From veteran to social media manager
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sept. 13, 2022 – Katie Bridge served 12 years in the Army and Army Reserves as a Public Affairs Officer and photographer. She deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and went on patrol with combat units—often the only female soldier in the field. The experiences deepened her understating of Middle Eastern cultures and sharpened her photography skills. In between deployments, she covered Yellow Ribbon events where soldiers returning from wars reunited with their families.
Katie separated from the military to start a family while her husband remained on active duty. She experienced service both as a veteran and a military spouse! While taking care of her two kids Connor and Emma, Katie continued photography as a modest side business but yearned to reenter the civilian workforce full time. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic extended her time as a stay-at-home mom, like so many other women, and rocked her confidence when she considered returning to work. In a McKinsey report on “The pandemic’s gender effect”, they shared that “the COVID-19 crisis has driven as many as 2 million women – particularly mothers with young children – to consider leaving the workforce or stepping back from their careers.” While Katie may have been deterred, she didn’t let that stop her.
Katie began doing the work to search for, and apply to, job openings where she could leverage her military experience and personal passion for photography to identify and develop a career path for herself. However, she wasn’t quite sure where or how to start. Based on her research, she knew a career in digital marketing would likely be a solid match for her skills and experience, and with digital marketers in high demand – 92% growth in five years, she strapped up her boots and got busy.
By scrolling through LinkedIn one day, she learned about the Adecco Group Military Alliance and the “Service Scholarship” in partnership with online education leader, General Assembly. Katie knew it was the perfect opportunity to be upskilled in digital marketing, an interest of hers for quite some time. She was blown away when she did her research and discovered the Digital Marketing course encompassed a best-in-class curriculum:
- Designed with a focus on real-world relevance to ensure students graduate ready to tackle the challenges they will face in the field
- Build Campaigns that fuel business and amplify brands by diving into the essentials channels and tactics behind effective campaigns
- Get a head start with self-paced prep lessons to introduce the digital marketing landscape, objective-first marketing, and the conversion funnel
Katie excelled in her course at General Assembly and quickly secured a contract job as a social media manager. Four months later, she landed a second job and scored a 30% increase in pay.
“GA is 100% the reason I got the job as a social media manager,” Katie recalled. “They helped me build my career confidence and now I am in my dream job as a Communications Strategist with Lockheed Martin.”
Soon Katie will switch roles with her husband—after he retires, he’s going to be stay-at-home dad while she takes the defense contracting business by storm. Wishing you much continued success, Katie!
The Adecco Group Military Alliance Program is a partnership between military-affiliated groups, military installations in the United States, and the Adecco Group to recruit and hire veterans, wounded warriors, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses. Our military alliance champions assist veterans and military spouses with career development through free resume coaching, interview preparation, and access to upskilling courses through the Aspire Academy.
The Adecco Group US Foundation Service Scholarship provides women veterans and military spouses upskilling opportunities through online education leader, General Assembly. Course offerings include digital marketing, data analytics, UI/UX design, front-end web development, and more!
Since launching this scholarship program in 2021, more than 16 women veterans and military spouses have taken advantage of free courses through General Assembly.
About the Adecco Group
The Adecco Group is the world’s leading HR solutions company. We believe in making the future work for everyone, and every day enable more than 3.5 million careers.
We skill, develop, and hire talent in 60 countries, enabling organisations to embrace the future of work. As a Fortune Global 500 company, we lead by example, creating shared value that fuels economies and builds better societies.
Our culture of inclusivity, entrepreneurship and teamwork empowers our 35,000 employees. We are proud to have been consistently ranked one of the ‘World’s Best Workplaces’ by Great Place to Work®.
The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN). The Group is powered by three global business units: Adecco, Talent Solutions and Modis.