Turn Military Skills Into Success in a Civilian World
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When you compare the military world with the civilian lifestyle, the differences seem awfully severe. Where one is disciplined, the other is lax. Where one is strict and governed by rules, the other is filled with people who break rules daily. Is it possible to translate your military skills into the civilian world, and find success outside the service? Yes!
Military Living vs. Civilian Relaxing There is down-time in the military, time when you aren’t doing your job and it’s possible to enjoy a little recreation. But when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. Military living makes the civilian world look like one of pure relaxation – even in the job place, there are times when it’s all play and no work. In the military, such behavior might risk safety, even a life. But in the civilian world, everything is more relaxed. For the post-military professional, transition from one to the other can be a mind-blowing change. It may even seem like your military past and skills don't apply to your new, relaxed lifestyle. But military skills are something you can never - and should never - leave behind.
Your Life + Your Skills = Civilian Success? What’s the first thing you learned in the military? Pain? That, too, but the answer is discipline. It’s ingrained into all military personnel; it’s a part of the entire military way of life, and it’s something that is sadly lacking in the civilian world. Their lax attitude can be to your gain, however, because you immediately set yourself apart from civilians as a veteran. You, at least, have experienced hardcore discipline, and employers know it as soon as they learn you were in the service. Military discipline is admired by the vast majority of employers, and your military past will show one and all that it’s part of you, too.
Use your military record. Put it on your resume, and make sure your employer knows it’s there. The training and discipline the military offers has its own unshakable reputation. Right away, employers will know that you can push yourself right to the limit - and then move past that limit as though it isn’t even there. You, unlike many others, are not a civilian. You’re a military veteran, and to employers this can make a difference.
But your military skills are good for more than impressing people (and giving you a few colorful service stories). The discipline and motivation you learned in the service can absolutely help you get ahead in a civilian world. The attention to detail and efficiency you learned in the service can help you stay on track in the workplace, and can even help you find a new job a lot faster. Both these skills translate directly into job searches, which can be tedious but are made quicker with your military training. As a veteran, you have something that many others lack: the ability to work extremely hard. In the civilian world, people like you are rather rare. Simply by being hard-working, paying attention, and reaching the goals you set you’re already two steps ahead of most of the civilians around you.
Stick to Your Training Remember your training, and use it in your new post-military lifestyle. Stay ambitious in your goals and disciplined in your efforts, and you will get ahead. When you translate military skills like attention to detail, discipline, and motivation into applications for the civilian world, you’ll be impossible to hold back.
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