Marcus Cole — Persona Canvas · Civilian Compass × PMM Jam

PMM Jam × Civilian Compass · Persona Canvas · May 2026

SUSHMITA BANDA

I need an older guy to put his arm around me and say, "Hey buck, let me talk to you. Let me work you around." I don't want to send another resume into the ether. I want to get in front of a person.

— Marcus Cole · US Marine Corps (USMC) Captain · Entering Civilian Life October 1, 2026

Marcus in 10 Seconds

Marcus Cole (name changed for privacy) is a US Marine Corps (USMC) Captain with 10 years of service, entering civilian life October 1. He has been planning his transition for 16 months, networking and applying for jobs on 10+ platforms simultaneously, while being funneled toward a defense career he didn't choose. What he needs is conversations with people who can open real doors, not another resource.

How THE PERSONA CANVAS Was Built & What It's For

The foundation of the persona canvas is an 80-minute interview with a real prospect, Marcus Cole, cross-referenced with founder conversations with Langley Barth, and Civilian Compass documents. What emerged validated almost everything Lang already believed about who this product is for. Lang can use this canvas to brief collaborators, pressure-test ad creative, and stay consistent across every channel, without starting from scratch every time.

The ideal next step is more interviews: to confirm, challenge, or expand what Marcus has shared.

Section 01 — identity

Meet Marcus

This is Marcus. This is who Civilian Compass is built for, someone deeply invested in finding the right career after the military, with a deadline that can't move. This is the journey he is on right now.

Marcus Cole

US Marine Corps (USMC) Captain · Ground Intelligence Officer · Leading 100–200 Marines

Service10 years, USMC

LocationSouthern California

Family3 kids (newborn + 2 older)

ClearanceActive Security Clearance

SkillsUnmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Operations · Electronic Warfare · Intel

EducationEnvironmental Science, Miami Univ.

SeparatingOctober 1, 2026 (enters civilian life, date does not move)

SkillBridgeSalesforce AE track (in motion, though not sure it's what he wants)

16 months ahead of separation when he started planning

10+ platforms where he's networking and searching for jobs simultaneously

Oct 1 enters civilian life — the date does not move

Oct 5 target start date — suit on, zero gap planned

Marcus has an active security clearance, specialist technical skills, and the kind of leadership experience civilian companies spend years trying to develop. None of that matters to an ATS filter at 2AM on a Sunday.

His job search looks identical to a civilian's in the current market — applications into portals, networking that doesn't convert, corporate events that feel performative. The difference: a hard deadline he cannot move, a family depending on him, and an identity in transition, all at the same time.

Who Marcus Is Not

Needs a job in 30 daysUrgency too high for Civilian Compass's 3–9 month framework. Refer out.

Junior enlisted / basics onlyOther orgs serve this well — Hiring Our Heroes (HOH), Transition Assistance Program (TAP), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Civilian Compass builds on an existing foundation.

Path already lockedKnows the role, just needs execution. Not exploring. Wrong fit for Civilian Compass's discovery-first model.

Section 02 — The Transition Journey

The Journey

Marcus started planning 16 months out. Two lanes show what each stage of the transition feels like for him and what the ecosystem currently offers — because any message that meets him in the wrong lane will miss entirely.

Stage

18 months out

12 months out

9 months out

6 months out

NOW
Tactical → Urgent📍 Marcus is here

Oct 1, 2026

Post-Hire

What he
feels

Curious + Anxious. Wide net. Overplanning as a form of control.

Cautious Optimism. TAPS gives foundation. Clearance feels like an edge.

Broad Push. Optimistic per submission. Then the silence starts.

2AM Rejections. Confidence erodes. "What am I without the uniform?"

Identity Crisis + Doubt. Narrowing to "most attainable." Safe defaults feel inevitable.

Uniform Off. Identity crisis peaks. "I was someone. Who am I now?"

Give Back. Become the older guy with his arm around the next Marcus.

What
exists

VA.gov (Department of Veterans Affairs) awareness, unit chain of command, pre-TAPS planning

TAPS — Transition Assistance Program (5-day mandatory), ACP Mentorship, USAJobs

Hiring Our Heroes, Marine Executive Assoc., SitReps, Redeployable

SkillSyncer, LinkedIn, corporate events → "thoughts and prayers"

Department of Defense (DOD) SkillBridge (best option available). 10+ disconnected platforms. ⚠ No warm handoff. ⚠ No sequenced roadmap.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health & benefits, GI Bill — transactional resources only

Peer vet network. No structured give-back mechanism.

