Let Me Teach You How to Transition From the Military

So you have decided to get out of the military! Congratulations! These next few months are going to be exciting, emotional, frustrating, and scary. At first, it will seem like time is moving so slowly and you can't wait another minute to start growing out your beard or piercing your nose. Yet the next thing you know, your separation date is coming up quickly and you still have so much to do. Plus, you haven't found a job yet!

How do I know this? I have been in your shoes. My transition from the military did not go as expected. That is why I want to teach you how to transition from the military based on my own experiences and share with you what I have learned over the last decade working in Talent Acquisition. Specifically, the last 5 years where I have been working exclusively with transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses.

A little about me: I served in the United States Navy from Jan 16th, 2001 until December 30th, 2005, 2 weeks shy of hitting my 5-year mark! I did not prepare for my separation at all. Granted, I was only 22 at the time and completely na?ve to how hard it was going to be to find a new job. While I was in the Navy I was told I would get picked up quickly because companies love hiring veterans. I was also told that I would make twice as much money, if not more because the military is grossly underpaid. I was even told that my military job training is considered to be the equivalent of an Associate degree. You know, the typical Sea Lawyer stuff (that's what we call know-it-alls in the Navy). None of these things were true!

Because of this bad advice, I did not have a job lined up. I didn't start working on finding a job until the end of my 1-month terminal leave. I took at least 1-2 college courses per semester nearly the entire time I was in, so my only plan was to go to school full-time while using the MGI Bill and work part-time. Even finding a part-time job was hard. Why? Because I didn't have prior experience.

Most memorable was when I went into a coffee shop to apply for a barista position. The manager read my resume then shot me a confused look and asked "Why do you want to work here? You don't have any experience." It was a combination of being "over-qualified" while at the same time meeting none of the qualifications. He said they were in desperate need of baristas and did not have time to train. He could hire me to clean up the café and eventually they would train me when they had time, but I declined because A) I did more than enough cleaning to last 2 lifetimes while I was in the Navy and B) it paid only minimum wage and no tips.

I applied to several other places too, but never got a callback. Eventually, I responded to a Craigslist ad that was looking for cashiers at a bikini shop (I was living in San Diego at the time, did I mention that?) I finally got a call and an interview! The girl who interviewed me (she was younger than me) told me they received lots of applications from people with prior retail experience but the only reason I got an interview was because I was a Navy veteran and so was the shop owner. When he interviewed me he told me the same thing and added "I know what you are capable of because I was in your shoes at one time." It was a great and fun first job after the military that offered more pay than the café, as well as a flexible schedule, and I was quickly promoted to manager. Although, I was still not making as much as I did in the military.

I went on to work several part-time jobs (sometimes 3 at a time) over the next 2 years to make ends meet. Once I finally received my Bachelor's degree, I thought "This is it! Now they will fight over me because I am a veteran AND I have a Bachelor's degree!" [Enter knee-slapping laughter here]. This could not have been further from the truth. It took another two years of working several part-time jobs before I finally got my big break in Talent Acquisition, and even that started out as a part-time gig. Once again, I was still not getting paid as much as I did in the military. I didn't start making comparable pay until about 5 years later.

Once I was on the other side of the curtain I began to realize all of the mistakes I had made in the last 5 years.

1. I didn't have a clear plan for after the military
2. I should have networked more
3. My resume was a mess
4. I was not applying for roles I was qualified for
5. I was a terrible interviewer

I know you don't have enough time to read the 100-page article I could write on all of these subjects so I am going to break down what I want you to know in a series of articles that I will be posting each week.

Today's Lesson: HAVE A PLAN!

I wish I would have been more mindful of what I was going to do after the military. As I mentioned, my only plan was to go to school full-time. I was very much in the phase of my life where I went with the flow and believed everything would work itself out. It did, eventually, but it took so much longer than if I had planned what I wanted to do and worked a little harder.

After my own transition experience, plus helping other transitioning service members, I have gathered a bunch of beneficial information to share with you.

