Transition Assistance Program (TAP). What are your opinions? Both positive and negative feedback is appreciated.

I EAS'd in 95 and TAP was still pretty new 1 or 2 yrs old. So they were still working out what worked and what didn't. We were given a book that had a drawing of what each branch in general translated to in the "Real World" Air Force of course had Pilot and other Aeronautic jobs, Navy Nuclear engineering and other types of jobs, Army Transportation related fields and the Corps Law Enforcement or Security...lol and one of the few things we got told in TAP was to go get business cards and have your Resume and or job skills printed on the back and try to get into one of the city brunches meeting for local businesses. Nothing on the other important "how do I really Transition into Civilian Life, (i.e. That you have to say could you, would you, please and Thank you.) that trying not to use words like Fuck as every other word while talking (it is harder for some to stop doing that lol) that your normal every day expression to you and other military vets is looking like you are pissed off and about to rip someone a new asshole to a Civilians. That speaking in the usual cut and dry tone of voice to us is like Barking, Yelling at, or that you are pissed to a civilian. Or That one of the biggest things was that you can not expect civilian workers to have the same work ethic We do. lol But I do hear TAP has gotten better at informing the soon to be EAS Personal. lol

Honestly TAPS did nothing for me. They had no useful information to help me find a job, locate housing or help with VA. Especially when dealing with people who are coming from overseas, they are no help. I think they need to hire Veterans who have first hand knowledge when dealing with seprations.

As a Career Counselor specifically for veteran I see the gamut of what TAP can do. It comes down to how well that particular class was taught. I personally had an amazing class about 3 years ago. Others I know are not so much. It's more hit the wickets and get out. Whether this is because the class itself was not effective or the service member simply did not pay attention, who knows. Being "civilian smart" takes effort. One of the things I spend the most time on is editing resumes to make them more civilian friendly, no military jargon or acronyms. We all know the military loves those. When you get to where your going after exiting the military it is a good idea to go to your local AJC, Called WorkSource her in Oregon, and ask to speak to the veteran representative. They can help you to adapt to the civilian work world.

TAP was around when I got out. The issue I found out was if I continued the same career path the job opportunity was slim to none. So, I had to start over from the ground up and that's where TAP failed me. Taking all my skills and putting them into a "generic" resume was not something they could do at that time. They were very apt at tailoring your prior experience to the same career field. But, if you were starting over you were on your own.

I have both fields covered. I got a lot out of TAP, it was informative, what it does not tell you is how cut throat it can be in the Civilian Sector. My problem was my MOS 71L (admin), even though the qualifications for jobs state for example, the applicant needs to be able to type 30 words per minute (WPM). I could type 60 wpm. the people typing 75-90 got the jobs. My other problem was the follow up interviews that TAP did not prepare me for or tell me about. As i did interviews for other jobs, I did get better. But knowing about the follow up interviews could have helped prepare me more. Guess i should have known when at the beginning of my out processing, one of the instructor's said he would tell us exactly what each of us was worth in the Civilian Sector. After a week the answer was "As much as you can get."

Meh, For me, TAP was pretty much a waste of time. Maybe it has changed in the past ten years, but when I went the 22 year old LCPL was sitting next to the 45 LtCol listening to the same discussion about resume prepping, etc. There should be two programs, one for retirees which focuses on utilizing their military experience in the civilian world; and another for the single term guys. The latter could focus on college applications, trade schools and things which would directly benefit them.

I was at a geographically separated location from our main support base. Unfortunately I received very little information or help from the TAP process. Had I known then what I now know, there would have been a much greater effort on my part to work with the program. I believe this may be a true statement for many. I believe that there should have been an extremely strong push by the TAP to involve individuals and push the registration into the VA system. It should have been accomplished with the VA there registering individuals! Now I face the almost impossible task of trying to register and get through all of the nuances that have placed in front of the veteran to discourage them.

TAPS does a good job explaining the benefits and VA system but I found it to be lacking in the resume writing portion. I think it would be great if it were possible to pair up vets with people still in and have them offer advice. If you could match them to the industry it would be more helpful than a general format. I know plenty of vets that would be willing to read and help people refine their resumes, offer real career advice, salary expectations etc. Realizing that what is a must in one industry might get your resume burned in another and it isn't sufficient to just say "but it will depend on what your field". It's just a thought.

Make sure u get all ur va stuff done before u get out and when u ready to get out apply for vocational rehabilitation program it will help with education and also provide everything u need for school and give u some income to help out