Finding a Career That’s Money
Veterans use leadership and management skills to cash in on jobs in the financial services industry.
By Andrea Downing Peck

West Point graduate Vincent Ferreri’s time as a paratrooper in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division would appear to have done little to prepare him for his current career as an actuary with Prudential Financial Inc. However, the Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran said his military service has provided a surprisingly good springboard into the financial services industry.

“I was a paratrooper,” Ferreri said. “I now run a math model. They sound as different as they could be. What I have found since I’ve worked here is there are certain competencies that were drilled into me as an Army officer that have served me far better in the corporate world than I ever could have imagined.”

Ferreri’s military training taught him how to design a work breakdown schedule, delegate assignments and communicate between functional areas. Those management skills have served him well when dealing with both dollars and drop zones.

“All these things I learned to do in the Army, I am now continuing to do in a very dissimilar field,” he said.

The financial services sector encompasses a wide range of jobs, from accounting and asset management to insurance, information technology, banking and real estate. While a finance background is a plus when seeking a job, it is not a deal-breaker. Companies such as Prudential Financial, State Farm and USAA are eager to hire veterans who bring to their new careers leadership skills, a strong work ethic and adaptability.

Finding A Way Into The Industry
Garrett Radigan was medically retired from the Army in 2009 due to injuries from a helicopter crash in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. While Radigan’s résumé did not include a finance-related degree or work experience, he did have an interest in business and investing that dated back to high school.

USAA’s recruiters found a way to utilize Radigan’s talents and interests by hiring him as a life insurance and annuity representative. Today, Radigan is completing USAA’s Life Insurance Advice New Hire course while also serving on the deployment response team, which provides financial planning advice to service members preparing for deployments.

Radigan’s goal is to become a certified financial planner, and his job as an insurance representative has put him on a path toward fulfilling that dream.

“Having an idea of where you want to go is helpful,” Radigan said. “I was having a problem trying to find a way to get there. That is why I was very happy with USAA’s recruiters. They asked me what I wanted to do and told me a way to get there.”

Recession Takes Its Toll, But Industry Adding Jobs
The recession swept a pall over the financial services industry as Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns and Washington Mutual vanished from the landscape and more than 234,000 jobs in banking, insurance and investment fields disappeared, according to figures from Economic Modeling Specialists Inc.

Boom and bust, however, symbolizes the cyclical nature of the stock market and the financial services industry as a whole. The industry now appears ripe for a rebound. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 12-percent employment growth between 2008 and 2018. That is good news for service members looking to swap military uniforms for Wall Street pinstripes.

USAA Maintains Unique Ties to Military Community
While a job in the financial services industry may not be an obvious choice for veterans looking for a post-military career, USAA Military Talent Manager John DiPiero said it should be.

“There are myriad opportunities for veterans getting out if they are interested in pursing a career in a company like USAA,” DiPiero said. “And there are a lot of great companies out there in the financial services business, but you are probably not going to find one like us.”

A group of Army officers formed USAA in 1922 to enable them to insure their automobiles. Today, the company serves 7.7 million customers, offering insurance, banking and investment products. Membership is open to active military, veterans, USAA members’ adult children and spouses, as well as widows, widowers and former spouses of members.

DiPiero, who spent 29 years flying helicopter and fixed wing aircraft in the Air Force, said most veterans who apply for a job at USAA are familiar with the company’s products and services. Yet they are surprised by the array of career opportunities available.

Opportunities from the Ground Up
A longtime USAA customer, Tony Bishop targeted the company after a 29-year career in the Air Force. He now serves as director of USAA’s enterprise operations center, which provides command and control for daily operations and incident response.

USAA’s business reputation and core values attracted Bishop to the company, as did its headquarters’ location in San Antonio.

“I feel blessed to have been able to serve our nation and I feel even more blessed to continue to serve those who are serving by being a part of USAA,” Bishop said.

DiPiero said an enlisted service member or officer could enter the company as a customer service representative and advance into a management position. A veteran with project management expertise could be hired as a USAA program manager.

USAA targets transitioning officers through its Junior Military Officer Career Development Program, which enables those selected to spend two years developing their business acumen as they rotate through facets of the company such as technology, process engineering, property and casualty operations or banking.

Don’t ‘Self-Eliminate’
After retiring from the Air Force in 2005, John Hancock joined USAA’s marketing department before moving into corporate communications. During a job search, Hancock said veterans should consider themselves qualified for a wide range of positions – even if they believe “there is just no way I could do that job.”

“Don’t self-eliminate,” Hancock said. “What people in the military often do is fail to remember the skills they bring by just being a military member.”

USAA’s job openings are posted at www.usaa.apply2jobs.com. For most jobs, minimum and preferred skill sets will be written into the job description. While it is important to have the right skill set, DiPiero said being a “cultural fit” is equally important at USAA, which employs more than 4,000 veterans and military spouses and has offices in San Antonio, Phoenix, Colorado Springs and Tampa.

A service member looking to switch gears and enter a new career field should attempt to earn certifications and belong to organizations pertinent to that new job while still in the military.

“The sooner you get started down the road to the job you want, the better off you are,” DiPiero advised.

Prepare For The Job You Want
West Point graduate Joseph Montanaro got a jump start on a new career while still on active duty. Knowing his passion was in investments and finance, the platoon leader completed several investment advisor exams while on active duty.

“When I was looking for [job] opportunities, instead of coming in cold, I had some of the tools in the tool kit that were necessary,” said Montanaro, who left active duty in 1993 and then retired from the Army Reserve in 2009.

