Tips on landing a real estate agent position post military

[Dillon Squier]

In January I will be separating from the U.S. Navy and will be moving to Chicago. I have wanted to join the field of real estate for sometime now but after looking at postings on LinkedIn I have noticed that I am very much under qualified compared to the other applicant submissions who all have degrees and marketing experience. My question for the real estate agents or brokers out there is what qualities can I work on to make myself more marketable to the industry? I am on course to start my license courses next month and will have passed the test by the time I'm separated and am starting the path to finish my degree in marketing come January once I get to Chicago. Besides about 9 months of sales floor experience in a farm and ranch store pre military I do not have any applicable past sales experience for my resume. Any tips and guidance would be greatly appreciated.   

[Joel Allen]

@Dillon Squier

Have you looked into the DoD SkillBridge program?  It enables active duty members transitioning out of the military to spend their final 6 months on active duty doing an internship with a civilian company.  It's designed to be a win-win...the service member gets the opportunity to build their skills & resume for their transition to the civilian sector, and the company gets a 6-month 'working interview' with a potential employee who brings valuable work ethic and leadership to the table.

There are quite a few real estate companies that are already vetted SkillBridge partners...if you were able to do an internship with one of those companies it would provide you some valuable experience and training, while still having the 'safety net' of being on active duty until your date of separation.

The site with some additional info about the SkillBridge program and the list of approved companies is at:  

DOD SkillBridge - Authorized SkillBridge Organizations (osd.mil)