Duo starts social career-networking site for military
By Mike Hixenbaugh The Virginian-Pilot April 20, 2013
In the military, like the civilian sector, careers often are shaped by who you know. But after a decade in uniform, Yinon Weiss realized he didn't know many people.
"When I left the military, I had no networking skills whatsoever," said Weiss, who enrolled at Harvard Business School after serving as a platoon commander in the Marines and later as a Special Forces officer in the Army. "Networking actually had a negative connotation in the military."
On campus, Weiss connected by chance with another veteran, former Army officer Aaron Kletzing. After a short conversation, the two realized they had served together years earlier on a deployment to Iraq.
Neither had any idea that the other was at Harvard.
Their chance meeting was the impetus behind RallyPoint, a career networking website they created for active-duty military personnel. The site allows verified service members to connect with one another - potentially opening doors to future military career opportunities and building relationships that could help those transitioning to the civilian job market.
Five months after launching, the website has nearly 15,000 members, including several hundred in Hampton Roads, and is generating buzz in military circles.
Lt. Ben Kohlmann, a 30-year-old fighter pilot assigned to the Navy Warfare Development Command in Norfolk, was among the first to create a profile.
Kohlmann said the site has the potential to dramatically change the military's advancement process by giving service members information they need to influence their career paths. Too often, Kohlmann said, sailors have little input when they come up for new orders. Typically, he said, detailers will suggest a few possibilities and ask service members which they would prefer.
"That's a very impersonal process," Kohlmann said. "You're just a number."