Posted on Jun 5, 2016
What is the best thing you did while transitioning from the military?
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I want to hear the best thing you did while you were transitioning (whether retiring or separating) from the military.
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 36
I went to the Wharton School and got an MBA. It was the perfect 2 year transition from active duty USAF to Banking. I also stayed in the Reserve, which did my heart a lot of good over the years as I found Banking to not be as trustworthy as my old USAF associations. I developed a plan while active duty to maximize my education and determine what civilian job fit best with my USAF experience. As a contracting officer, I was already and Air Force "businessman" doing deals so Wall Street and deals seemed a fairly natural transition. I made sure I spoke with people with whom I had some trust that had already made the transition. Several of my best networking groups were the West Point Society of New York and the Naval Academy Alumni Association of NY. These "older schools" had a fair amount of people on Wall Street and helped me more than my Wharton contacts/alumni did.
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I put my paperwork in a full year ahead of time. This gave me time to adjust my mindset and explore my options.
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I thought about what i wanted to do after i separated; then started the personal preparation necessary to get that job. For example, I spent my last two years getting a master's degree; I took the time to write a solid resume. I started looking around and found the job i wanted, so when I separated on Friday, I walked into that job the following Monday.
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Tied in with the Army Corporate Partners program and took the Boots to Business course to prepare for out of service work.
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TSgt Alex Benningfield I had a good plan in place. I went to school full time and worked full time. Being busy helped me focus on my goals and objectives.
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