strategy includes a focus on driving employer engagement to enable employment opportunities across the entire United States. Part of that focus is on aerospace and defense, an industry that is keenly aware of the value this military talent provides. This has already created new opportunities with a wide range of employers, as well as pathways for training and certification to enable easier access for transitioning service members.
An example of this is a partnership with Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM https://atdm. org/). ATDM is a training center of excellence in Danville, VA., partly funded by the U.S. Navy, they have created five certification pathways for high demand skills in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), particularly the Submarine Industrial Base (SIB), with a goal to address critical skill shortfalls. Each intensive training pathway is free, includes housing, and is four months long. To maximize the attraction for transitioning service members, NextOp helped create a pilot program where candidates are hired by DIB employers and paid during training. This “earn while you learn” model removes the significant barrier associated with lack of pay during training and guarantees a job at the end of the training period - making it a win-win for the employers and the candidates. The expectation is that this pilot program will prove a successful model to then be scaled to meet the demand for trained and certified workers in the DIB/SIB.
Transitioning service members can enroll with NextOp up to a year prior to separation (or two years prior to retirement) at www.nextopvets.org. Once connected with an Employment Coordinator, they will soon have a clear understanding of the multiple opportunities available to them and how to attain them. For those interested in a training pathway, they can take advantage of numerous training opportunities available while still on active duty in order to achieve qualifications required for certain jobs.
Regardless of individual readiness or areas of interest, the NextOp Program is a proven, valuable service that has already enabled the successful transition of over 4,000 candidates. If you are a post-9/11 Enlisted service member or Veteran, please reach out for more information and take advantage of our years of experience helping military veterans like you.
For more information visit the NextOp Website, https:// nextopvets.org/ or email us at info@nextopvets.org.
