4 Crippling Career Assumptions Military Veterans Make During Transition

A common reason many transitioning military veterans end up in careers they dislike is that we make and share crippling assumptions about careers in the real world. Career assumptions are the combination of our experience in the military and our exposure to the stories and advice of others. 

“The assumptions of our environment in the military end up creating the operating system we utilize to navigate our civilian careers.” - Bernard Edwards

There are 4 crippling assumptions numerous veterans make that hold them back from being more fulfilled in their civilian careers. But these assumptions are not reality:

1. Assuming your military transition will be a linear journey. In the military we have everything from pay, promotion, duty title, subordinates, superiors, locations, healthcare, clothing and more all picked out for us.

Military life is extremely linear, life on the outside is not. Your transition will not be a straight line either. It will seem about as linear as line drawn in crayon by a three year old. There will be Chaos.

Let’s use jobs as an example. The civilian job market is vastly different. The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that, “workers on average, have changed jobs and companies 12 times in their working lifetime”.

2. Overestimating the value of your Military Transition Program. You cannot rely on your TAPs, ACAPs, or whatever new acronym defines the piece of paper you sign before getting out that says, “member attended all mandatory transition briefs”. You cannot rely on your TAPs, ACAPs, or whatever new acronym defines the piece of paper you sign before getting out that says, “member attended all mandatory transition briefs”. Yes, we typed that twice. It’s that crucial you get the memo.

Crushers research the sh!t out of the careers we want. We network in the online and offline communities we aspire to be part of. We make meaningful connections with decision makers in the civilian spaces we want to be in. Crushers do these things long before any “mandatory” transition brief.

3. Underestimating the amount of time required to fully research your desired career. It is imperative you invest time into becoming as educated as possible about your potential new profession. 

What are the entry level requirements? 

What companies are hiring in this field? 

Where are these companies hiring these professionals?

Where can I connect with these professionals online and in person?

What required training do I need to complete before being considered?

Are there low cost courses I can take to learn new skills for this career?

Can I take a day or two of leave to shadow someone working in this field?

Investing the time to really research what you want to do next is vital to successfully entering the civilian job market. If done enthusiastically it can often lead to opportunities only reserved for the hidden job market. The more knowledge you have of the career, the better prepared you’ll be should you land an interview.

4. Overestimating your sources of knowledge for your desired civilian life. When almost everyone you know works in or for the military, there aren’t many real life examples to point in regard to what you want to do next. Sure you’ve got civilian family members, and a few civilian friends. But are they doing the actual thing you want to do? Are they doing it where you want to live?

Chances are your civilian friends and family are not doing your dream job and are not spending their time and money in the way you want to. It is up to you to design the life you want to live after taking the uniform off for the last time.

Design is used in each and every aspect of our lives. The car we drive. The house we live in. The style of clothing we wear. So many of these aspects are designed for us while on active duty. Now you have the opportunity to do the designing of your life.

Everyone has different definitions of happiness and success. Your overall mission when transitioning is to be able to come up with your own definition. To consciously do this, you need to design your life around smart, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely (S.M.A.R.T) goals.

So many transitioning military veterans enter the civilian world in survival mode because of the preconceived notions we’ve adopted while serving. Crushers don’t subscribe to these assumptions.

“Your assumptions are your windows to the world.  Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” - Isaac Asimov

See you inside the Crusherverse.