Game Plan for Second Inning : Military Veterans

Game Plan for Second Inning

This post is aimed at military veterans who are contemplating early retirement (or, soon to retire on superannuation). ?

While retirement is an ‘event’, finding gainful employment post-retirement is a ‘process’. Like in most things military, planning for a major event starts months in advance. Therefore, the game-plan for post-retirement employment must start taking shape at least two years before the event. ?

1.?????????????????Appreciation.?One must start be laying down the planning parameters:?

(a)???Skill-set Available.???????????????????????Assess the skills that you are carrying forward from military to civil. For example a military pilot or computer engineer could easily find similar roles in civil, whereas an infantry officer or an artillery gunner may not be easily employable.

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(b)???Skill-set in Demand.????????Research must be carried out via internet, networking and feedback from Veterans to ascertain the skills that are in demand in the economy. ????????????

?2.??????Aspirations.????As a next step, one must carry out aspirations management on a weighted scale. One leaves military for a various reasons, seeking to fulfill some requirements of family, children, parents, money, self-actualization and so on. This is especially so in cases of PMR/PSS. The chosen game plan must fulfill most (if not all) of those. A suggested matrix would include (but not limited to) the following : ?

(a)???Place of work vis the place of residence

(b)???Parent’s health and medical requirements

(c)????Children education and growth opportunities

(d)???Gainful employment for spouse

(e)???Access to ?infra (big city vs small towns)?

(f)?????Job satisfaction

(g)???Stature and level in organization

(h)???Emoluments

(i)?????Free time and opportunities to engage in leisure activities ?

3.????????Pick A Lane.??Don’t scatter your effort. Decide on one or two possible lines of employment and start working on those. I have seen many Veterans waste precious time in deciding between business or job, eventually doing none. Pro tip : if you don’t have a business plan ready by the time you retire, its best you seek a salaried job. ?

(a)???Business / Self-employment.???????DGR offers some benefits like COCO outlets, mining licenses, and security agency and so on. If you are considering one of these, it would be wise to interact with veterans engaged in similarly activity. Such engagement must start well before retirement and must include deep research. A detailed telephone call would not suffice; you must visit the place of business and gather feedback for yourself. Similarly, if you wish to join a family member or a friend in existing business venture, you must carry out a thorough research before jumping in. Pro tip : all agreements and understandings must be reduced to writing, if you decide to invest/work with a friend or family. ?

(b)???Salaried Employment.??????One could consider lateral employment offered in various other government departments. Aspirants of this option must do some research and be on lookout for such vacancies. For those opting for corporate opportunities must utilize the DGR sponsored pre-release courses in IIMs and other such similar institutions. The diploma certificate obtained in these courses doesn’t count for much, however the gains in terms of networking and lateral learning are huge.???

4.????????Sharpen the Saw.?Scan the job market for the roles that you would be interested in. Study the job description carefully to ascertain if there are any shortfalls in your skillset. Most of the gaps can be fulfilled by short online courses. In the armed forces, we acquire a lot of generic skills through our work on human resource management and material management. However, we don’t receive a formal certification for the same. This deficiency can be addressed by undergoing online certification/ diploma/ degree in these domains. Such courses don’t cost much in terms of time and treasure and should be completed before retirement.

For example, Amazon selects a large number of veterans every years. It also rejects a large number of veteran' applicants each year. Your CV must reflect the QRs that the JD is looking for. One could do a Lean Six sigma online course coupled with Project management certification to add a little more weight to their CV. The job search must commence a year or two before retirement, allowing you enough time for obtaining required qualifications and certifications. ??

Don’t be afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone and acquiring new skill sets. Most non-tech military personal are scared of Tech qualifications. They shy away from anything that has a computer involved in the process. This fear must be shed. Technical qualifications that involve computing, blockchain, data analysis, coding, cloud storage and so on are not very difficult to master. Most people with very basic tech background coupled with grasp of English language can grasp the essentials. The advances in AI and computing prowess has made these things simple to learn. ?

Remember : ABCT – anybody can tech.??

5.????????Network through Teamwork.??You must align your efforts with other military personal in the same boat as you. Interact with other retiring candidates and exchange notes. Do it often and do it with as many as possible. You must also interact with Veterans who are currently in positions that you aspire to join. Social media has made it possible to network in a seamless manner across large distances and time zones. This advantage must be fully exploited.???

6.????????Alphabet Soup.????I am going to suggest a few courses / certifications that can be done by retiring candidates to enhance their employment opportunities. A detailed discussion on the modalities would make the post far too long. Aspirants can find out more via a simple Google search. ?

# CSP, CBCP, PMP, CPP, AWS, CKS, CEH, CSM, CISSP, CSM, ISO, PYTHON, JAVA, C++, Blockchain, Data science. ?

In sum, devising a game plan for second inning is a time consuming process that can return handsome dividends if done carefully and diligently.

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Please comment below to take the discussion forward.