Retired Military Personnel Get Hired for their Skills Sets

“Retired Military Personnel Get Hired For Their Skill Sets”

If you are a retired (or retiring) military person, be sure to take time to create an inventory of your specific skills. You should be able to quantify and qualify what you are best at that is transferable from the military environment to the private sector.

To validate this point, let’s consider the results that my clients got when they went through this transition:

• Client #1 – A retired military officer with skills in operations became a Plant Manager for a stationery manufacturing company in Chicago.
• Client #2 – A former military officer with logistics, technology and supply chain skills became a Management Consultant for a strategy consulting firm in Washington, DC.
• Client # 3 – A retiring military officer with responsibilities in purchasing lines up a position as an Inbound Supply Director for a financial institution in New York City.

What do these individuals have in common? Their ability to adapt to change in a new environment. In the military, the chain of command may be well established, but in private industry the organizational structure may not run like a well-oiled machine. In fact, it is often informal networks and hidden political agendas that are the norm.

Each of these individuals sought the help of a career coach to get feedback on their resumes, interviewing skills and career planning activities. Partnering with a coach enabled them to define and focus their skill set for the next stage of their career: a suitable position in the private sector.

Beverly R. Daniel, MS, MBA is a Career Counselor and Coach, and is the Treasurer of the Career Counselors Consortium, as well as the President of the Career Growth Group. She can be reached at beverly.daniel@careercc.org, or at 212.980.2526.