Understanding how Veterans shift careers, can help us understand how any American can do the same thing.

On the 11th episode of the Skill Podcast, Micah shares a conversation with Mike Slagh, CEO of Shift, a venture backed career change program for military veterans. Mike is a graduate of the Naval Academy and the Kennedy School of Government, and a veteran of the Navy's Military Bomb Disposal program.

Mike and Micah discuss their shared experiences living in Boston, and explore how Shift is using fellowships with tech companies to help veterans transition to new careers.

Throughout this conversation, Mike and Micah cover the following topics:

• How Micah and Mike both found themselves in Boston in 2010. 
• Mike discover the world of Boston tech.
• The challenges of moving from grad school to bomb squad disposal.
• The rewards of a career in the military.
• The challenges any veteran faces when leaving the military.
• The founding story of Shift.
• The "do things that don't scale" career newsletter.
• What is "skill translation" and how does it help veterans find jobs?
• What is Industry Specific Context?
• How you acquire industry specific context.
• The three elements necessary in order to have a solid work transition.
• Shift’s core offering to veterans.
• The surprising barrier that Shift encountered when they tried to recruit vets for the program.
• The education barrier with employers, and the employer lightbulb moment.
• The challenges with scaling apprenticeships with employers.
• How to overcome these challenges.
• The future for Shift.
• The problem with time in higher ed.
• The future of work isn't so far away. In fact, it's today!

Articles and Organizations mentioned on this podcast:

• Shift's Fellowship Program
• Expa
• Do Things That Don’t Scale, by Paul Graham

You can connect with Mike on Twitter @MikeSlagh

You can connect with Micah at micah "at" skill.fm OR on Twitter @micahmerrick

.....

This episode of the Skill Podcast is presented by Skill FM.

Become a member of Skill.FM today, to join a network of people interested in putting today's innovations in work and education into practice. Members support the creation of new content and help shape the future of the podstation.