Here are the slides I used to record this episode of the podcast: Debt, College, and Discretionary Spending   Here’s the screencast:

Joel Schofer's Career Planning Podcast

Debt, College, and Discretionary Spending

Here are the slides I used for this episode of the podcast: Tips on Building Your Career During Residency

Tips to Build Your Career During Residency

Navy Medicine has been undergoing a lot of change. We have a new Surgeon General, a new Corps Chief, and a renewed focus on readiness. With these changes come a new career progression and path for the Medical Corps (MC) Officer (PDF version, PPT version). Let’s take a look at the new model and discuss […]

The New Medical Corps Career Progression Slide – What Does It Mean to You?

What better to do during a global pandemic than listen to a screencast about managing your career! Here are the PPT slides I used for it: Playing the Game – Managing Your Military Career

Playing the Game and Managing Your Military Career

Here are the slides I used for this podcast, in both PDF and PPT format: Personal Finance for the Military Physician – A 2020 Update – PPT Personal Finance for the Military Physician – A 2020 Update – PDF  

Personal Finance for the Military Physician – A 2020 Update

Here is a screencast/podcast of this updated lecture as well as the PDF of the slides I used: FY 21 Promotion Boards Slide Deck

FY21 Promotion Boards – What are They Looking At and How Can You Get Ready?

I updated my Personal Finance for the Military Physician talk for 2019 and have this week’s articles listed below:   Here are this week’s articles: 1 in 3 eligible active-duty troops signed up for DoD’s new retirement system 10 Ways To Know You Are Competent to DIY Your Investments 12 Things You Should Know About […]

Personal Finance for the Military Physician: A 2019 Update

I gave this talk to the medical staff at NMC Portsmouth a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to recording it for all to enjoy… Here is a PDF of the slides: FY20 Promotion Boards – What are They Looking At and How Can You Get Ready Here is a video screencast you […]

FY20 Promotion Boards – What are They Looking At and How Can You Get Ready?

Recently I advertised the USUHS Commandant position. A reader asked: Any thoughts on whether you think this is a position that would make an O5 competitive for O6? This is a common issue. A position is advertised, but you want to know if it will help get your promoted to O5 or O6 if you […]

How to Evaluate the Promotion Potential of a Billet/Position

If you are particularly interested in this post, I’m sorry. You or someone you care about probably failed to promote. In reality, nowadays it is normal and expected to fail to promote to O5 and O6, so you have company. Here are my suggestions for those that fail to promote. First, try to figure out […]

What Should You Do If You Didn’t Promote?

Whenever a promotion board starts, the members are provided two items to guide them as they decide who to promote, the board precept and the convening order. These documents are available on-line and should be used to figure out how to promote and write your fitrep.   The Board Precept The precept is released in […]

You Should Care About Promotion Board Precepts and Convening Orders

O5 fitreps are due soon, so it is time for me to write my fitrep. How do I do it? Here are the steps I go through: I get the Surgeon General’s priorities and the convening order for last year’s O6 board. (If you were an O4, you’d want the O5 convening order. If you […]

How I Write My Fitrep

The standard advice has always gone something like this: “If you are above zone, you need to send a letter to the promotion board so that they know you are still trying to promote. Otherwise they won’t pick you.” Now that they no longer stamp officer records with “AZ” (above zone) and they look exactly […]

Do You Still Need to Send the Above Zone Letter?

During the last Specialty Leader Business Meeting, the Detailing Update mentioned that there were about 10 cases of officers who lost their promotion due to a security clearance issue. As a result, I added a new section to the Promo Prep document. In it you can find out how to check your security clearance. Here’s […]

New Addition to the Promo Prep – Check Your Security Clearance

A reader recently asked me for help preparing for a big interview that I had done in the past (the interview to become a Specialty Leader). We both thought that interview prep would be a good blog post, so here is my advice after 10+ interviews for significant leadership positions: Be prepared for an in-depth […]

How to Prepare for Important Navy Interviews

A podcast discussing important career planning issues for Navy medical officers.