From Soldier To Civilian

I joined Rocket Companies^® more than 5 years ago. I was in the Army before this as a cryptologic linguist – don’t let the complicated name fool you, I was a glorified translator.

Transitioning from military life to civilian life is tough. While all of us went through the Military Transition Assistance Program, it doesn’t quite help – not really. You’re given all the options but not really given the tools you need to act on those options.

I’m glad I took a role at Rocket Companies^®. It was great transitioning into the civilian world with a company that truly wants to help the veteran community. Here are some of the ways they do it.

I joined Rocket Companies^® through the Tour of Duty program, a 6-month paid program for transitioning service members. Think of it like an internship, but with better pay and a bit longer time frame.

I worked on the Technology team and met with my recruiter every month for an evaluation – just to get my thoughts on the program and to see how I was doing. By the time my 6-month program ended, I was hired in.

Being hired in isn’t always the case, but all of the skills and experience I picked up during the program were invaluable and things I could’ve taken to any other job if I needed to. It also helps to have America’s largest mortgage lender¹ on your resume.

One of the only reasons I even learned about the Tour of Duty program was because of the Veteran Hiring team. This is a team that’s dedicated to hiring veterans, transitioning service members, student veterans, National Guard and military spouses.

What’s really special is that they’re all veterans themselves. They understand the hardships of transitioning from a military career to a civilian career and they lead you down a path of success at Rocket Companies^®.

They don’t just hire you in, but they make sure you comfortably fit in. You’re encouraged to attend events to immerse you in the culture, and they regularly meet with you to make sure everything’s going well on your end.

Rocket Companies^® is all about culture and community, which is what makes Team Member Resource Networks (TMRNs) such a welcome addition. TMRNs are groups of volunteer team members who form a community around a common experience, which, in the case for veterans, would be the Veteran Network. The group is comprised of veterans, National Guard, military spouses and allies.

Don’t worry, though, it’s not all just us making fun of other military branches. We host information sessions about veteran issues and benefits that some veterans don’t even know about. And, we celebrate some of the big holidays for the U.S. military, like the very important Army–Navy game. #GoArmy

But, if you do want to make fun of other branches, we have that, too. Civilians may never fully grasp the inherent branch competition that comes with being in the military and why we always make fun of the Coast Guard, but your fellow veterans do!

The last thing I want to touch on is the amazing work that we’ve done with Built For Zero to help end veteran homelessness. It’s one thing to say that we care about veterans, but it’s another to actually take the steps to show that we care . Built For Zero is a movement of more than 80 cities and counties that are dedicated to ending veteran homelessness. So far, 14 of these counties have ended homelessness by reaching a standard called functional zero, a milestone that shows a community has solved homelessness for their population.

Transitioning from military to civilian life is tough, but it all starts with one step. I took that first step with Rocket Companies^® and I’m happy to be part of an organization that has a strong connection to the veteran community.

¹Based on Quicken Loans data in comparison to public data records.