Posted on Jul 24, 2019
What were your biggest challenges leaving the military and embarking on your civilian career?
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I've started working with Shift on a program to help folks leaving the military to get career training regardless of whether they have a degree. So, I want to start creating some content I wish was available when I got out - http://nominate.shift.org/johnchang
Civilian Career
Job Fairs
Transition
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 6
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Learning that civilians are not soldiers. The discipline levels will make you want to kill someone at first but resit the urge. Just like when you deployed, you have to acclimate. Go slow.
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LT John Chang
Amen - on resisting the urge! lol - Funny! In Chinese we say "go slow" instead of "have a good trip."
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Civilians. An interviewer actually told me the fact that I changed assignments frequently told her that I was was unable to find a position in the military where I fit in. And the fact that I moved every 2 or 3 years told her that I could not even decide where I wanted to live.
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SFC Michael D.
My father was in for 23 and me for 20. Until I retired, I never lived in one place more than four years. I just moved to a new house and that was after being in the old one 26 years. 26 years! I couldn't believe the crap we accumulated. I loved moving around though. Got to see a lot of this would for free.
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Maj John Bell
SFC Christopher Smith - I retired more than 50 miles from the nearest military base, Camp Grayling. A lot of soldiers never heard of it and say "Camp where...?" That vast majority of the veterans in this area (there aren't many) are one term enlistees and many of them are surprised by how often I changed billets or moved.
My impression is that Marine Officers are probably the gypsies of American servicemen. The longest time I spent at any post was 36 months, to the day. Most of my postings were closer to two years than three. I have a friend who is retired USAF. He did 23 years at three posts (one of those was a return posting). But 23 years with an average near six years between moves... wow!
My impression is that Marine Officers are probably the gypsies of American servicemen. The longest time I spent at any post was 36 months, to the day. Most of my postings were closer to two years than three. I have a friend who is retired USAF. He did 23 years at three posts (one of those was a return posting). But 23 years with an average near six years between moves... wow!
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LT John Chang
Maj John Bell - SFC Michael D. During my 10 years I moved 7 times.. somehow I managed to actually buy a home in that time. But I once sat down and calculated that I spent not more than 3 months all together there before renting it out!
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Maj John Bell
TSgt Joshua Duplin - I personally enjoyed the gypsy lifestyle. My wife and kids... not so much. The problem after getting out was that many, not all, civilians involved in the hiring process do not understand that in the military a high geographic and billet churn rate is the norm. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Even though I had good job offers, I decided to "hire" myself and went into business on my own.
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My path was not normal. I went Reserve and worked in the same Navy SYSCOM that I did my MIL stuff in. So the greatest balancing act was to do good work and not being perceived as throwing my MIL rank around. I was lucky enough that the GS grade bumped up fairly close to the MIL rank. Then the perception to avoid was "preferred access" to the head shed. Over time, people saw me more as a bridge between CIV and MIL. That and I was aggressive on taking care of my people and more aggressive in dealing with such things as management sponsored sexual harassment. Tended to get the nasty JAGMANs, Admins, and Union negotiations, but remember no good deed goes unpunished.
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LT John Chang
Yes - very different but I have a feeling a lot of that affected things fleet side in ways intended and unintended. Thanks for sharing!
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