Exploratory Mode 9+ months out

Mindset Curiosity, low pressure

Goal Learn → explore → refine

Behavior Wide sampling

Tone Calming, expansive

Tactical Mode 3–9 months out · Marcus is here

Mindset Structure + learning

Goal Narrow options → lock target role → prepare civilian narrative

Behavior Dual-pathing, targeted exploration

Tone Structured, strategic. Civilian Compass's confirmed entry sweet spot.

Urgent Mode 0–3 months out or immediate income need

Mindset Stabilize

Goal Speed to income, minimize overwhelm

Behavior Focus on attainable roles

Tone Clear, directive, calm

What "Transition Went Well" Looks Like for Marcus

Not a title — a feeling. A role he chose, not defaulted into. Work that draws on more than his clearance — ideally something that reaches toward that Environmental Science degree and the five-year vision he hasn't yet let himself say out loud. Getting there through a person who knew his name, not a portal that never opened his resume. In six months he wants to be able to say the 10 years meant something that translated — and that the chapter ahead was built, not settled for.

Section 03 — The Existing Ecosystem

What Marcus Has Already Tried

Marcus isn't missing resources. He is networking and searching for jobs across 10+ platforms simultaneously. The problem isn't quantity, it's that every platform hands him to the next one, and none are in conversation with each other.

Government & Mandatory

🏛

TAPS / TRS — Transition Assistance Program

Strong foundation — comprehensive, but ends with no next step

🏛

DOD SkillBridge — Department of Defense

Best formal option available — Salesforce AE track in motion

🏛

USAJobs

Portal — 2AM rejections, no human review

Veteran Organizations

🎖

ACP Mentorship

Active — mentorship without warm handoff

🎖

Hiring Our Heroes

Attended events — felt performative, no follow-through

🎖

Marine Executive Assoc.

Active network — structure and sequence missing

Transition Platforms

💼

Active — networking and applications, but connections rarely convert to conversations

📡

SitReps

Resource discovery — no sequencing provided

📡

Redeployable

"Like Tinder for checking out which job profile fits" — useful early (first 6 months of planning) for exploration, not execution

🔧

SkillSyncer

ATS optimization tool — functional but surface-level

Section 04 — What Drives Him

Motivations

Understanding what Marcus actually wants — beneath the job search tactics — is what separates positioning that earns trust from positioning that just sounds useful.

Identity

Lead, Not Just Execute

Marcus has led 100–200 people through high-stakes operations. He's not looking for a job — he's looking for the right arena to keep leading. The uniform was a context for that identity, not the source of it.

Security

Certainty for His Family

Income stopping on a known date with a family to support means every wasted week has a real number attached. He needs clarity fast, and he knows it. This urgency is not panic — it's precision.

Purpose

Prove the 10 Years Translated

Not to others — to himself. He wants the civilian world to recognize what a decade of command actually means, without having to explain it to a recruiter who has never left the coast.

Fulfillment

A Path That Uses All of Him

Not just the clearance. Not just the PM skills. The intelligence background, the Environmental Science degree, the leadership instinct. He also knows what he doesn't want: a sales career is off the table, despite what the SkillBridge track suggests.

Agency

Integration, Not Isolation

"We're not a disabled class. We're just an isolated class." He wants to move through the civilian world on equal terms — chosen, not placed. Agency over charity, every time, in every message.

Legacy

Become the Older Guy

Unprompted, he described wanting to eventually be the mentor who puts his arm around the next Marcus. He's not just trying to get out of this — he's already thinking about what he'll give back when he does.

The Safe Lane — and the Path He Hasn't Let Himself Take

Marcus is gravitating toward defense-adjacent PM roles (Northrop, L3Harris, ViaSat) because his clearance and UAS background make it the path of least resistance. TAPS conditioned him there. His peers default there.

But it's not where he wants to be in five years. He has an Environmental Science degree from Miami University. He named Corporate Sustainability as a secondary target, unprompted. Nobody has had the conversation with him that opens that aperture. He hasn't let himself ask the question because no one has told him it's available to ask.

"You don't have to be a project manager in defense the rest of your life." — Langley Barth, Founder · Civilian Compass

Section 05 — In His Own Words

Pain Points

These are Marcus's exact words from the interview. Not paraphrased. This is the language every Civilian Compass message needs to resonate with, because it's how Marcus talks when nobody is optimizing his words for a pitch deck.

