VETERANS' TRANSITIONS - BY DAMIEN BERTOLO

Good Morning,

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I'd be more than happy to share my story. I'll include the cliff notes version below, and if interested I am happy to write it out fully:

Via MEA and NYMEA groups on LinkedIn I was introduced to Lu Caldera and Mike Abrams back in late 2011 early 2012. I made my exit from the Marine Corps after 9 years of service in June 2012. Mike and Lu both mentored me and helped me get introduced into networks in NYC where I had never lived before but moved to after getting out.

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Through Mike, Lu, and the network I was introduced to through FourBlock (Mike's Organization) I eventually moved my career into Recruitment and Veteran Transitions as an agency recruiter for a staffing agency in Manhattan. I built the business architecture for a dedicated Veteran Recruitment Division. My time there was short, before I began consulting for the New York Stock Exchange as a Talent Acquisition Professional and working on their Veteran Initiatives.

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I was a participant in the NYSE Euronext 2nd Annual Veteran Associate Program, and upon completion remained as a full-time employee to continue work in Talent Acquisition and Veteran Initiative outreach and program development. The nyx.com website is about to go public with Hiring Manuals, and additional documents that I fully authored, or had majorly authored and produced that will help organizations understand how to find, screen, select and retain Veteran Talent in Corporate America.

Upon completing that project, my time at NYSE was completed, and I have recently accepted a role at AIG, as a Campus Recruiter in their Global University Relations Department. There I will also be responsible for the development and operation of a Veteran Associate program and overall Veteran initiatives.

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I have been asked to be a volunteer mentor for Mike Abram's FourBlock Foundation, where I mentor and provide resume, interview and personal branding guidance and mentorship to FourBlock students. Additionally my work at NYSE and experience with Veterans and branding has allowed me the opportunity to provide consulting information to other large organizations (currently to remain unnamed) that will now be building Veteran Initiatives and programs in their organizations.

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More can be found about my work and professional history since my exit from the Marine Corps at: www.linkedin.com/in/bertolodp

 

S/F,

Damien Bertolo