If you are about to ETS from an active duty military assignment and transition to the civilian workforce, first of all, thank you for your service to our country. Here are some things you have going for you:

• Employers like the discipline and reliability they find with military veteran hires.

• Military veterans often have more leadership and management experience at much younger ages than do non-veteran counterparts. This difference shows, and is often vividly clear to managers who have hired veterans in the past.

• Chances are you are in pretty good physical condition now, and height-weight proportionate. Studies clearly show that fit people out-earn overweight people.

• You have access to the New Post 9/11 GI Bill, which provides almost unlimited options for funding your education. Some not-for-profit military associations, such as the Navy League, Association of the United States Army, and American Legion provide additional scholarship opportunities for military veterans. Even if you aren’t planning on attending school part time, it is good to be able to show prospective employers that you are taking the initiative to further your skills.

• Security clearances. If you have a secret clearance, put it on your resume. If you have a top secret clearance, highlight it, because TS clearances are extremely expensive for employers to get for positions that require them. Many defense contractors require secret or top secret clearances, and if you already have one, that is a huge leg up over non-veteran competition.

• ETS Moves. The military will usually pay to relocate you to your home of record. This doesn’t need to be your home town. In fact, if your home of record or last duty station has limited civilian opportunities for you, you can take advantage of the military-paid relocation to move you and your family to a new job, or to where more opportunities are likely to be. Companies aren’t shelling out to relocate promising hires like they used to. They don’t have to, because there is plenty of talent looking for work right there where they are. If you don’t need the employer to pay to relocate you, that’s one less hurdle.
Now, transitioning from the military isn’t all honey and roses. Many veterans have some things working against them, as well.

• Untransferrable job skills. Strange as it may seem, few employers need to keep a tank gunner around on staff. If you held a combat arms MOS, your technical skills won’t transfer to the civilian sector. But your leadership skills sure will. Many times, the jobs with the least transferrable technical skills are the very ones where the leadership experience is most intense. Craft your resume to emphasize leadership. If you were an NCO or officer, and had people working for you, take credit for the activities of your unit.

• Jargon. People who spend years in the military don’t talk like civilians do. You may have picked up terminology that a civilian employer doesn’t understand. This can be confusing and off-putting to the civilian hiring manager. Drop the military jargon, and pick up the lingo of your new profession.

• Military resumes. Many veterans leave the military and go job hunting with resumes that are nearly incomprehensible to nonveteran hiring managers. Navy vets are particularly prone to this. It may behoove you to have an employment agency or counselor look at your resume and help you craft it for the civilian market – a process called “civilianizing your resume.”
What to do now?

• Change your voicemail. The day you begin your job search, take off all the military references, inside jokes, and other distractions off your voicemail. Don’t bark like a drill sergeant on your voicemail. Your troops may get a charge out of it when they call you, but employers won’t. A calm, measured and friendly voice with your name and possibly rank is just right.

• Get started. For many positions, the hiring cycle is months long. You don’t want months of inactivity.

• Stay disciplined. Now that you don’t have to get up early every day, it’s easy to slip on the job search. Keep the same dedication and professional focus on your job search that you had during your military career.

• Keep doing PT.

• Leverage your contacts. You may not have much of a civilian rolodex coming out of the military. Many veterans ETS or retire and look at their phone list and everyone in it is in the military, and none of them is in a position to hire. A good employment agency that understands military veterans and what they bring to the table is crucial.

• Consider continuing your service in the Reserves or National Guard. This can bring a few hundred extra per month into your bank account, and also help you meet people who also work full time in the civilian sector who can help you find employment. Some MOSs are eligible for a bonus, as well. You can also maintain your eligibility for TRICARE until you find a permanent full-time job.

Job searches take time, and there are never any guarantees. Cut your expenses, and stay disciplined and methodical in your search for your next opportunity. The hiring cycle is longer than it’s been in generations, so don’t get discouraged or give up if you aren’t picked up right away. Keep putting your best foot forward. And thank you for serving this great nation.

Wide spectrum of jobs is available at our CAREER section!