What career did you choose to take on after you returned home? Was it something similar from when you were in the military?

Work was almost impossible to find when I got home December 1970. Some of my brothers and sisters may recall what life was like for veterans in some areas. I worked in a few different occupations, mostly all sales job until finally joining the family business which was an Insurance Agency where I stayed until I sold the business in 2010 and ultimately retired in 2012. Not much to do with anything I did in the Army.

I was career SIGINT while active duty. Now I'm a Paramedic working for an ambulance service.

I went into testing electronic components. It's related to fixing radios in the sense that both require an understanding of electric theory but that's where the similarities end. That said, it's probably the thing that set me apart from the rest of the applicants. Been at it since July 2014 so I must be doing something right.

Worked in Comms/IT in the Navy. Did the same as a contractor for 8 years overseas after i retired. Already had the clearance and worked with same crypto. Just didn't wear the uniform.
Got burned out and took a year off. Now work in hospital security while the wife pulls in the "big bucks". :)

I was a signal guy with experience in various forms of tactical comms and information technology. I had set myself up for success well ahead of time by obtaining a degree, some IT certifications, and doing my homework. I also prepped my resume and myself well for every job I applied for. I'm not counting jobs where I checked the "apply here" button and used the auto-fill information from job sites, but there has only been one job that I was qualified for where I applied and didn't get it.

I started out working in the same field and expected to do that for the rest of my life. My first position was as a contractor in Afghanistan. When I was retiring, my and I discussed the pros and cons of it, and it had been about 5 years since my last deployment so that factored as well. I was hired and boots on the ground about 45 days before my terminal leave ended. I was hired as a junior technician, but was number 2 in charge in country for our company by the time I left 9 months later.
Once I returned, I worked as a Dish Network contractor until I found something better, which took about 3 months, when I took a job as a network admin at a small university. It was during my time there that I learned about our County Veterans Service Officer. After talking with him, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I kept my eyes opened and a vacancy opened up in the next county over. I applied and was selected out of a pool of about 10 that were finalists.

I'm coming up on my 2 year anniversary and couldn't be happier. I am truly living the dream.

I do the exact same thing I did when I was in the military. I'd say the military impacted it primarily because I wouldn't have had the experience or desire to seek out an employment in this field if it wasn't already forced on me to begin with.

Cannon crewman in the USMC, then Electrician in the USN. Tried being a tech when I got out, then I realized abruptly two weeks later while caked in mud and beat from a construction site that I was done doing that sort of thing. Relaxed as a lifeguard for the summer while I waited to start the Fall semester studying Economics. Ended up as a lawyer, and I love it.

Moral of the story - keep trying stuff until you find what you want to do. Just go about it in a way that is smart. School alone is not the answer. I always had a job, even if it was on a volunteer basis to keep the flow of experience coming. That's when your prior service will come in handy. It is a great way to get your foot in the door, but you still have to open it yourself.

Not exactly. I was a Logisitics Officer, I tried to teach supply chain management at the university level but was stymied by not being plugged into that community where I retired. I was also a Garrison Commander where I ran essentially a small city, including public works. I also had experience as a young officer running job shops for equipment maintenance. I am a Civil Engineer by education but really hadn't used it. I did not plan on it, but I applied to be an Assistant Director of Facilities for a School District. Now I'm the Director. I have four shops that do preventive and unscheduled maintenance of buildings and grounds.

My second career had nothing to do with aviation, but had everything to do with what anyone who had a successful term in the military has probably learned; how to lead people and push, pull or cajole them into doing what needs to be done. I started out as the ops manager for a large medical supply distributor where I worked with a sales force, warehousemen, and delivery persons. We supplied 220 hospitals in Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas; that evolved into being a Medical Administrator for an Orthopaedic practice, a family medicine practice and a general surgery practice. I never set a fracture, cured a kid or performed bariatric service, but I saw that the physicians and surgeons had everything they needed, kept the desks manned, saw my people got paid and made our clients happy.

When I left the Army the first time around I went in a totally opposite direction than what I did in the service. I probably took a huge pay cut at the time by doing so, but it was worth it.