1. Start preparing for your separation at least 1 year in advance. Do you plan on going to school? Are you looking for a full-time job? Whichever you decide to do, start looking up companies and positions that interest you and reading the job descriptions. What are they asking for? Can you start working on the desired degree or certifications that you see listed in these job descriptions? Looking up job descriptions and researching companies should give you a good idea of what steps you need to take to make you a more qualified candidate before you separate.
2. Figure out what you want to do. This can be tough because many of us were exposed to a variety of different fields in the military, or had a bunch of collateral duties. For instance, I was a Photographer's Mate in the Navy (before they had the cool MC rating. They sound like rad DJs now). Although I did plenty of running around photographing people and events early on in my Naval career, the last year I was serving I was in charge of my division's supply locker. I ordered our equipment and supplies, sent off broken equipment to be repaired, worked with vendors for our printers, conducted quarterly inventories, had to manage a quarterly budget, and so on. I barely picked up a camera in those last months. I really liked doing that stuff but I didn't know how to translate those skills for jobs in the civilian workforce. Most likely you have also had multiple jobs and could be qualified for many different fields. Ask yourself this first, "What do I like to do?" and start searching there. Next, ask "What am I really good at?" I was really good at administrative work but didn't like it, yet I always got stuck with those roles in the military. I knew I was good at it but I figured that could be my backup plan and I started pursuing roles I was passionate about in media fields first.
3. Pick an industry.. or two! This was a big one for me that did not become apparent until much later in my career. As a recruiter I have worked in many different industries hiring everyone from car mechanics to store managers, from seasonal merchandisers to CDL drivers, and so on. After the military, I really struggled with feeling like I didn't have a purpose anymore. Then I entered the Life Sciences industry with a Biotech company and finally felt like I had found my calling. I realized I had missed feeling like I was helping people and wanted to feel like I was still giving back in some way. What is important to you? What are you passionate about, is it health care, is it technology, or is it something else? Try to determine what your main goal is. Is it making a lot of money, finding a good company culture, or having a flexible work schedule? Researching companies and industries on LinkedIn or GlassDoor may help you narrow down the kind of work you would be happy doing.
4. Start networking ! I was given this advice many times in those 5 years that I was looking for a job but what I envisioned networking to be was completely off. I thought I was going to have to invest in a business suit and mingle with other business professionals while drinking martinis in some classy hotel bar using corporate buzz words like "level set expectations," etc. That just wasn't my vibe in my twenties. What networking actually is: Meeting people (anyone), building a relationship, and keeping in contact with them. Super easy! Looking back on my own career almost every single job I got was through someone I knew that worked at that company. There were two jobs where I didn't know anyone and didn't have the experience to work there, but the hiring manager was a veteran and knew they could take a chance on me. I excelled in both roles and was promoted within a few months. The moral of the story, meet people, keep in contact with them, and be nice! You never know where that relationship could lead.
5. Start attending career fairs now! See what is out there. You may be surprised at the great benefits that some of these lesser-known companies offer. You won't be able to accept an offer for many more months but you can still get out there and talk to companies. There have been several cases where I met candidates at a career fair who were a few years away from separating but we stayed in touch and I was able to eventually help them get hired into the company.
6. Get to know as many people as you can at that company. LinkedIn is a great tool for this. My suggestion: look for other veterans at the company because they will be your biggest advocates. Type in a company name in the search bar on LinkedIn. Click on People. Click on All Filters. Scroll down to Current Company and click on the company name. Then find Past Companies right below that and click on + Add a Company. Type in the names of all the service branches. This should pull up many of the veterans at that company. Send them a connection request with a little note about how you are a transitioning service member or veteran, that you are interested in the company, and that you would like the opportunity to speak with them about their role and how they landed with the company. Nine times out of ten you will get an excited response from a fellow veteran who will want to help you.
7. See if the company has a veteran recruiter. Many companies have a veteran recruiter, just like me, who works with veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses to help them find employment at the company. There are a few great lists out there like the Military Times Best for Vets list and the RecruitMilitary Military Friendly Employers list. Many of them may have a recruiter that focuses on hiring military. Go to those companies' career pages to see if they have a veteran landing page or programs for veterans. You may even be able to do a LinkedIn search for "Veteran Recruiter" to see which companies have them.
8. Start applying ! Don't wait until the last minute like I did. I suggest you start applying to roles at least 6 months prior to your separation date, or the date you will be ready to start a new role. The hiring process can take a long time, on average 3-4 months. I will break it down for you so you better understand the timeline: Upon opening a requisition the recruiter may wait up to 2 weeks to collect candidates before they start reviewing resumes. Scheduling and conducting phone screens can take up to 2 weeks. The same for the interview process. After all of the interviews are complete, it can sometimes take up to a week to get approval to extend an offer. If there are negotiations with the offer that can take another week or two. The background check can sometimes take up to 3 weeks to come back. Onboarding can take another 2 weeks. When you add that all up you are looking at approximately 12 weeks from the application date to the start date if the hiring process runs smoothly. Applying 6 months in advance should ensure you make it through the hiring process without any gaps in employment. In many cases, the hiring manager can wait another month or so for your start date if you make it through the process quickly. Make sure you don't put all of your eggs in one basket and apply to multiple roles at multiple companies. Please note the timeline above is not the case for all companies but may be typical for many.
9. Look into the Department of Defense Skillbridge Program. Guys, if there had been a program like this back in 2006 when I was separating I would like to think I would have participated in it. The DoD Skillbridge program allows you to work for a company for up to 6 months before separating from the military. The difference I have seen this program make is astonishing. There are hundreds of companies out there willing to host soon-to-be veterans to help them acclimate to the civilian workforce. By participating in this program you are almost guaranteed a job. Even if you don't get picked up by the company that hosts you, the experience you have gained will make you much more marketable as a candidate when applying elsewhere. 100% recommend. There are some great subsets of the Skillbridge program out there like the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program . They offer 3 twelve-week cohorts a year to transitioning service members and six-week programs for military spouses. The whole cohort meets every Friday to go over all kinds of important information. It's basically all of the stuff that you won't learn in your Transition Assistance Program (TAP) class. Even if you plan to go to school full-time after the military I still highly recommend participating in a fellowship, if you can.
10. Don't give up! I will not lie to you and tell you it will be easy. I wish I would have known what I would be in store for when I separated from the military. I may have prepared better. You will get frustrated with getting ghosted by companies because they don't understand your work experience. You will get frustrated with always having to explain every little detail of your work experience during an interview . You will get frustrated with always being the 2nd pick because the other candidate had industry experience. Cast a wide net, never give up and keep looking for what you want. Do NOT sell yourself short, but always be open to constructive criticism. The truth may be hard to hear but if you keep receiving the same feedback you may want to change your strategy.

Ok, wow! This article ended up being much longer than I originally thought. There is so much to learn and I'm excited to share it with you! In short, like any journey, do your research and try to prepare for your exit from the military as best you can. There are so many people out there who want to help you! Stay tuned for some of my upcoming articles where I will share even more insight on the hiring process and list some great resources for you too! Until next time!