How do you prepare your subordinates to rejoin the civilian workforce?

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 10:11:13 -0400

Most military personnel only rejoin the civilian sector once, Reservists and National Guardsmen may do it multiple times in their career. What tools have you found to be useful: college, resumes, job fairs, realistic expectations relative to skils, etc.

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Oct 16 at 2016 10:19 AM

Capt Tom Brown — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 10:19:12 -0400

What is today's standard or paradigm on what individual leaders, commanders or the military, in general, should or are somehow obligated to do to 'prepare their subordinates to EAS and become civilians"? At one time as I recall the MC at least in my case did absolutely nothing nor felt obligated to do so as I was quitting their employment and seeking a job and career elsewhere, I was not looked upon with much esteem or approval. On the day of my release I picked up my papers from a PFC at the company office and departed the base in my 1961 VW beetle. It seems nowadays the military is being expected more and more to somehow carry their departing SMs through the door and set them up mentally and emotionally and professionally in civilian life. Not many civilian companies I know of go so far as to do that when an employee quits or moves on or goes into the service.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 16 at 2016 11:02 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 11:02:01 -0400

ACAP/SFL-TAP training - required and optional courses
Start Networking yesterday - LinkedIn, RP, ClearanceJobs
ONet and Army COOL to figure out what you want to do

That's a good start.

Response by Sgt Wayne Wood made Oct 16 at 2016 11:04 AM

Sgt Wayne Wood — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 11:04:47 -0400

Back in the day, encouraged college correspondence courses from the base or shipboard education office. It was free, it (mostly) transferred, and they can't take it free m you.

Response by ENS Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 16 at 2016 2:03 PM

ENS Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 14:03:04 -0400

The Navy has a system in place where all of those receiving a discharge undergo several transition classes. It helps prepare them for the civilian world. They learn how to properly dress, interview skills, resume' writing, etc. I've heard it from many people, even those who absolutely were against going, that it was very beneficial.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Oct 16 at 2016 4:13 PM

LTC John Shaw — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 16:13:38 -0400

I ask my soldiers to target very specific jobs or skills they see themselves doing in the civilian sector then we use the required credentials as a training plan. In Signal many of the skills and certification are the same, this helps the transition.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Oct 17 at 2016 8:45 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:45:39 -0400

I've mentored many Marines upon transitioning from the military, even after I separated myself. My biggest thing is to make sure they have realistic expectations. I tell them to go to as many classes or get as many certifications as they can before leaving because they can use this to pad their resumes. I find out what their plans are, those that are college bound, I make sure they have plans for living, eating, discretionary spending. Most people take our bi-monthly checks for granted and don't know what to do when the funds stop. I also tell them to save up their leave to the maximum allotment so they can get out of the service much earlier while still getting paid which will make transitioning a bit easier. The biggest thing though is they need to have a plan and they need to know how they're going to execute that plan.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 17 at 2016 1:52 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 13:52:45 -0400

Normally I go over what the soldier plans to do when they get out. Doesn't matter if the spend 4 or 20 years they will eventually get out. Most of my guys are IT and will be looking for IT jobs when they get out. When I write monthly counseling's, one of the bullets will always be a professional growth bullet. What do you want to do to prepare yourself for your future?. We go over that bullet every month. I let the soldier decide what they want to see accomplished then we talk about ways they can accomplish it. Under the leaders responsibilities I explain how I will make their goal attainable and that I will hold them to their goal. Once its on paper and signed I will hold that soldier to it. So every month its a realistic goal.

An example... If my soldier wants to earn a Security+ certification it would go somewhat similar to this. The soldier tells me he/she wants to earn that cert. I explain what the cert is and how it relates to the civilian world and if that is what they are trying to do. If they say yes, I will give them resources for studying that I know of. We establish a timeframe for when they will take the test. For Sec+ I would say 3 months is plenty of time. So we would divide the three months into studying. The first would be books and videos. The second would practice tests. The third would be restudying the soldiers weak areas and doing practice tests that last week before the test.

I do this with every soldier, and each soldier has their own goals so im usually busy trying to stay up to date on what they want to learn. This also helps myself retain information and learn new information with my soldiers.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 17 at 2016 8:11 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 20:11:01 -0400

Only hard work and keeping a current resume.
Nothing the military does really helps allot. It ends up being a mostly individual effort.

Response by SSG Jeremy Sharp made Oct 17 at 2016 10:32 PM

SSG Jeremy Sharp — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 22:32:46 -0400

By supporting their decision and assisting them to prepare for transition by providing guidance for such tasks as seeking educational opportunities, preparing resumes, requesting and preparing employment applications, and properly documenting all aspects of their military experince to tasks which can be associated to civilian job tasks.

Response by SFC Bayardo Reyes made Oct 18 at 2016 9:31 AM

SFC Bayardo Reyes — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 09:31:48 -0400

Emphasize the use and to take those recommended recourses from Soldier for life classes and/or like programs. At the same time, coaching in regards to school and its advantages. Ma'am, remember we are mentoring and coaching 24/7. This should be part of their counseling setting short and long term goals. Sometimes they don't know or have a lead, that's when we come is as leaders.