Transitioning from military service to civilian life is a significant mission. Just like any operation, it requires careful preparation, the right tools, and a strong support team. Are you equipping yourself for success in your post-military career journey?
The Distinctive Edge of FourBlock’s Career Readiness Program
FourBlock is at the forefront of revolutionizing veteran transition and career readiness. We cultivate a nationwide network connecting veterans and employers, all dedicated to empowering returning service members to achieve meaningful careers after their military service. Our unique approach involves creating direct engagement between veterans and employers, fostering dialogues about career pathways, mutual learning, and the development of valuable professional relationships.
Veterans in transition and those already in civilian life can tap into the FourBlock community from anywhere. This access allows them to master best practices for career transitions, explore diverse career opportunities, and expand their professional networks, regardless of location.
Explore our upcoming program dates for both location-based and virtual regional programs to find the best fit for your needs.
Immerse Yourself in Our Comprehensive Career Readiness Program
FourBlock’s Career Readiness Program is meticulously crafted to provide transitioning service members and veterans with essential resources. We empower you to gain professional insights and cultivate crucial relationships that pave the way for a successful transition into fulfilling civilian careers. By partnering with leading companies across the nation and collaborating with Columbia University, we deliver a world-class career transition program.
Each week, program participants engage with employer representatives from various prominent companies and industries. These interactions are designed to provide firsthand exposure to corporate cultures, hone vital technical skills for effective job searches, and, most importantly, facilitate connections with both veteran and civilian professionals for lasting relationship building.
Our Career Readiness Program is offered biannually, during the fall and spring academic semesters, in major metropolitan areas nationwide. This program is provided at no cost to veterans, underscoring our commitment to your successful transition. Taught by experienced Career Readiness Instructors and guest speakers—industry professionals and executives from top-tier companies—the program ensures participants are connected to current hiring practices and actively building their professional networks from day one. Our curriculum is continuously updated yearly to reflect the latest advancements in career development and learning methodologies, ensuring its relevance and effectiveness.
Participants in the program benefit from personalized support through volunteer Veteran Career Readiness Coaches. These dedicated coaches—FourBlock alumni, company representatives, and advocates for veteran success—offer valuable feedback, address individual transition challenges and career inquiries, and assist in shaping personalized career search strategies and plans.
Upon graduating from the program, FourBlock alumni are equipped with an actionable roadmap for their ongoing career search. They gain enhanced communication skills to effectively articulate their military experience, a deeper understanding of corporate environments, and a significantly expanded professional network. Our commitment extends beyond program completion, offering alumni continuous career counseling and access to our nationwide networking and professional development events, both virtual and in-person.
FourBlock has created a comprehensive transition program that is engaging, insightful, and effective. They are essential for veterans seeking new career opportunities.
Michael Burten, FourBlock Alumni, Columbia University
The FourBlock Experience: Building Relationships for Career Success
At the heart of the FourBlock program is the emphasis on relationship building. We strategically connect veterans with employers to foster mutual learning, initiate professional relationships, and explore potential career opportunities. Each session is structured to facilitate meaningful conversations between every participant and attending corporate representative. Our curriculum is specifically designed to prepare each participant for these crucial relationship-building interactions and subsequent professional dialogues.
Even after course completion, our dedicated team remains available to support alumni as they take concrete steps toward discovering a new sense of purpose in a meaningful civilian career. FourBlock alumni are encouraged to actively engage with our community in ways that resonate with their professional goals and aspirations. This involvement could range from becoming future Career Readiness Instructors or volunteer Career Readiness Coaches to participating in employer panels or recruiting from our next cohort of talented veterans.
Other programs just seem to repeat the same information but FourBlock contains a vast array of information designed to better market yourself to employers.
Evan Barker, FourBlock Alumni, NYC Emergency Mgmt Dept
Our Cutting-Edge Career Readiness Curriculum
Developed in collaboration with Columbia University, our curriculum is a robust and evidence-based professional development program. It employs a blended learning approach, integrating pre-session reflections, online engagements through our FourBlock Connect portal, and practical, face-to-face application in both in-person and virtual formats. Throughout the semester, our students delve into course modules designed to deepen their personal and professional understanding. This comprehensive approach supports their transition from military service or higher education into the civilian workforce, enabling them to find purpose and direction in their new careers.
We incorporate the established principles of Experiential Learning and Community of Inquiry to maximize the program’s impact. Our lessons and assignments are delivered asynchronously via FourBlock Connect, while our course sessions are synchronous, instructor-led events (in-person or virtual), enriched by employer panels and practical application exercises.
Participants are expected to complete weekly assignments and participate in online discussions with instructors and fellow cohort members before each session. During each session, executive leaders from prominent companies and industries within the program’s location deliver presentations. This provides participants with real-world perspectives on how the week’s lesson applies in today’s professional landscape.
Furthermore, exposure to diverse companies, industries, and guest lecturers broadens participants’ horizons, allowing them to discover potential career paths they may not have previously considered. Each session allocates dedicated time for relationship building and practical application activities—including guided discussions, resume reviews, mock interviews, and general networking—all facilitated by professionals from the host company.
Key Learning Objectives of the Career Readiness Program
Veterans who successfully complete our Career Readiness Program will achieve the ability to:
- Embody FourBlock’s Core Values: Demonstrate humility, build trust-based relationships, and engage with others intelligently and thoughtfully.
- Effectively Translate Military Skills: Communicate the value of their military experience through targeted resumes, optimized LinkedIn profiles, and compelling interview and networking conversations.
- Exhibit Professional Confidence: Interact confidently and professionally in any workplace setting.
