Secrets for a Successful Military Transition

25 Feb Secrets for a Successful Military Transition

That Your Military Transition is Successful?

There are a total of 5 steps that a personnel can take to ensure that their transition from the military is as successful as they want it to be.

1.Planning          

If you’ve served in the military, then there is a high possibility that you have a mission-type of mindset for everything that you do. Thus, when it comes to your transition, think of it as a mission that you need to accomplish. Think about where you want to be in a year from now, and create a road map to reach there by the end of the year. A major part of your transition should be spent in thinking about what you want to do and be as a normal civilian. Think about the skills that you have, and lay a major emphasis on your weak points. Try filling these missing gaps by taking additional education or training.

2.Speak like a Civilian

Apart from having a long list of skills and experience, it is also very much important to have a body language and communication skills of that of a civilian. For instance-

• Stay away from the jargons you used in the military-Apart from mentioning that you have an expertise in ‘black swan’, tell them that you used to work on developing contingency plans of rare events.
• Use civilian time- Use 5pm instead of 17 hundred hours.
• No need of using Sir or Ma’am to address your professional contacts- You can simply call them by their first names.

3.Find employers that are Military Friendly

A large number of employers who hire ex-military personnel’s for a private job. Search for these kind of employers as they already have a large pool of serviceman working for the company, and you might feel at home while working with them. Moreover, they can also help you out with a number of aspects when you are new to a private job. Companies like Disney, Home Depot, General Electric, and Wal Mart are some of the companies that have a large pool of ex-serviceman working for them.

4.Learn Networking

While working in the military, you need to work as a team along with the other members of your unit. But when you are in the civilian world, you need to understand the fact that you have to sell yourself in the best possible way. It means that you should use all your military and civilian connections to get the job that you want. Be honest, and let your friends and family know that you are looking for a job, and also be open to listen to their advice. They’ve been in the civilian world for long, and they might know a lot more about this new world you are entering into.

5.Pick Up the Job Even if You Need to Start at the Lowest Level

You might be used to taking care of a multi-million dollar aircraft, or managing inventory worth millions of dollars in the past, but remember that these qualities can sometimes do not carry that much value in the civilian world. Employer’s can be very specific at times, and might be looking for a person that can take care of some specific type of aircraft, or some specific type of inventory.

Many of the most successful transitions have been of the people who were not afraid to start at the bottom and build their way into the top.