Who has had success getting IT (Information Technology) jobs after having IT experience in the military?

The problem with IT jobs is that they don't want to see you, they just want to see your resume. And those screening your resume are usually HR types that don't have much appreciation for military experience nor are they able to understand how your military IT experience translates to the non-military position you are applying for. When they are tasked to find new employees to fill a position, they are given a sheet with qualifications to look for in potential candidates... Ex: Must have 2 years experience working with EMC RAID Management Software. The non-technical admin person doesn't understand that you understand what RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, are... They have no idea what RAID striping is, or RAID mirroring is. They probably don't even know what the acronym RAID stands for or the pro's and con's of RAID storage arrays... They just want to know if you have two years experience with the RAID management software you are being hired to work with because that's what it says on their piece of paper. It matters not that you can build computers with RAID systems and could probably figure out the management software by reading the manual and going through the menus in less than an hour... The ONLY thing they know is that you don't meet that check in the block they are looking for. If they recommend you for the interview they might get their butt chewed for wasting the interviewer's time by recommending an unqualified candidate so they pass you over and are more likely to bring in some H1B foreigner who misrepresented their qualifications and lied on their resume. That's just the harsh reality.

A kid coming out of college with a degree in computers has a better chance of getting hired than you do.

Every time I was able to get past HR and interview, I got the job. And it was good for awhile... that is, until the .dot com bubble burst. I finally got tired of the lack of job security and competing with folks that were all laid off IT workers with more civilian sector IT experience so I did something you couldn't export -- construction. And then I discovered instead of competing with foreigners who export their services, I was competing with the services of imported foreigners with rudimentary job skills and an eagerness to work for low wages... many of them here illegally. And you pretty much get what you pay for. I've had to go behind a bunch of Mexican crews fixing all their sloppy mistakes, but people don't seem to care that their house isn't square, walls not level, or that they overlapped the drip edge backwards on the roof... or shortcutted by nailing the floor down instead of gluing and screwing it... or tiled directly to plywood instead of using backerboard, etc. It's like contractors and subs are only interested in getting paid, not doing good work, and the people buying don't usually know what to look for. You work with a lot of interesting folks when you work in the trades...

True story: Was doing an electrical job pulling wire into the poles of a parking lot for a commercial business and the guy in charge was a Hell's Angel 1%'r. He was actually an okay guy and worked hard. A day or two later, some guy from the FBI comes by and is looking for a guy named Carlos. Apparently he was here illegally with a laundry list of crimes which they would not discuss but it probably included rape or murder for him to be one of their most wanted in the area. Worked another job installing fire alarms in commercial buildings and when I went to take a picture of the crew, they got all freaked out and didn't want me taking their picture... One can only guess what they're running away from... I think everyone struggles in life and even the rich have their problems (which brings them down to Earth) and dragons they have to slay/skeletons in their closets, so to me, the rich are no better than the poor. But I also recognize that while I don't envy the rich for being rich, I don't despise them for it either. People make choices and rich people spend more time figuring out how to get and/or stay rich than poor people do. Most of the poor people I know are just worried about surviving and making it till Friday. The rich bring their work home with them and the pressures they face are likewise pretty daunting.

Capt Jeff Schwager – I had 14 months of electronics training in the military EDS was 1990 when the IT industry was just beginning to take off. I was able to land a job with US West at a help desk lasted about 3 months before finding something much better at Bayer working on computers and later medical equipment. During that time I went to college at night and weekends and earned a degree in info systems. It was 1995 I was picked up by SAIC now known as Leidos, best boss I ever had and a really good company. I was recruited by a list of companies after working there for 4 years including BBN (the company that really did build the Internet) and a few other unethical companies that will go unnamed since I would not wish them on my enemies. This was over the course of the last 15 years most of it with government contracting. At one time there was plenty of stability and if you were unhappy where you were you could find a new job for more money in a week. I the last 5 years I have HAD to find a new job 5 times and over that 5 years I have had to take a total of $15,000 in pay cuts. When there were government shutdowns the contractors had to take vacation or leave without pay. When you did go back to work you did not get that money back UNLIKE the government workers. Not to mention there was no guarantee you would get your job back. So IMHO for the last 5+ years it has sucked being a government contractor. In the Washington, D.C. area the only way you are safe in government contracting is if you have a TS/SCI clearance with a full scope poly. The only way to get one of those, at least now a days, is to be born with it or come out of the military with one. If you have a TS/SCI w/full scope poly you can literally have an IQ of 70 and stay employed. I know a few functional idiots that I would not trust with power tools who get paid about $180k. Most of this type never served but were lucky enough to get the credentials at a time when you could. Yes there are many who are intelligent and they came out of the military, in fact I can name a few agencies that would not function without prior service veterans.