- Gain Career Clarity: Develop a deeper understanding of their strengths, priorities, and aspirations for a civilian career, clarifying how they wish to continue serving their community and country.
- Build and Leverage Professional Networks: Establish, expand, and effectively utilize a robust professional network.
- Explore Diverse Career Paths: Discover and investigate new career paths, industries, and companies, uncovering hidden opportunities that align with their skills and interests.
- Align Personal Values with Corporate Culture: Understand the alignment between their personal values and various corporate cultures to make informed career decisions.
Moreover, our alumni gain invaluable opportunities to:
- Investigate New Industries and Companies: Explore a wide range of industries, companies, and career fields, uncovering hidden opportunities that match their unique skills, attributes, and interests.
- Develop a Targeted Company List: Create a focused list of at least fifteen target companies for internship and full-time employment opportunities.
- Expand Professional Networks: Establish or significantly expand their professional network within their current or desired location, as well as across the extensive national FourBlock community.
FourBlock puts veterans in front of the right people and is designed to give veterans willing to put forth the extra effort an opportunity.
Chase Magann, FourBlock Alumni, Auburn University
Our Esteemed Corporate Partners in Veteran Career Readiness
Our corporate partners are integral to every aspect of the Career Readiness Program. This deep integration empowers our students to make informed and strategic career decisions while enabling our partner organizations to cultivate a robust veteran hiring pipeline. Each week, our cohorts visit different host companies throughout their city, gaining firsthand exposure to real-world corporate learning environments. Senior executives and fellow veteran employees from our partner companies lead both large and small group discussions with our cohorts. This direct engagement allows participants to learn from today’s industry leaders and understand the practical application of each week’s lesson in a corporate setting.
Exposure to these leading companies and guest presenters provides course participants with opportunities to build and expand their professional networks, gain valuable insights into corporate culture and executive leadership, and discover potential industry alignments they may not have previously considered. Each class session includes dedicated time for practical application exercises such as networking events, resume reviews, and mock interviews, all conducted with professionals from the host company.
We proudly partner with over 60 top companies nationwide. This collaborative network introduces exceptional career opportunities to our veterans and establishes a strong pipeline connecting our talented veteran alumni with leading organizations.
FourBlock is our competitive advantage.
Dan Baulig, Senior Vice President, Marsh Global
Meet Our Expert Career Readiness Instructors
Our Career Readiness Instructors and guest speakers are accomplished professionals and senior executives from some of the world’s most respected companies.
The FourBlock Career Readiness Instructor serves as the primary frontline team member and direct service instructor for the Veteran Career Readiness Program. They work closely with the FourBlock Regional Director, Career Readiness Coaches, local employer partners, and veteran service organizations to effectively deliver our comprehensive Career Readiness Program curriculum to cohorts of transitioning service members and veterans seeking impactful new careers.
Thank you FourBlock for giving me these opportunities. The engagements we had were like no other classes I have taken before.
Lyon Henry, FourBlock Alumni, Amazon
Our Dedicated Veteran Community
Our cohorts are composed of Post-9/11 veterans from all branches of the U.S. military. These include both enlisted service members and officers, many with four to six years of service in combat arms, intelligence, logistics, and IT specialties.
Our veterans typically demonstrate above-average academic achievement, often participating in the program during their junior year of undergraduate studies or their first year of graduate programs. They choose FourBlock as a key partner in their professional development and career advancement.
A typical cohort is approximately 75% former enlisted personnel and 25% former officers. The majority are pursuing bachelor’s or MBA degrees. Around 60% of our veterans express interest in careers in finance, international affairs, and consulting, with the remaining 40% focusing on fields such as accounting, cybersecurity, engineering, intelligence, IT, journalism, and marketing.
Our veterans come from top universities across the nation, including Columbia University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Northeastern University, NYU, UC Berkeley, US Military Academy, US Naval Academy, and numerous others.
The impact of FourBlock is evident. Their program helps better prepare veterans to be leaders at every level in the respective industries they chose to join.
Michael Donoghue, Partner, PwC
Undeniable Results of Our Career Readiness Program
As we celebrate over 13 years of dedicated service, we remain committed to expanding our impact and assisting even more service members and veterans in successfully transitioning to meaningful civilian careers. The outcomes of our programs are clear: veterans make more informed career decisions, and employers make stronger hiring choices. Together, we are continually improving the military transition process.
FourBlock Alumni Report*
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FourBlock is Significantly Impacting the Workforce: An impressive 87% of our veteran alumni actively seeking civilian employment reported securing a meaningful career within six months of program completion. Furthermore, 84% maintain their initial post-program employment for at least 12 months, significantly exceeding the national average veteran retention rate of just 57% for first jobs after military service.**
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FourBlock Enhances Corporate Understanding of Veterans: An overwhelming 99% of our host companies affirm that partnering with FourBlock provides a meaningful avenue for community contribution. 95% of employee participants agree or strongly agree that their involvement with FourBlock deepened their understanding of the military community and the valuable skills veterans bring to their organizations.
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FourBlock Delivers Proven Results: Over 4,000 veterans have successfully completed our Career Readiness Program and transitioned into fulfilling civilian careers. FourBlock alumni have been hired for internships and full-time positions at more than 500 companies globally upon program completion.
Three of our core partner companies have each hired over 30 FourBlock veterans. Our alumni have received coveted full-time and internship offers from industry leaders such as PwC, T-Mobile, Wells Fargo, LinkedIn, Boeing, ADP, and USAA, among many others.
*Based on Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 pre- and post-assessment survey data
**IVMF and Syracuse University study
