Securing a Long-Term Career

When you’re entering the job market after a stint in the military, however long, your first instinct might be to take the first job you’re offered.  The ideal situation is to find a job that has a solid career path.  Even if you don’t get a high-ranking entry-level job with an attractive salary, you’ll be in a situation where you know that you’ll be able to progress through promotion, so long as you do the job well.   If you’ve been looking for a job or six months or more you may be getting desperate and want to take the first job that comes down the pike.  You have to ask yourself a simple question, and be honest with yourself: is your resume as good as it could be?  Could you be padding your resume with additional degrees?  Is the resume well-organized and conceived?  If employers aren’t biting, it might not be a case of having bad luck, but misdirected credentials.  Once you go through a personal self-assessment and re-working of your resume, you can try to enter the job market again.   Of course, financial necessity is always a hugely-important factor.  Often, people have to take whatever job they can just because they have bills to pay.  That said, the job you take in this capacity can be just enough to hold you over until you get the career you desire.  Perhaps it will put some needed experience on your civilian resume.  Perhaps it will allow you time to earn an additional degree part time to help you compete in a crowded job market.  Tips for Finding a Long-Term Career The key to a long-term career is not just a career with a lot of promotion potential.  Obviously this is important, but if you aren’t interested in the industry to begin with, job burnout is a concern.  If you’re not enjoying what you do, you can’t excel at what you do.  It’s as simple as that.  Find a career that you like to do, not necessarily one that is easy to get or has the potential for a lot of money.   Analyze just what you want out of life: creative fulfillment, financial fulfillment, a solitary or more social lifestyle?  Also set realistic goals for yourself: where you’d like to be a year from now, five years, at retirement.  Be realistic about what you can achieve and be honest about the skills you have to reach those goals.  Planning a career is like starting a personal business.  It takes a business plan, both long and short term.   Using Career Tests If you’re unsure of just what interests you, taking a career assessment test is a good idea.  Many men and women leaving the military may know nothing of the civilian workforce.  Perhaps they joined the military directly out of high school or college, in which case they never had the opportunity to determine a career path.   While using military transition calculators - which translate military experience into civilian terms - are a good idea, that’s only part of the picture.  Most of all, you must determine just what it is you like to do.  A non-military career assessment test can take the information you provide regarding your skills, interests, and personality type to narrow down your focus.  Though you might not get an exact job title in response, you will get a general idea about a particular industry, information you might have not known before.  Career tests online are of varying quality, so it’s not a bad idea to complete several to get the broadest possible idea.   Some career tests are put together with on-campus or online degree programs so you can look into getting a degree that will help further your chosen career.  People who have degrees with a refined focus are more likely to get a good starting salary.  Depending on your chosen profession, there are vocational, trade, certification, Master’s degree, and other programs available for career-minded students.   Comments (0) Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form Name Email Website Title Comment Add Comment