Kathleen Smith 00:52
Welcome, everyone. Here is another episode of Security Cleared Jobs: Who’s Hiring & How. I'm Kathleen with ClearedJobs.Net, joined by my fabulous co-host, Rachel. Rachel, how are you doing today?
Rachel
Bozeman 01:05
So fantastic. I just want to say a big old howdy to all of our friends out
there listening. I know they are as excited as I am to learn about another
cleared facilities employer. So, Kathleen, don’t keep us waiting. Who in the
heck are we going to talk to today?
Kathleen
Smith
01:22
Today’s guest is Shandi Perkins, founder and CEO of Cadence Coalition. Welcome
to the show, Shandi.
Shandi
Perkins 01:30
Thank you. I’m happy to be here.
Rachel
Bozeman 01:31
We are so excited that you are here, not only because you’re amazing and
wonderful and have great stories and great things to share, but I heard you
have a pretty interesting backstory. So, tell us a little bit about yourself
and how you came about founding Cadence Coalition.
Shandi
Perkins 01:48
I am one of those unique people that joined the military in high school, went
into the Army. I soon realized that I would love to pursue my degree, get the
GI Bill, and all that. So, I got an awesome job over at MacDill Air Force Base,
supporting Special Operations Command. I’ve been working in the DoD space for
the last 15-plus years in different roles—program management, technical, user
testing, business development. I took everything I learned, and I wanted to
create an amazing organization that supports veterans, the warfighter, and has
a great culture. So, I established Cadence Coalition almost three years ago,
and it has been full steam ahead since.
Kathleen
Smith
02:33
Awesome. I love MacDill because years ago, we would send care packages to the
military working dogs, and MacDill was where they were all deployed from. We
would send our huge packages to MacDill, so we always have a great space in our
heart for MacDill. Shandi, tell us a little bit about the work that you do with
Cadence Coalition in the cleared community.
Shandi
Perkins 02:59
We’re an IT and intelligence services company, primarily supporting the
Department of Defense, so combatant commands. We happen to have two in our
backyard here, with MacDill being the home of Central Command and Special
Operations Command. Those are our customers, but we also support EUCOM over in
Stuttgart, AFRICOM in Djibouti and other areas in Africa, and NORTHCOM, which
is in Colorado Springs. So, we have the sun, the snow, or if you want to go to
Europe, we have roles there.
Rachel
Bozeman 03:31
A little bit of everything for everyone—that sounds fantastic. Speaking of a
little everything for everybody, if someone was seeking a new career at Cadence
Coalition, what types of skill sets or positions are you actively trying to
fill?
Shandi
Perkins 03:44
We have a wide range, but I would say right now, the majority of our roles are
IT-focused. We have some web development, SharePoint administrators, network
administrators, network architects, and then we also have some intelligence
positions. I come from a human intelligence collection background, so HUMINT
and also intelligence analysts. There are a lot of different roles, but the
bulk of them are in the IT realm.
Kathleen
Smith
04:14
As you talk about the growth of Cadence Coalition, what are some of the skill
sets you’re going to look for in people who will help you grow your company,
and what would you consider your greatest hiring need?
Shandi
Perkins 04:25
We look at it two different ways. You have our internal focus team, which keeps
everything moving right, supports our customers, and ensures all of our
employees are taken care of—payroll, facility security team, anything like
that. But we also have the external teams, our partners, our contractors that
are supporting the mission, whether that’s combatant commands. It really
depends. Personally, what we look for are more the soft skills. I love working
with veterans. Of course, we’re not exclusive to veterans, but it fits in very
nicely with the DoD mission. I always look for people who are eager and excited
to progress in their career, and we try to pave a clear path for them to
succeed, whether supporting us internally in our corporate team or supporting a
customer. As far as skill sets, from a technical standpoint, certifications are
often required, and all of our positions supporting customers are cleared. So,
we’re looking for someone who at least has a Secret clearance and certifications
in their career path. For a network administration role, it’d be great to have
a CCNA, Sec+, at a minimum. If we can get a waiver, we always advocate for our
employees to get one so they can continue to progress, rather than stepping in
right away with their certs. But it is often a requirement. There are so many
different skill sets within the IT space. For a SharePoint administrator, some
only require Security+. It really depends.
Kathleen
Smith
06:11
I’m going to back up a little bit. You touched on soft skills earlier,
especially when talking about the growth of your company, and we don’t get much
opportunity to talk about soft skills. Can you list one or two that you think
are really important to help a company like yours, with both an internal team
and an external team? What are some soft skills people should hone in on when
applying for a position at Cadence Coalition or going through the interview
process?