I have experienced everything you mentioned headhunters and recruiters search for key words and do not understand technology. IT positions requirements state things like you sited “2 years of java programming” but what if the person spent 2 years as a java programmer and sucked at it for 2 years? Now all you have is a sucko java programmer with 2 years of experience. I hired a young guy out of college and this kid could learn a new language overnight and be a better programmer than most with 2 years’ experience. This is why you get moron contractors working for the government. I inherited an employee who at one point tried to charge 26 hours for one day. When I called him on it he said I did not understand because he was flying to Korea and he crossed the international dateline. WTF? It took me about 30 minutes to explain to him that a day only has 24 hours, in a way he could understand.

After 18 years I have finally broken out of the government contracting world for an all commercial entity. However it is still IT which I wish I had never gotten involved with IT.

I wish I had chosen a career path in trades and worked towards opening my own business.

In regards to your experience with construction we on the receiving side of construction have our own frustrations. I worked construction when I first got out of the Corps and it was hard, long back breaking work. I was one of very few in NJ who was not and could not be a part of a union so I got paid minimum wage and was treated like crap. I never became skilled in construction so I never got to be a part of a union also the economy in 1983 really sucked.

With that said I have had my own constructions heartaches. I bought a house here in Virginia built by K. Hovnanian and it is the biggest piece of crap I have ever experienced. I could go on and on about the problems one of which I have been fighting over since 2009. I paid $400k for a 2400 square foot house and it is falling apart after being only 5 years old. I know for a fact they used low priced unskilled illegal laborers getting paid less than minimum wage. The house was built over the course of 6 months so how much could it have cost the builder? The land was purchased at a time when it was very, very cheap so where did that money go besides in the pockets of the builders? BTW I bought this house at the bottom of the market at the height of the market this model home sold for over $500k. My house is also the smallest model the builder ever made some of the houses originally sold for $800k+ and then when the market crashed and people being foreclosed on those houses were selling for $400k to $600K. In 2012 one of my neighbors had his basement (1,500 sqft) finished with built-in bookcases, wet bar, crown molding, shadow boxing, carpet and ceramic tile (heated floor), pocket doors and sound proofing for the entertainment room for $9,000. WTF over? Let’s say in cost 10x that for the builder to build each of the 2 floors in my house that would be $180,000 and $20k for the land, which it was not, that be 100% profit on me and at the height of the market they would have made 2.5 times what it cost them. Even the evil oil companies and pharmaceutical companies don’t make 2.5 times what it costs them.

The best home I ever owned was one that was built in 1972 and I bought it in 2001. It was old but built like a rock and why was that? Because at that time the work was all performed by skilled labor, no I will say skilled ARTISANS people who cared about quality and doing the job right. Today the people doing the jobs don’t care they just want to make a quick dollar and that comes from the top down. The owners of the construction companies want a quick buck so they try to pa as low as possible for their site managers who in turn have to get the lowest paid laborers and materials resulting in crappy work. In my case the siding company were Koreans who could not or would not speak English, the flooring was done by Vietnamese who again could not or would not speak English, cement work Russians/Polish could not or would not speak English, general construction, painting, caulking etc Hispanic guys could not or would not speak English. The one pay off for me is that my wife is fluent in Spanish and can speak a few other languages like Russian. She also could not look any more like a WASP so they never suspect until it is too late and they have said something like “These people are a pain in the ass. Just do a fast cheap fix and get out of here.” Then she steps in and lets them know they shou;ld be careful because you never know who speaks your language.

K. Hovnanian cold not suck more still battling.

The Good Lord has blessed me more than I deserve and I wake up every morning pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I went through an ugly divorce and pretty much lost everything and 3/8 of my retirement to my ex. We had been married 15 of the 21.5 years I was in. But this is how good God is. Eight years later, the girl who I was dating when I joined the Marines calls me out of the clear blue and apologizes to me for writing the "Dear Jeff" letter. We got married on 11/11/11! This is the house we designed and are building on a 21 acre site in SC about 30 min from the ocean.