How Veterans Can Smoothly Transition to Civilian Jobs

Many veterans who have recently returned from active duty are looking for a new job in the civil work force. There are many challenges that come with transitioning from military life to the civil work force. When you’re part of the army, navy, air force, or any other branch of the military, you’re told how to dress, where you need to be at any given time, and how you need to do many work-related tasks. Military life is known for being regimented, and many people respond well to that type of lifestyle. Transitioning, however, can be a challenge if you fail to take stock of your assets or find yourself in a job you’re not actually suited for. Civilian life allows you more choices and greater freedom, but you need to find a civil work force job that will let you use the skills that you’ve sharpened in the military. There are many skills that veterans learn in the military that transfer well to civil work force jobs, but it’s always nice to have a few tips along the way to make your transitioning process go as smoothly as possible.

Think About Transferable Skills

There are some skills that you likely learned in your time in the military that aren’t applicable to any jobs that you might think about applying for. For instance, if you learned how to drive a tank, you won’t need that in any city job. But you might have leadership skills that will make you highly desired by potential civil work force employers, which can make transitioning much easier. Depending on the capacity in which you served, you might have also learned how to do accounting and other finance-related jobs. Transitioning to the civilian world will require that you shore up all of your transferable skills and highlight the ones that will be the most attractive to potential employers.

Reach Out to Resources

When you first leave the military, you might feel alone. Transitioning can be a frustrating experience if you don’t know where to look. But the reality is that many people have gone through the transitioning process that you’re going through. Transitioning successfully starts with finding those civil work force jobs that actively seek your skills. You can also connect with company organizations that are actively interested in hiring veterans because they see that veterans can make excellent employees in the civil work force world. For instance, T-Mobile has actively recruited veterans, making a goal to hire at least 10,000 veterans. Veterans on Wall Street is another organization that actively recruits veterans to enter the industry of stock market trading.