The fourth part of my Transition blog will cover Syracuse University’s Veteran Career Transition Programs – Veteran (VCTP)

Before I begin, I want to reiterate that these blogs are not meant to be positive or negative. The intent is to show what I encountered during my transition. If one person has some value added to their transition because of these blogs, then I have been successful.

The VCTP at Syracuse is an outstanding program. I actually don’t think this program receives enough publicity and praise for everything they are doing for Veterans. I have received world class customer service support whenever I had an inquiry or a question. I especially want to recognize Kimberly Keller for always answering all of my numerous questions.

VCTP provides training in various professional areas. I used VCTP to prepare for my SPHR certification. I was provided computer study modules that covered every area of the SPHR. I was also provided a free sample test to take to show how I will do on the actual SPHR certification. VCTP also pays for the certification test. Which in the case of the SPHR is around $500.

So VCTP pays for all the training, the practice test and the actual certification. This is a huge assist and worth at least a couple of thousand dollars. I know a lot of Veterans who have used their PMP training and I have heard nothing but great things from Veterans about their experiences with this certification.

Another great transition program provided by Syracuse is their Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). IVMF provides a Boots2Business course for transitioning Veterans that is very insightful and informative. I have to admit that when I signed up for the course, I thought it would cover how to go from working in a military environment to a business environment. The course actually shows you the basics of starting your own business. Since starting my own business is something I am interested in, I jumped all over this opportunity.

The course was 8 weeks long with reading and written assignments conducted every week. Their was also interaction with other students via the course Dropbox. So everyone received constant feedback on their business ideas. With students being from all over the world, the different business ideas were quite interesting.

The instructor Jared Bauer previously served as the President and Executive Director of two companies in the healthcare and education sector. Jared had experience over the past 10 years working to grow businesses into new territories and realms while navigating through various regulatory hurdles. So his insights were most valuable to all of us. He always provided great support to us during the time period of this course.

Some of the subjects covered were the following: Business plans, Private Equity, how to incorporate, Marketing and regulatory compliance.

The certification from VCTP and the Boots2Business course from IVMF are two great tools to assist you in your transition.