I’ve found that local vendors are open to hire former Walmart Associates, but the associate needs to understand that they’ve likely been put on a pedestal for years if in a buying/financial influence role and as soon as that title is stripped you are no longer of value to them (them being your old supplier relationships) and just assuming they would hire you is naive.
Like it or not, many Walmart folks are guilty of the ego that comes with such influence at often such a young/inexperienced age. Walmart is so large that you have senior directors of the most insignificant/specialized functions and those just don’t exist elsewhere.
If Walmart makes a $100K hire and they’re terrible, it has no actual impact on the P&L vs. if a small vendor makes a mistake they can lose their entire business. I think the key to success outside of Walmart (in NWA) is to exercise some humility and bring your expectations in line with reality.
The most difficult, yet important, task is to find ways to articulate your skills, experiences, etc in terms of what the vendor is looking for. Make no mistake about it, vendors respect the “role” at Walmart not the “person” in the role. The “role” is what makes the financial commitments and they know the “person” can turnover at any time.