Shandi
Perkins 06:41
I spoke about this yesterday at a college, and I’ll tell you a little story
because I look at things differently. I worked for IBM and a staffing firm
focused on cleared professionals. Believe it or not, 80% of hiring managers
would rather have a good cultural fit than the perfect technical fit. You have
radiators that radiate positive energy—they’re driven and motivated, and that
levels up the team and culture. Then you have some who may be geniuses, really
technical, but they’re a bit of a drain. The soft skills that are critical are,
when we were in the service, you have that camaraderie. Communication is key,
and I look for somebody who has ambition, takes initiative, and looks at it
from a team mentality—how they can improve the mission, how they can support
the customer in the best way. Sometimes you have to tell a customer their way
could be improved. Those communication skills are critical. You should be able
to say what you need to, but in a way that allows the other person to respond
and brings a better team dynamic. Those are two of the most critical. I have a
young lady who started with me as an intern with her finance degree, and it was
only supposed to be for that semester. She’s still with me today. She’s been
with us the longest, and we’re getting her more training and education. She’s
pursuing her CPA certification, owns everything from payroll to internal
accounts receivable and payable, and someday I’ll absolutely have her as the
director of finance. She wasn’t the most technical right away, but she had that
drive, motivation, and is a team player. You could throw her on something, and
she’ll learn it, take initiative, ask questions. That’s what I look for,
especially on the internal team.
Kathleen
Smith
08:54
You’ve just said the exact same thing we hear time and time again—culture over
technical. You can teach technical skills, certifications, as your team has
taught your intern, going from CPA certification all the way up. You have a
growth pattern, as long as you have that culture, drive, initiative, and
camaraderie. Those are really important. Thank you for reiterating that.
Rachel
Bozeman 09:26
We’ve talked about what you’re looking for and who would be a great fit, but
tell me, if I’m on the other side of the table, an incredibly talented security
professional looking for a career, why do I want to come work for you, Shandi?
Shandi
Perkins 09:42
That’s a great question, and honestly, it’s one reason I established my
organization. I’m passionate about the mission, but I also believe you can have
fun doing it. You can have a culture that allows career progression. What sets
us apart is our culture. We have every age range and multiple opportunities to
pursue certifications. We pay for a certification or an education credit so
someone can pursue their career. I believe you have to own your career, but we
want to give them a path and facilitate that. We also have amazing benefits,
comparative to large organizations, and we invested early to offer those to set
ourselves apart in this competitive environment. We have an environment where
it’s okay to fail, especially for a small team. We wear multiple hats
internally. You may try something for the first time—it’s okay. We establish an
external mentor for our folks, an experienced professional in our network, to
give them an unbiased perspective to help them develop. We also have all our
new people transitioning to our team get an internal mentor. We have a
gentleman on our team who does coaching calls. He was a CIO, a respected
gentleman supporting Special Operations Command before transitioning to our
team. He’s also an adjunct professor in the evenings, passionate about
mentoring. We care for our customers and look at them as our employees too, not
just the ones we’re serving. We ensure a monthly call to align the position.
I’m not in Colorado Springs—I’m in sunny Florida—but we make sure they feel the
internal team will advocate for them. There’s a lot about our team. All my
employees are pretty great, and our partners are great too.
Rachel
Bozeman 12:01
You forgot to mention you have chickens. Are there ever fresh eggs available? I
feel like that’s an important perk.
Shandi
Perkins 12:09
We have five chickens, and they lay about a dozen eggs a week.
Kathleen
Smith
12:13
That reminds me of another guest we had who bakes bread together on Fridays.
I’m hearing French toast is going to happen in Tampa sometime. You mentioned
Colorado Springs, and I forgot to ask—where are your various locations? I
thought with all the customers you mentioned, you covered them, but are there a
few more we need to know about?
Shandi
Perkins 12:39
Right now, those are the main locations where we have openings today. However,
we have several opportunities coming in the near future in Northern Virginia,
Pensacola, and especially with Special Operations, the task forces and
components span internationally. There are opportunities in various locations,
from California to MacDill. The main locations, though, are Africa—don’t knock
it till you try it, there are beautiful places—Stuttgart, MacDill, and Colorado
Springs. The openings today are on our website for those locations.
Kathleen
Smith
13:28
Let’s switch gears a bit. As an Army veteran—thank you again for your
service—we know you’re interested in supporting transitioning service members.
We talk about the SkillBridge program from time to time, depending on whether
our guests are part of it. Share how you support it.
Shandi
Perkins 13:49
We have an amazing program. We start them internally to ensure they understand
the industry side, because it’s so different from being in uniform. We give
them a taste of everything, so they know what they want when they transition,
including meeting our large partners, getting into business development, and
trying each side of the industry since there are so many roles. We always try
to have a SkillBridge intern and an academic internship at all times. We don’t
have too many internally, so we can give them one-on-one time and mentorship.
It starts with learning the basics—Government Contracting 101. They understand
the difference between a cost-plus contract and a firm-fixed contract, since
we’re bidding on work. They also learn what our facility security officer does
versus our recruiter. We just onboarded our most recent intern—she’s amazing.
The first week is getting acclimated to our technology. The second week is
shadowing every individual on our internal team and having a questioning plan
to understand their day-to-day. They’re involved in shadow meetings. Our
recruiter will have her on recruitment calls so she can understand. They also
have external mentors in the career path they want to pursue. Those
relationships continue, whether they come on full-time with us or pursue
another role. It’s been a great opportunity for both us and the SkillBridge
interns.