🙏

No More Hands Up

"I went to a great one-day at Viasat. It seemed for show. 'Thanks for coming.' It's like thoughts and prayers."

Corporate veteran events feel performative. Hiring managers speak. Nothing follows. Every warm intro needs a next step attached — or it's theater.

🤖

The 2AM Rejection

"I got a rejection two days later. They didn't open it. It was over the weekend. What are we doing?"

Active clearance, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) background, 10 years of command — rejected before any human saw it. The portal is the problem, not the candidate.

🌎

10+ Platforms, Zero Integration

"We're inundated with stuff. I'm finding out new resources every day. No structured 'here's what you do in what order.'"

He's started cutting platforms because the overhead is unsustainable. The problem is never missing resources — it's always the missing sequence.

🦞

The Identity Question

"We're not a disabled class. We're just an isolated class of people. I'm trying to poke some holes and get some integration with the populace."

The uniform was the identity. "Company commander" doesn't map to civilian ATS categories. He wants to be chosen, not charity. Integrated, not siloed.

🕳

Where TAPS Stops

"TAPS was phenomenal — comprehensive resources. But then it ends, and there's no 'here's the next step.'"

TAPS gives a foundation and then drops him. The 9-month window between TAPS ending and SkillBridge starting belongs to nobody in the current ecosystem.

🚫

No Warm Handoffs Anywhere

"Some platforms say 'you'd be fantastic as a PM.' Cool. Where's the entry? Link me in with your buddy at X company."

Every resource hands Marcus to another resource. He doesn't need more information about opportunities. He needs someone to open a specific door to a specific person.

Section 06 — JTBD Framework

Jobs to Be Done

The functional job ("find a role") is rarely the whole story. The emotional and social layers are where positioning either earns trust or misses the point entirely. All three layers must be addressed.

⚙️ Layer 01

Functional Jobs

Decide what to target, before applying anywhere

Translate 10 years of military experience into civilian language

Get in front of a real person at a specific company

Build a functional network before income stops

Know what to do in what order (a sequenced roadmap)

💜 Layer 02

Emotional Jobs

Preserve the identity the uniform gave, in a new form

Avoid landing in a hollow role that doesn't fit who he is

Feel in control of the process, not carried by it

Stop feeling like the system is working against him

Know that the 10 years meant something that translates

🌐 Layer 03

Social Jobs

Be seen as someone who chose their next chapter, not placed

Integrate with the civilian world, not siloed in a vet bubble

Be known by name to a person at the target company

Not be bucketed, not be tokenized, not be a diversity metric

Give back, eventually become the older guy with his arm around the next Marcus

Section 07 — The Full Picture

Target Career

The path the system is pushing him toward, the path underneath that he hasn't said out loud yet — and what Civilian Compass needs to do to be the one that makes the difference.

The Safe Default — Where the System Is Pushing Him

🥇 Program / Project Management — Northrop, L3Harris, ViaSat

💼 Salesforce AE via DOD SkillBridge — suggested, not his preference

🔐 Defense-adjacent: clearance + UAS = the obvious, safe value prop

🚫 He knows what he doesn't want: a sales career is off the table

⚠️ Why it's a trap: TAPS conditioned him here. He defaulted, not decided.

Where He Actually Wants to Go

🌿 Corporate Sustainability (named as secondary target, unprompted)

🎓 Environmental Science degree, Miami University

🗺️ Geographically flexible

🔭 5-year vision: not defense-adjacent. He knows it. He hasn't said it out loud yet.

💬 What unlocks it: one conversation with someone who says "let me show you what else is possible."

What Marcus Trusts

1 🤝 Langley's voice, first person — peer credibility over institution. He trusts veterans who made it, not programs.

2 💬 Real conversations beat ten events — every warm intro comes with a specific follow-through attached. Not a room — a person, a date, a next step.

3 🚪 A warm introduction to a specific person — not a portal, not a resource list. One named connection is worth more than all 10 platforms combined.

4 🎯 Give him the sequence — not open-ended exploration. Orders he trusts, with a mission and clear next steps.

Positioning Implication for Civilian Compass

The market solves "get a veteran hired." Civilian Compass solves "help a veteran choose the right next chapter." These are different problems. Marcus represents exactly why that distinction matters — the system will get him hired in a role he didn't choose and won't want in five years. The conversation Civilian Compass needs to have with Marcus is not about his resume. It's about the Environmental Science degree he hasn't talked about in a job search context and the five-year vision he hasn't let himself articulate. That conversation doesn't exist anywhere else in the ecosystem right now.