The Power of Perspective: A Veteran’s Advantage in Business & Project Management

Thomas Phelps has years of team leadership and project management experience through 17+ years with Publix Super Markets, Inc and 8 years service in the military.

  Career Development  

Perspective is the most valuable trait I bring to business from my military experience.

Straight out of high school, I served an eight-year commitment in the US Army as a military policeman. I was so excited to have the opportunity to serve my country…I was a recruiter’s dream! They couldn’t get me in quick enough, and little did I know that as a baby-faced teenager, I was about to get some of the best training and life lessons that I would ever experience.

I can’t say that much of my job specific training in law enforcement serves me well as a project manager at a Fortune 100 company. I mean, what good does handcuffing suspects after being pepper sprayed do when I’m sitting at my desk drafting a scope document?

I can tell you, however, that my experience in de-escalating situations becomes quite useful when team members sometimes go a little too far past “constructive conflict.”

Many veterans with wartime occupational specialties often find it difficult to translate skills and experience on business resumes because they are too focused on specific task experience when they should be pulling out those soft skills.

There are so many amazing traits that veterans across the country bring with them from the military to their civilian careers, such as trustworthiness and reliability. Veterans make great hires regardless of …

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