Posted on Oct 19, 2015
SFC Armor Crew Member
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Transition of enlisted Soldiers into the civilian workforce.
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MAJ Chief Security Officer (Cso)
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SFC Patrick, This is a tough one to answer, because it depends so much on you, your abilities, experiences and attitude, not necessarily your degree. It also depends on where you decide to live and possibly as pointed out by someone earlier, your willingness to relocate. There were a lot of ideas presented, but what's most important is what job do you want.

Unless you are looking for a job as a scientist, engineer, doctor, or another profession, then the title of your degree really doesn't matter. What matters to many employers, not all, is that you have a degree. What matters most is the job you want.

Unless you just need a job to pay the bills, take time to decide what you want and go get it. Making that decision may not be easy as several people have pointed out already. So here is my short list of questions to ask yourself:

1. What type of job do you want? Factors to take into consideration include job security (think state, local, federal government), risk (law enforcement, fire, construction, mining, etc.), challenge (supervision, management, starting a business) and many other factors.

2. Where do you want to live? This can be a limiting factor in the jobs available to you unless you are willing to relocate. Working from home sounds great to many people, but it's not for everyone.

Once you answer these questions for yourself, it will be easier to answer your original question. If you haven't already done so, create a Linkedin Profile. LinkedIn is not facebook, it is for business only - no family connections and no posts or likes of anything not business related. Most recruiters are now using LinkedIn to find candidates and listing jobs. Resumes are still an option for some employers, but more and more of them are using LinkedIn only.

Here are my recommendations for your LinkedIn profile:

1. Profile Picture: Head shot in business attire (uniforms are great for the military, but some employers do have a bias against veterans).

2. Summary: A quick summary of who your are (not what you've done) and your capabilities. Keep it short.

3. Current and at least two other Job Titles and Description of what those jobs were along with your accomplishments. Try using two short paragraphs with the first being a description of the job (not duties) and the second one being your major accomplishments in that job. If there were no accomplishments, then just use the first paragraph.

4. Recommendations: It is better to give one than to receive one. My general rule of thumb is to recommend three people for every recommendation I get. The recommendation should actually say what the person did and how it affected the business or operation. Don't just say they are good or trustworthy. Be specific. The recommendations someone gives you tells what you did - The recommendations you give tells who you are.

5. Don't list clearances or anything compromising to ongoing operations. Everything else listed is up to you.

Once you have done all of this and answered the first questions I posed, go back to your profile and make sure your job descriptions include key words for the job(s) you want. All future recommendations you give should also include these key words.

Sorry for the long post -- good luck!
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SFC Armor Crew Member
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Great info, thank you sir.
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MAJ Chief Security Officer (Cso)
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SFC Patrick, It has been a while since I posted my response. How did things work out for you?
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LtCol Pilot HMH/M/L/A
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The first think I would do is remember to put an apostrophe in front of the 's' in your degree description. It's bachelor's and master's. Yes, I am a grammar snob, but even so, if I got CV with a mistake like that I'd toss it.
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SFC Armor Crew Member
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Same here, if I saw a grammar mistake with your word "think" when it's suppose to be "thing", I probably throw it out as well.
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LtCol Pilot HMH/M/L/A
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Yeah, me too, but I don't make those errors on most stuff, and I know the difference between "suppose" and "supposed." :-)
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CSM Charles Hayden
CSM Charles Hayden
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It is a hard life, discrimination will occur and biases will appear!
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With that as your B.S. and your general military background, I would look for something in the Systems Engineering field. You may be a perfect candidate to offer a fresh solution to a problem that a company has been mired in.
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SFC Armor Crew Member
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Sounds like a good start, thank you for your feedback. I have taken interest in the engineer field and know a lot about core fabrication, blue prints and schematics.
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LTC Student
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Check out Systems Engineering as it is not as much about the building of something as it is about making his process by which it is made better.
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