Rachel
Bozeman 15:37
I like that everybody gets to see everyone. That’s an important part of the
program and a real investment. Thank you for sharing that. In previous
conversations, you shared there’s a benefit to coming into a smaller contractor
firm when transitioning. Can you tell us more about your thoughts around that?
Shandi
Perkins 16:04
I transitioned to a very large organization, but our team supporting the
contract was relatively small. I never engaged with my leadership because it
was so large—it was hard to have those connections. It was bumpy for me to
learn the industry side versus the military. With a small business, you get
more one-on-one time, shadow opportunities, and the same things a large
contractor does, but with a smaller team and more handovers and crossover. It’s
less intimidating, an easier transition to the industry side. It’s not for
everyone—some say, “Leave me alone, let me be”—but it depends on the person.
Kathleen
Smith
17:11
You’ve talked with a variety of job seekers and transitioning service members.
What advice would you give to a civilian job seeker and a military job seeker
going through the process? We hear every day that people are finding it more
challenging. What would be your inspiring advice?
Shandi
Perkins 17:47
Number one: Write down your top five non-negotiables for what you’re looking
for in your next career or transition. This is a two-way interview. When you go
through the process, make sure you get at least the top three of those five.
You have to own your career. Make sure you have a sponsor—someone who, when
you’re not in the room, will throw your name in the hat if they hear about a
role. Be bold. Leverage LinkedIn and your network. If you see an ideal
organization that satisfies those top three, reach out and ask, “Tell me about
working there,” or even ask for an interview or say, “I saw this role.” There’s
nothing I love more than an email from someone eager and excited to learn about
our organization, not just waiting in the black hole, as we say. Be bold and
know exactly what you’re looking for.
Kathleen
Smith
19:05
Be bold. Take personal initiative. Rachel, I believe you have a really
interesting question coming up.
Rachel
Bozeman 19:13
Would you expect anything less than interesting? But I think you might top me
on this one, Shandi. I heard you have a fun tale or exciting experience with a
recent hiring?
Shandi
Perkins 19:26
Yes, I have a couple, but I’ll talk about our SkillBridge intern because it’s
exciting. She did exactly what we talked about—she had an internal advocate, a
sponsor, our Director of Strategy and Technology. They’d worked together, and
she was bold. She reached out, they had a great conversation, and we prepared
for her transition, ensuring an opening was available so we could slide her
seamlessly into the team and pave the path for her. We created her SkillBridge
program, customized per the intern. Having her transitioned with a role
established three months out is a win for me. It’s nice to know these people
who’ve spent 20-plus years in the military aren’t anxious about the transition,
and we helped find the right role at the right time. That’s one of the
successes in the last couple of weeks.
Kathleen
Smith
20:36
Awesome. I’m glad you talked about a sponsor. We hear in job searches and
career development about sponsors and mentors. For those transitioning out of
the military, if there was someone you worked with on a team who had your back
and knew what you’re good at and where you’ll excel, don’t lose their contact
information when you transition. Find their personal email, connect on
LinkedIn, and commit to keeping in touch. They can’t throw your hat in the ring
if they don’t know what you’re doing. I appreciate you, Shandi, bringing up the
sponsor aspect. We’ve had a great conversation. How can our audience of
security-cleared professionals get in touch with you and your team?
Shandi
Perkins 21:48
Absolutely. I’d recommend adding us on LinkedIn. We’re active in our community
and go to conferences. Our recruiter has a page, so if you go to our LinkedIn
page, Cadence Coalition, you’ll see our team members. You can add me
personally. Jenna Dorian is our recruiter involved with LinkedIn, so you can
reach out there or visit our website. We have openings and an info form at www.cadencecoalition.com.
We’ll be responsive and reach back out.
Kathleen
Smith
22:25
Well, Shandi, thank you so much. This has been a fabulous conversation. I
really appreciate you sharing everything that’s so wonderful about Cadence
Coalition.
Shandi
Perkins 22:34
Thank you guys so much. I appreciate you. I’ll save you some eggs, maybe some
French toast.
Kathleen
Smith
22:43
Shandi had some really great advice. I love that she mentioned having a
sponsor. We went into detail about what that means—someone you’ve worked with
who knows your abilities and who you’ve kept in touch with, so they know what
you’re looking for. If there’s a position they hear of, they can throw your hat
in the ring. Rachel, what did you like about Shandi’s conversation?
Rachel
Bozeman 23:09
I jotted down two things that stuck out to me. One was the culture of the
organization—the fail-fast mentality and mentorship. There’s always someone
externally and internally to help, whether things are going well or not. The
other was great career advice for those seeking: Write down your five
non-negotiables and make sure you know what those are in every conversation.
It’s a great reminder to be prepared and keep your network close. We hope you
enjoyed learning from this episode as much as we did—it was a lot of fun. With
that, make sure you get out there, follow our show, and share this episode with
a friend. We’ll be back next time. Bye.