“It’s not fibbing or it’s not equivocating or lying, it’s just allowing for if I’m applying for an operations manager role, I have to really tailor my resume to talk about operations management throughout my career from the beginning, and take out the things that have no reason or don’t align with that particular role. So it’s tough to do that. It’s tough to take out things that ... some swords that you had to fall on, real things you worked through, some things you really worked hard on. I have several resumes that don’t have my Marine Corps service on them because I don’t have room in 25 years of service to put everything in, so I talk about specific roles that align with each particular role that I’m applying for.”
Why Listen:
Shannon’s military career includes time in both the Marine Corps and the National Guard, and so he has faced multiple transitions. Shannon has been a mentor at the University of Minnesota and it comes through - he has so much great advice on topics including:
resumes - how he has nearly a dozen version of his resume based on to what job he is applying.
being Clark Kent - not always revealing your super powers. yes, you may have dozens and dozens of crazy stories from the military, but based on the position to which you’re applying, you may just pick one choice gem out and leave the rest in the bag, unused in both your resume and your interview preparation.
networking - Shannon has received several jobs and - more importantly - very helpful intel about the jobs to which he is applying - due to his approach to networking.
We talk about dealing with depression, we talk about how most of what you need in your civilian career you learned in the military, but it is ALL about lifelong learning - about building skills and adding to them every step of the way. Shannon is a great example of this - he’s held three different jobs and also earned his MBA leading up to his role at Xcel… while he may have gone directly into the energy industry, his circitiuos route was exactly what we needed. and we talk about the Energy Industry - why you don’t have to be a navy nuke like me to go into the energy industry - we talk about all the disruption and changes going on, and how they NEED fresh perspectives, like Shannons, who has no direct background in energy.
This is a sponsored interview - which means that Xcel Energy supports Beyond the Uniform financially so that we can continue to do this work, for free to Veterans. I’m very grateful for their support. Although this is a sponsored interview, Shannon and I only talk about Xcel Energy for about 4-5 minutes in this hour long conversation. The rest is packed with tactics and tidbits to help you in your career path, whatever that may be.
About Shannon:
Shannon Gregory is a Program Manager, Enterprise Resiliency for Xcel Energy. He started out in the Marine Corps, where he served in the infantry for over six years. He has also served in the Army National Guard for nearly 8 years. His post military career has included working as a Rotory Wing Pilot at Air Methods, a Senior Corporate Security Manager at Target, and a Safety Business Consultant at Predictive Safety SRP. He holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a BS from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Our Sponsor:
StoryBox- People trust each other more than advertising. StoryBox provides the tools and supports businesses need to take the best things customers say about them, and use them to drive more sales and referrals. StoryBox offers a 10% discount to companies employing veterans of the US Armed Forces.
Audible is offering one FREE audio book to Beyond the Uniform listeners. You can claim this offer here, and see a list of books recommended by my guests at BeyondTheUniform.io/books
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