This Veteran Shares How He Navigated His Transition To Civilian Life

“Start preparing at least two years out,” says Ross Carkeet, a senior manager in Technology at Delta Dental, to active military servicemembers looking to make an eventual transition to the civilian workforce. Carkeet made the transition earlier in his life and has since had a successful (and fulfilling) career in information technology; however, he did not approach the transition lightly, and he advises soon-to-be veterans to be intentional about their preparation.

“Begin drafting a resume that translates military positions like Platoon Leader or Platoon Sergeant into civilian titles like manager and supervisor,” he says. “Next, determine what training or education gaps you may need to fill in your preferred career field, and seek out the courses or certifications to fill those gaps.”

Taking these individual steps is only one part of Carkeet’s advice. Equally important, he believes, is leaning on and building a support system, much like trusting and relying on fellow service members. For Carkeet, identifying and finding mentors is crucial as they can be key pillars of guidance, especially if they’ve made a similar transition in their life. “Leverage your network,” he says. “It’s the most critical key to getting a foot in the door with your future employer.”

Here, Carkeet shares how he parlayed the skills he learned in active service to a civilian career, explains his approach to management, and discusses what he loves about his job.

I began my career as a financial consultant, but that kind of work just wasn’t satisfying to me. As I was thinking about what could be a more satisfying career direction, I began talking with a good friend who was in the US Army. After many conversations, I eventually took the leap and enlisted. In my first five years in the late 1990s, I developed a technology skillset as the Army was beginning to rely more on computers. This skillset became a genuine interest, and I earned my commission as a US Army Signal Officer, the equivalent of being an IT people leader. I really enjoyed this line of work with a focus on IT infrastructure and end user computing systems, and I was fortunate to parlay that experience into a career after the Army.

My opportunity to interview came from a referral through my LinkedIn network. I saw the job posting as a great fit for my interests and my background, and a high school classmate was able to refer me to the hiring manager. I really enjoyed meeting all of the people I interviewed with, and I had a great conversation with the hiring manager, who is now my director. I knew the technical elements of the job would be a great fit for me, and through the interview process I was able to learn so much about the culture and the company that really excited me!

As a senior manager in Technology, I am responsible for the operational delivery and technology ownership of the tools and technologies that empower our colleagues to connect, communicate, and collaborate. I also lead the direction and work activities of two technology teams. One team manages Microsoft 365 (email, online meetings, intranet, file storage), and the other team manages and maintains the technologies for remote desktops and remote applications. My teams strive to bring together people, processes and technologies in a seamless way that allows our employees to take exceptional care of our customers, providers, and each other.

One of our company values is trust, and I trust my team to do their work. It can be challenging sometimes managing the team across different time zones, but it helps having a balanced team of experienced technologists who have the authority to act quickly on things if I’m not available. I meet with each employee once each week and we have recurring team meetings to keep ourselves on track. We structure our work with clear objectives and desired outcomes, and then we work towards those within realistic timelines. This way of working is a good fit for my team, and it’s proven itself to be very effective during my five years here.

The people I work with are the number one reason that I’m happy and stay motivated! The other reason is that I really enjoy the work I do, which is categorized as the “digital workplace.” My first two years were spent leading transformation initiatives to modernize many of our digital workplace platforms, and the last couple of years have been focused on improving the maturity of those platforms and leading the work to integrate the tools into how our employees communicate and collaborate with each other. We are looking to modernize our remote desktop experiences in 2026, so we have much more modernization and innovation in front of us. All of these technology changes and improvements are exciting and are part of what keeps me motivated.

By the time I joined Delta Dental I had already been out of the service for five years, so I did not need the transition support, but I noticed immediately that the company supports veterans in many ways. Although our inclusion community is new, it spotlights the unique skills of veterans, provides resources for growth, and fosters community involvement. The company also promotes veteran hiring through recruiter and manager training on veteran resumes to help identify candidates for our open roles. We celebrate veterans through social media campaigns, internal storytelling on our intranet, and through partnerships with organizations like the Disabled American Veterans and sponsorship of employees to attend their winter recreational sports clinic. All of these efforts are strengthening our foundation of support for our military veterans.

Our veterans and allies inclusion community is called Military Partnership for Advocacy, Community, and Transition, or MPACT as an acronym. Pronounced just like the word “impact,” the name epitomizes our intent, which is to help our company understand and realize the impact and benefits of hiring veterans and family members, for embracing a culture of advocacy and mentorship, for providing resources for growth, and for fostering community involvement. It’s a fantastic community that I co-lead with an amazing partner and wonderful steering committee. We all are dedicated allies ourselves and we are all proud of the incredible “impact” we’ve made in our first year!

There are a few skills that I developed in the military that are still relevant and useful in my current position. I think first of all, leadership in the broad sense of providing people and teams with purpose, motivation, and direction. The second is organization, whether it’s organizing my day, planning an important stakeholder meeting, developing my thoughts for an executive presentation, or planning an extensive project. The third, and most important one, is the human element of empathy, which requires listening, taking perspective, withholding judgment, and communicating effectively. All of these skills have helped me tremendously in my role here with Delta Dental.

I enjoy time with my family and staying active, whether it’s swimming, cycling, working in the yard, or staying up to date on emerging technologies. I also really enjoy cooking meals for my family! Every time we host an event, I take on the responsibility of planning and making the meal. As a result, I have way too many cooking gadgets in the kitchen. And about two years ago I learned how to make sourdough bread, so we always have delicious fresh bread in the house!