Introducing Shift Nominations

Do you know this person? You might just change their life.

I’m about to describe someone to you.

Odds are, it’s someone you know. Because there are about 250,000 of them living in America.

And you have an opportunity to change this person’s life.

"Okay, who are you talking about?"

This person is someone you care about, and someone you believe in deeply. Years back, they took a chance on a big opportunity and dedicated themselves to serving a higher cause: their country.

They grew as a person and as a professional. They learned new skills: like how to communicate priorities with teammates a world away, work collaboratively with people from every background, and thrive in chaos. Not to mention, technical skills that are hard to find anywhere else.

They have spent years working on a mission. And they are now ready to move onto the next one.

I’m talking about the 250,000 military servicemembers who are getting ready to leave the military this year, and transition into the civilian workforce.

And as someone who was once in those exact shoes — as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer in the Navy — I’m proud to tell you about a program that can help servicemembers make the most of their post-military career, and fundamentally alter their career trajectory.

"What’s the program?"

A few years back, the Department of Defense launched SkillBridge. Long story short, it’s an opportunity for soon-to-be-veterans to spend time working inside their new company’s office before they even leave the military.

For most servicemembers, making the leap from the military to a civilian career is a very serious moment in time. Despite all of the valuable skills you’ve learned during your years of service, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like to make the jump into working in Operations Management or Business Development in a new environment.

SkillBridge makes this possible. Rather than finishing your service at a base, you can spend it interning at a real company, with your salary and benefits covered by the military.

For many soon-to-be-veterans, this feels too good to be true.

Shift is making "too good to be true"... true.

Over the past couple years, the team at Shift has been hard at work making this program as easy as possible for anyone to join by removing barriers, aligning incentives, and building a truly prestigious network of partner companies all over the country.

We’ve cracked the code on helping servicemembers take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After immersing in this program for years, we’ve fine-tuned every aspect into something that we call the Shift Military Fellowship:

Here are just a few ways that we expand access to the SkillBridge program and make it even more enticing for transitioning servicemembers:

• Hands-on help getting approval from your Chain of Command to join this program. This is particularly important for junior enlisted servicemembers who don’t typically enjoy the same level of access to field-grade commanders as others. More than half of our Military Fellows have enlisted backgrounds.
• One-on-one consulting from our in-house Talent Team to discover where you’ll fit in best at our partner companies. Our goal is to move people as quickly as possible from a place of uncertainty ("Put me in for whatever looks like a fit") to conviction ("I ran high-level diplomatic engagements with foreign militaries, so I'm a strong match for Partnerships & Business Development roles").
• Assistance building resumes and LinkedIn profiles to help you get hired. We simplify the nuts and bolts of the hiring process and have done this hundreds of times. 
• Housing reimbursements, thanks to our partners, to defray costs of living in large cities during the program. We provide additional administrative support for junior enlisted servicemembers to initiate BAH payments once they vacate their barracks room.
• Access to world-class employers with cutting-edge opportunities, such as WeWork, Palantir, Symantec, and many more. This is important for servicemembers who want to relocate to major metropolitan job markets — particularly ones that aren't close to their current military installation.

We expose soon-to-be veterans to career opportunities they never dreamed of and help them through every step of this major career shift.

"I know a servicemember who could use this. How can I help?"

Today we’re announcing Shift Nominations, a way for anyone to recommend soon-to-be veterans as participants in the Military Fellows Program. 

If you know one of the 250,000 active-duty servicemembers who will be leaving the military this year, visit our Nominations page and learn how you can nominate someone for this program.

As a reward for getting the word out, we’re offering $500 to anyone (like you) each time they nominate a servicemember who accepts a Military Fellowship at one of our partner companies.

Currently, there’s no cap to the number of nominations you can make — it’s a token of gratitude for helping soon-to-be veterans explore the option of a SkillBridge internship powered by Shift. Our Nominations tracking tool lets you to see each nominee's progress every step of the way.

Who can be nominated? In terms of the ideal candidate, the short answer is that our Military Fellowships are a way for anyone to change careers, as long as they’re willing to put in the work. In fact, we don’t require a college degree, and we pride ourselves on finding opportunities that first and foremost value military experience. 

It’s not every day you can help launch someone’s career, let alone someone who has dedicated years of their life serving their country.

Will you make that day today?

—Mike