Any recent or soon to be retirees out there? If so, what resources have been most productive for finding a quality job?

CW3 (Join to see) this one is excellent. USAjobs is the site that lists all the federal jobs, but they take 4 months after the close date before you start working (at least in my case). Are you getting short?

In my opinion, the biggest challenge is finding the right job. It's a matter of doing a lot of research, a lot of soul searching, and establishing reasonable parameters to work with. Too many people get out of the military and think they are going to land that high level job right off the bat. Finding a civilian job that is comparable to the military position are often times impossible. So finding a close match or even considering a different path entirely are not out of the question. Then it's a matter of finding the network. Job fairs, monster.com etc. are not a bad start, but they are very limited. Finding trade publications can lead you to trade specific jobs. Find company websites and if they don't have a career tab, submit a resume to the operations manager. It also helps to discover what certifications are important and getting some of them under your belt. PMP, Cisco, CompTia, etc, are good examples of certs to have. Active security clearances are also a plus. After months of nothing, I finally took a position that was well below my skill set. Within a year I was making as much as I did in the military. In about three years I was making substantially more. I had to start from the bottom, but getting to the top is easy, you just have to get in that door.

First do some homework on the area you plan to go. Check the Bureau of Labor Statistics to see what the the Top and Least jobs in the area. "BLS is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics". Check with the local Universities and Colleges to see if they have any type of workshops, like University of North Florida's Veteran STAR. KNow who you are and what you want to do, ELEVATOR SPEECH..... I hear this all the time, "So what do you want to do?", the answer with some hem and hawing, "I just want a job." or "I did blank, blank, blank in the military". Work on your resume - it is not fine. I talk to Veterans all the time and I hear "I put in 256 resumes and I haven't been intereviewed", my response, "That tells me there is something wrong with your resume", next words I hear "No, my resume is fine". You need to network, network, network, you are trying to build relationships and that contact may know someone that needs you. It does take work, it is like having a full time job.