My conversations with military in transition often demonstrate they have jumped into a job search with little planning. Whether you are transitioning after several years’ service or are retiring, you face big changes. These go beyond just job search to selecting among career options for future employment and any education choices, as well as […]
Military Transition: Targeting Employers
Once you know what work you want to do next and have basic career goals defined, you need to find the right employers. The ‘right employers’ are those who not only offer the work you seek but who match your values, goals, and offer what you need to succeed.
Start by creating a detailed picture […]
Military Transition: Undermining Yourself
“But Patra,” I hear you saying “no-one sabotages themself!” Ohh ~ but yes, people do quite regularly undermine their own job search, often without thinking about it. Far too many military are doing so. Before you say ‘not me’, look at these common ways to lose your chance for the job you want — […]
Military Transition: Job Fairs
You have figured out what work you are seeking following your service. You have a resume you hope is about right. Is it worth your time to attend any job fairs? Or should you focus solely on other job search methods?
Job fairs can play an important part in your job search. They offer you […]
Military Transition: Preparing to Create Your Resume
I read resumes of military in transition all the time. Many are not going to do anything for their writers. Perhaps you wrote your first resume ever as part of your transition program homework – an important first step in understanding resume basics. However, in reality, you cannot write a decent resume until you actually know […]
Path to a Successful Military Transition
Thinking of leaving the military? Already a “short-timer”? Vet still looking for a new job? You need to know how you can move onto the right career path.
We know, based on research, that most successful people share three common practices. You can too! The three are:
Build on your strengths.
Have goals, and act on them.
On-going […]
Military Transition: How ‘Soft Skills’ Help Get the Job
You have seen the articles about the lack of certain skills in employees and companies concerns about not being able to find people with critical skills. Many of these are so-called ‘soft skills.’ You may not think of it at first but when it comes to many highly-valued and highly-sought-after “soft skills”, most members […]
Military Transition: Speaking Civilian Again
Every group has its own ‘language’. Remember when you joined the service and hardly understood what anyone was saying? Now you need to ‘learn the lingo’ used for your target jobs.
An easy first step is to pick out a couple of the words which describe what you want to do next. Examples: data modeler […]
Military Transition: Plan for Success
A very common failure in military transition to a successful civilian career is a lack of focus. This applies even if you think you might want to keep doing what you have done in the military. A failure to look at your own successes and do some self-analysis so you understand your short and […]
Military Transition: Research Cheat Sheet
As you develop your job search plan a ‘cheat sheet’ helps to uncover some common issues which you need to understand. Answers to these questions will help you select employers who meet your goals. Later, as you interview, review the research you did on the questions to prepare for the interview. Then select questions […]
