What are the most common road blocks Veterans face when transitioning to civilian employment?

SSgt John Axtell II — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 13:50:03 -0500

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 8 at 2017 1:55 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 13:55:08 -0500

A common road block is simple Supply and Demand. If you depart the military for whatever reason and there is no demand for your skill set then you have a couple of options: Learn a new trade or move to where there is a demand for your skill set. // Military members will have to conduct their own Mission Analysis on themselves, their environment and make some decisions from there.

Response by PVT Mark Brown made Nov 8 at 2017 1:55 PM

PVT Mark Brown — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 13:55:38 -0500

Civilians

Response by CA Delete D. made Nov 8 at 2017 2:47 PM

CA Delete D. — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 14:47:30 -0500

Where do I begin!?
1. Transferable skills (or knowing how to demonstrate in interview).
2. documented credentials (no, no one wamts to see your SMART transcript)
3. dealing with levels of discipline that are disparate to say the least.

....Im sure I can think of plenty more later

Response by SSgt Luke Hunt made Nov 8 at 2017 3:50 PM

SSgt Luke Hunt — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 15:50:21 -0500

adjusting to a less disciplined work force is one that comes to mind. Co workers not taking pride in their work is another

Response by PO1 John Y. made Nov 8 at 2017 3:53 PM

PO1 John Y. — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 15:53:35 -0500

Ignorance and pre-conceived notions non-vet civilians have of what veterans do. Overcoming that is half the battle, the other half is adjusting to their culture once hired.

Response by SGT Steven Hines made Nov 8 at 2017 4:15 PM

SGT Steven Hines — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 16:15:51 -0500

Civilians that don't understand the military mind set.

Response by PO3 Jacob Jenkins made Nov 8 at 2017 5:20 PM

PO3 Jacob Jenkins — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:20:58 -0500

A lot of people will say that it is the employers don't understand the Vets or they will say it is a different culture that doesn't fit what a Veteran is used to and these are true. I also think it is the responsibility of the Vet and the Military to prepare for that change rather than the responsibility of the employer. When entering the military the first thing you do is boot camp so that you can adjust and adhere to the lifestyle of the military... when leaving you must do the same thing. When transitioning back into the civilian world you must learn to adjust and adhere to the lifestyle of a civilian. It is the responsibility of the Veteran first to adjust to the market. After all it is our career and life changing not the employers. That's why programs that have leadership sessions, team building sessions, work place training, resume training, job board training, social media (LinkedIn) training, interview training etc. in their programs are essential. This is the training that is the most valuable. This is the training that will make or break the job search.

Response by SSG Alan Pelletier made Nov 8 at 2017 5:38 PM

SSG Alan Pelletier — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:38:41 -0500

Roadblocks internally or from civilians?
These are completely separate ideas and can be segregated as such. I'm assuming you mean in general and internally?

From my personal experience the biggest challenges was and still is learning to slow down. Civilians have no urgency or concept of, "time now." I've painfully learned to create specific and deliberate time hacks for peers and subordinate leaders. Asking someone for a status and waiting for a response is common unless you specifically and clearly say RIGHT NOW.

Second was terminology. Nobody cares what rank or positions you had in the military. You were either a 9,999,999 million star general (which doesn't mean anything to anyone) or a soldier. Either way it means nothing so figure out what the EQUIVALENT is and consider what you are applying for. Were you a Platoon Sergeant? Then perhaps team leader of supervisor. Have some college then you were a supervisor or manager... Just do not lie. You are translating military jargon into daily language. You were not stations at Fort Lewis you worked in Tacoma, WA... (Sorry, Army terms not AF but you get the point).

Roadblocks from civilians is firstly the lack of understanding on what exactly we do and what are true skill sets are. It's wasteful trying to educate your co-workers or HR department because their priorities have nothing to do with larger and bigger pictures. Learn the little bubbles they operate in and you'll be fine. Just do not take any of this to mean that civilians are not good, honest, or hard-working people. Quite the contrary, just confused and lost ;)

Response by SGT Tony Clifford made Nov 8 at 2017 6:29 PM

SGT Tony Clifford — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 18:29:18 -0500

The biggest problem most suffer from is a lack of marketable skills or at least an inability to explain the merits of your skills. Civilian employers don't give a damn about your tactical proficiency. They don't care about most of your certifications. This is partly because they don't know what they are. Instead of saying squadleader, I gave an approximate number of subordinates I managed. I indicated that I also managed 2 subordinate managers. I gave a very summarized overview of my responsibilities and added a dollar amount for the equipment I was trusted with. At the very least it shows a quantifiable level of your service in terms that a civilian employer can understand.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 9 at 2017 8:45 AM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 08:45:09 -0500

Skill sets not easily transferred over. I spent my Naval career working on electronics, yet I need to go through a trainee program (in my case, 1 year +), earn my license through the state to do similar work.

Response by SFC William Stephens A. Jr., 3 MSM, JSCM made Nov 9 at 2017 9:16 AM

SFC William Stephens A. Jr., 3 MSM, JSCM — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 09:16:45 -0500

NETWORKING' RESUME writing skills...........................

Then competing with the Job market with their so-so resume, better to have more then one person review it. Don't spend a bunch money on resume scam company to write up your resume for you. There are plenty of good people like here on RP who will point you in the right direction who will help you with resume writing skill. ANY MOS.

Response by CPL Erik Gonzalez made Nov 9 at 2017 10:20 AM

CPL Erik Gonzalez — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 10:20:22 -0500

For me a big part of transitioning was the language, I had to retrain myself how to speak like a civilian. I would talk and I could see in there face that they had no clue as to what I was talking about. My girlfriend (who is now my wife) from time to time would ask me to speak English. lol

Response by SPC Dwight Turner made Nov 11 at 2017 1:46 AM

SPC Dwight Turner — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 01:46:22 -0500

civilians who dont understand us our concerns they should realize it's new start for all of us !!!