Posted on Jun 17, 2014
What is the one thing a Veteran needs when transitioning to the civilian world that we don’t have enough of?
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Transitioning Veterans find out there is a different world out there from the military. Some need to learn how to covert their military skills to comparable job skills, some need sensitivity training, some need to learn where to live, some need to learn how to write a resume. What is it that we don't have enough of that you would want to see more?
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Responses: 17
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My honest answer does not provide a simple solution and that is "a civilian mindset". Those who served for a full term or more have a very difficult time adapting to a civilian employer mindset. This ranges from everything to forms of address to acting in the absence of orders and it can be a great challenge to revert back. The only advise I can give on this is to try to be aware and act accordingly (not easy since the 'military way' has become second nature for most of us).
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I think the "skills" most enlisted are missing are not necessarily skills but degrees. I have seen it from retired and active military that they have all the skills of the job and experience but because they lack some form of a degree that seems to be what civilians deem military are missing and thus not getting the jobs they want and are very much qualified for. I think this is a big difference as well from officer and enlisted due to the fact that officer has to have that degree to be an officer. If people would just take the time and show enlisted why education is important, instead of telling them, that would be much more help.
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PFC Courtney Hilliard
I agree. Unfortunately, the transition classes that I have seen have been....lacking.... At the very least. I was told to just date a guy with good credit and I'd be fine. My husband was told that they could help with his resume because he was combat and had no civilian skills. I wrote his resume. So if a new group were to come on and volunteer a comprehensive class that covers approximately 6-7 major life skills such as: budgets/taxes/credit, leases/mortgages, resumes/interviews, VA benefits, educational benefits/requirements, and small business information; do you believe you would strongly recommend your soldiers attend the class? Especially if it came with a booklet with information and contact numbers for them to reach out to on the civilian side?
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PFC Courtney Hilliard
Thank you SGT Spratley! I will make sure we have a good block on how to read and maintain a credit report in our class.
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SrA Johnathan Kropke
PFC Courtney Hilliard I would get my troops, if I had any :), to go to it a few times. I know that I have taken these classes, along with family and friends help, and it has helped me throughout my time so far.
MCPO Brian Legg I was told the same for a one page resume. I try to keep mine to the one page, but like you said its hard to do especially with such an extensive career, but I believe it can be done due to people needing to tailor the resume to the job. If you do that then the resume can become closer to that one pager. Again this is only my experience which I know lacks compare to most, but it has been helpful to me and the few I teach it to as well.
MCPO Brian Legg I was told the same for a one page resume. I try to keep mine to the one page, but like you said its hard to do especially with such an extensive career, but I believe it can be done due to people needing to tailor the resume to the job. If you do that then the resume can become closer to that one pager. Again this is only my experience which I know lacks compare to most, but it has been helpful to me and the few I teach it to as well.
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PFC Courtney Hilliard
I was lucky enough to learn how to do resumes in highschool. Seeing as how I'm only 24, I haven't had the opportunity/necessity to tailor my resume to a specific job. I agree that this is quite necessary! A lot of soldiers are going to have resumes just like high school students, where they will need to list basically everything just to show that they have been working, and then go into detail on the pertinent skills for the job. Now, I was taught in my class (6 years ago) that it's acceptable to have two pages, but unless absolutely necessary for a specific position, avoid going to a third. I've discovered that most employers have regarded this rule favorably, so i normally keep a 2 page resume.
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