Montanaro joined USAA in 2002 after working as a financial planner for American Express. While his civilian career appears to have little in common with his military one, Montanaro said the analytical skills both jobs require are similar.

“Anybody who has served in the military has been through the methodical planning process that goes into any sort of military operation,” he said. “The variables are different and what you are looking at is very different, but the process of figuring out what the situation is, what the strengths and weaknesses are and how you can address them certainly relate to that military experience.”

Montanaro said working as a financial planner is rewarding because “you are ultimately helping people achieve goals, whether it is sending kids to college, retiring or putting enough money away to buy that first house.”

Get A Piece of the Rock at Prudential
Headquartered in Newark, N.J., Prudential Financial has operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America. Its businesses include life insurance, annuities, retirement-related products, mutual funds, investment management and real estate services.

Working as an actuary in Prudential’s life insurance area, Ferreri projects cash flows and reserve requirements to ensure Prudential can meet its financial obligations. His new mission is much different than the one he had in the Army, where he was responsible for the training, leadership and lives of 87 people.

Transitioning from an “out in front leader to an individual contributor” has been Ferreri’s biggest challenge.

“I transferred to the corporate world and things are financial driven,” he said. “You don’t get that 87-person staff. You are working by yourself with a computer. What I found was just because I am no longer wearing the green tabs in the Army, it doesn’t mean I can’t be a leader.”

Program Gives Vets Entry to Financial Services Industry
Amber Newsome, who spent seven years in the Army after enlisting directly out of high school, is a participant in Prudential’s Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS) veterans program, which is a joint work-study venture with the nonprofit WOS organization and Rutgers University-Newark.

A finance major in Rutgers’ business school, Newsome is receiving information technology certification and on-the-job IT training with Prudential’s investment management group. She said the program is helping her learn the financial analyst’s job from the inside out.

“Finance has become so intertwined with technology,” Newsome said. “Everything has gone global. IT is a huge part of finance and tracking money flows.”

Prudential participates in the WOS program in part because company leaders believe corporations have a duty to help veterans transition into the civilian work force.

“Corporate America has the responsibility to help our veterans get back to work,” said Lori High, president, Prudential Group Insurance. “The reality of it is we want them to get a job. We’ll give them a job at Prudential, but if at some point in time they decide some place else geographically is where they need to be, we’re supportive of that because it is about employment and getting them going.”

Toni McDaniel, Prudential’s director of diversity recruiting, said Prudential recruits military veterans because they are top-notch candidates for entry level to management positions.

“We are very broad when it comes to the skill sets we look for,” McDaniel said. “Individuals with a finance interest or who have that background, certainly, Prudential is an ideal place to be.”

Entry-level positions vary from insurance-related customer service call center jobs to actuary, accounting, finance and financial sales associates.

State Farm’s Mission
State Farm, which insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the United States, is on a mission to attract more veterans to the company.

Jim Kinkade, vice president of State Farm Agency, believes military members are particularly qualified to become State Farm agents.

“Part of being a great State Farm agent is your ability to lead and develop a team,” Kinkade said. “The agency role is really about managing, leading and developing team members and associates. The military is one of the better places to get people who have leadership training and leadership skills.”

Because veterans are mission-oriented and self-directed, they often thrive in the entrepreneurial role required of State Farm agents, who are all independent contractors.

“Not every veteran will make a great State Farm agent,” Kinkade said, “but there are a lot of veterans who possess a lot of the characteristics of being a great State Farm agent.”

When selecting potential agents, State Farm considers “competencies,” ranging from adaptability and leadership courage to business acumen and inclusiveness. Kinkade said one of the best ways for people new to the industry to develop business acumen is by spending a year or two working for an agent.

While Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm is one of the nation’s leading insurance companies, it offers veterans other job opportunities as well, ranging from information technology to actuary and accounting.

Military Training Pays Off at State Farm
Army National Guardsman Garren King is a systems analyst in State Farm’s Business Intelligence unit. He credits his military training with providing him with the ability to function well in an ever-changing environment.

“In the IT industry – and at State Farm specifically, you have to be open to change,” King said. “You have to be open to new ways to do things. I think that is right up the alley of a military person because they are used to that type of environment.”

The slower pace in corporate America, however, may be an adjustment for many veterans.

 “If somebody is used to being in a very fast-paced combat or military environment, going to any type of corporate situation, the pace is slower than expected,” King said. “That’s what I noticed

the most. It is not a bad thing. Just different.”

As a National Guardsmen, King appreciates State Farm’s military-friendly policies, which include a salary and benefit offset while called to active duty. When he returned from a yearlong deployment to Kosovo, King was asked to share with State Farm’s senior management team his experiences of working with multinational organizations. Perhaps most importantly, King’s career at State Farm remained on track despite his time away.

“When I did come back, I was given several options of what I wanted to do and none of those was going backwards,” he said.

Solid Benefits Package
Benefit packages at financial services companies typically are strong. Medical, dental and vision care, as well as insurance coverage and defined benefit pension and 401(k) savings plans and professional development programs, are the norm.

Individual companies, however, may offer added perks.

For example, Prudential prides itself on family friendly policies, offering telecommuting, child care, adoption aid, paid maternity leave and up to 26 weeks of parental leave (the first two weeks are paid).

At USAA, unique benefits include access for all employees to USAA products and services, as well as the option to buy and sell paid time off. State Farm makes its mark by offering flexible work arrrangements, a comwellness program, financial education and very competitive starting salaries above the market average.