Senior Inventory Analyst at Sears Holdings Corporation
Army vet spends a full year planning his transition before landing his dream job as a senior inventory analyst with Sears.
by Warren Duffie

The most valuable skill Andrew Nelson learned in the Army was the ability to put things in perspective.

As a senior inventory analyst with Sears Holdings Corporation (SHC), Nelson deals with product vendors and sales contracts. Sometimes people don’t follow through with commitments or contracts are broken – risking the danger of thousands of stores not receiving ordered products. Tempers flare and stress levels soar.

However, Nelson, a former finance and Special Forces officer, always keeps his cool. “In the military, you’re placed in charge of expensive equipment and the lives of others at a young age,” he said. “You learn how to step back, take a macro view of a situation, and find an effective solution. That really helps in the civilian world, no matter how crazy things get.”

On the Job
Nelson, 34, works with SHC’s portable and bench power tools: drills, routers and sanders, to name a few. The former captain plans the purchase of thousands of tools for Sears and Kmart stores, helps maintain inventory levels and oversees when products are switched in and out of stores.

Based in Chicago, Nelson begins each work day at 0700 and meets with his inventory team to review the previous day’s sales reports and map out product placement and marketing. He also spends several hours in appointments with vendors before heading home at 1700.

The Company
Sears Holdings Corporation is America’s fourth-largest multiline retailer, with about 3,900 full-service and specialty stores in the U.S. and Canada. The corporation operates through several subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co., and Kmart Corporation.

The corporation places strong emphasis on recruiting military veterans. Some of the areas in which service members have excelled include inventory management, logistics management and retail management. Veterans also find success as service technicians. As part of its overall benefits package, SHC created the Military Pay Differential and Benefits Continuation program. This fills the gap between military and employer pay and benefits for 60 months after employees are called to Reserve or Guard service. SHC also works with the Army Spouse Employment Partnership to offer jobs to military spouses.

For its efforts, SHC received the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the Military Officers Association of America’s Distinguished Service Award, and was named a Top Military Friendly Employer® by G.I. Jobs for four consecutive years.

In Uniform
A native of Plano, Texas, Nelson graduated from West Point with an economics degree in 1999. After a stint in Hawaii, he completed the Special Forces officer qualifying course at Fort Bragg, followed by a tour in Okinawa.

The Transition
But by 2008 Nelson had accomplished all his military goals and wanted to find new challenges in the civilian world. So the Green Beret began preparing a year in advance, seeking advice from friends and former colleagues, reading classics like “What Color is Your Parachute?” and evaluating his career skills. He also planned his job search according to where he wanted to live and which companies appealed to him.

“I spoke to every recruiter I could,” Nelson said. “Sears attracted me because it’s a large company and I could work in the Chicago area, a place I always wanted to see. It was a very rigorous interview process. I had about 10 informal and formal interviews. My first day went very well. I wasn’t nervous, but there was a lot of paperwork to fill out.

“The pay and benefits are very good with Sears,” he continued. “Granted, in the military so many of your needs, like health care, are taken care of, but you put your life on the line. That’s something to consider before you leave the military for civilian employment.”

Nelson’s Advice
Figure out your goals. “Make sure you’re leaving the military for the right reasons. It’s a life-changing decision.”

Gather all the information you can. “Read books, do online research, and talk to people who have made the transition. You can’t have too much information.”

Prepare for change. “Understand that the civilian world is different from the military.”