Popular Post Military Careers

If you’re looking to start a career and have no clear idea where to begin, hearing about former success stories can be a good guideline.  As any serviceman knows, there’s strength in numbers.  There’s also strength in consensus, eyeing those jobs that are popular for military men and women.   Finding a job can be a tough road.  Employers might totally overlook a military resume and only want to look at past work experience, no matter how insignificant compared to military service.  Your work experience may be slight if you joined the military right out of high school or college, which more often than not is the case.  In some cases, reservists will keep jobs they had before entering the service, but not every employer will put employees jobs on hold.  On the whole, around 250,000 active-duty personnel enter the workforce every year.   That means one very significant thing: if you are applying for a job, you are going to have some competition from other military personnel.  Of course, this depends on the location where you’re applying, but generally there can be some stiff competition, especially for those jobs that are very popular post military positions.  This does not mean that you shouldn’t look into careers popular with the military, but just to be aware that these job markets can be crowded.    Popular Veteran Careers The most popular post-military careers are, unsurprisingly, via the aerospace industry, for Air Force personnel and law enforcement for every branch of the armed forces.  This includes security work or police work.  Police work is arguably the easiest job to get post military.  You won’t get people scratching their heads looking at complicated military jargon, as policework has obscure jargon all its own.  For other work, you are going to have to translate military-speak into civilian terms.  This is not nearly as necessary for law enforcement jobs.   The same goes for certain wings of the aerospace industry, such as the defense industry.  However, keep in mind that many facets of the aerospace industry require advanced engineering degrees.  While it’s possible to get these degrees through online or on-campus education, high-level degrees are often a prerequisite for securing an upper-level job.  Jobs that require security clearance are also popular post military, as military personnel have already passed through a rigorous series of security tests.  Back to the Military Partly because of the struggle of re-entering civilian life, many returning servicemen and women choose to renter the military through the National Guard.  For many, there is just nothing that compares to military service so they want to continue serving their country. In the military, you can put your former experience to immediate use.  There is no need for awkward translation of skills or transitioning.  Transitioning from the Military If you struggling with the transition from military to civilian life, you can do several things: rework your resume so it is worded in civilian terms, network with friends from the military, go to military job fairs, check military job boards, perform a career assessment test to narrow down just where you belong, or get transition assistance from your nearest base.   While on the hunt, remember a couple of things.  Outgoing military personnel are eligible for unemployment benefits so you can take your time looking for a job.  Because of this freedom, take some time to find the job that’s right for you.  You cannot expect a leadership position immediately, but do try to find a job in which promotion from within is possible.  If an employer initially seems military-friendly, you’ll be in a much healthier work environment where promotion is a better possibility.   Comments (0) Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form Name Email Website Title Comment Add Comment