When military members finally get out of the military, they find that they are entering into a very different job market.
No longer are they being assigned what to do and have guaranteed employment like when they had a contract with the Department of Defense. Now they are competing with others for the same job and discovering that there are numerous jobs on the market from which to choose. It can be daunting, and many veterans start to feel the pressure almost immediately after being discharged from the military.
Your Military Service Can Help
The good news is that you can get a job based on your military service. Most military members all have several characteristics in common. These characteristics include:
- Loyal
- Hard-working
- Ability to follow directions
- Gives 100% at all tasks
- Can take constructive criticism with ease
It is these types of characteristics that make any veterans the person that employers want to hire. They have more faith in veterans staying with their company when compared to an average civilian.
Narrowing Down Your Civilian Job Sources
Upon exiting the military, you may have no clue what you want to do. However, the best way to find a career is to find one that is going to closely relate to your military experience.
Through doing this you are going to find that you become more qualified than many other applicants for that position. So what types of careers are associated with military experience?
- Law enforcement/security officer: Almost all military members at some point have worked on patrolling and enforcing some type of rules or laws. In addition, most positions in the military have received some sort of weapons training. This training makes the veteran a likely candidate for law enforcement or security positions.
- Office management: Though most veterans do not think about office management as a career in which they have experience, there are several military occupational specialties (MOS) that utilize office management skills that can transfer over to the civilian world.
- Public service: After a stint in the military, many veterans like the idea of continuing to work in the public in some form.
- Entrepreneur: Thanks to your time in the military, you may see a need for a product or business that is not being met. Studies show that one in five veterans start their own business upon exiting the military.
- Education field: Those in the military have learned a lot of discipline and how to control chaos as it erupts around them. What better way to put this to use than in the education field, feeding the minds of future adults?
Of course, these five examples are just the beginning. Veterans are being seen in all areas of civilian employment. What the veteran does is going to be based on what their MOS was while in the military.
For a person who flew planes, they may find that opening their own small aircraft flight school is what they want to do. The ideas are really endless; the veteran simply has to be ready to take the leap of faith and put themselves out there into the civilian market.
For more information, contact our partners at Hire Our Heroes.
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