Posted on Apr 4, 2017
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One of my roles here on RallyPoint as a senior admin is to verify accounts. Each time someone submits a DD214 dating prior to the 1990s, I find it interesting that they used to include a related civilian career field next to the MOS block. Not sure why they stopped doing this but would this aid service members in getting a job search started if it was brought back?
Employment
Transition
DD214
Civilian Career
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 11
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They stopped doing this when they created the VMET. The Verification of Military Experience and Training. On the DD214 they could only have a couple related occupations. On the VMET, they have O*NET, DOL, and DOT codes for jobs pertaining to every school and duty position held. You can access your VMET at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/tgps/. Every outprocessing service member should be receiving the link and the opportunity to print this out as part of their transition program.
This post-TGPSP evaluation will ask questions specific to each module or track you have completed as well as questions about the overall Transition GPS Program. Some questions are tailored to gauge the knowledge you have gained from specific modules/tracks. There is no negative consequence if you answer incorrectly; this is simply for us to evaluate if the course succeeded in providing the intended information.
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SFC Andrew Miller
Happy to help! And while I now serve as a County Veterans Service Officer, I know that not all branches and/or installations do as good a job at ensuring this gets in the hands of those transitioning out, because there are many I come across who have never seen it. Also it is not available for our Coast Guard brothers and sisters.
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COL Vincent Stoneking
very informative post SFC Andrew Miller. I have never heard of this service before. My suspicion is that it is not well know currently. Will be looking at it today.
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SGT (Join to see)
Great point. If they included VMET and JST info on the DD-214, there would need to be a revamp in the forms and another member version.
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Hi Sgt Keen,
To answer your question as to why DOD stopped having the career field block, I can only surmise that it is because with all the new technical careers coming into the military at that time and forward it would have been too narrow the transition to just one. In that case why pigeonhole a veteran into one career choice. Next, when you or any veteran for that matter, exited the military you should have gone through TAPS (Transition Assistance Program) or ACAP. These programs are here to help the service member (SM) as he/she begins the refrad process. During this program, the sm should learn about the difference resources available to them. One of them being O*net https://www.mynextmove.org/vets/. If you look at this page you will find on the right-hand side of the screen you will see a box that says look for jobs like my military career. In this box, the veteran can select which branch of service they were in, and then under that, they can type their MOS or Rate. The next screen that populates should then give a list of comparable civilian careers.
There are other resources that veterans can utilize as well such as going to their local American Job Center which should also be discussed in ACAP, but none the less here is a hyperlink to help with that as well. Once there, the staff can assist the veteran as well.
https://www.careeronestop.org/businesscenter/findjobcenters/american-job-center-finder.aspx.
While this does not cover every resource, and there are a lot, this can be a start for many veterans. the next step of course in finding a career will be to successfully translate those skills from military to civilian speak which would include giving quantitative values to skills learned. For example, if you worked in the motor pool, don't just say you were an E5 mechanic in charge of equipment. Expand and say "As the team leader for my section I was responsible for supervising (x amount) of personnel while maintaining upkeep and care of (x amount of dollars) tools, equipment, and vehicles."
Now I know that could be worded better but I am just giving quick examples.
If anyone has any questions I am more than willing to help further just shoot me dm or pm or whatever they're called on here...lol.
To answer your question as to why DOD stopped having the career field block, I can only surmise that it is because with all the new technical careers coming into the military at that time and forward it would have been too narrow the transition to just one. In that case why pigeonhole a veteran into one career choice. Next, when you or any veteran for that matter, exited the military you should have gone through TAPS (Transition Assistance Program) or ACAP. These programs are here to help the service member (SM) as he/she begins the refrad process. During this program, the sm should learn about the difference resources available to them. One of them being O*net https://www.mynextmove.org/vets/. If you look at this page you will find on the right-hand side of the screen you will see a box that says look for jobs like my military career. In this box, the veteran can select which branch of service they were in, and then under that, they can type their MOS or Rate. The next screen that populates should then give a list of comparable civilian careers.
There are other resources that veterans can utilize as well such as going to their local American Job Center which should also be discussed in ACAP, but none the less here is a hyperlink to help with that as well. Once there, the staff can assist the veteran as well.
https://www.careeronestop.org/businesscenter/findjobcenters/american-job-center-finder.aspx.
While this does not cover every resource, and there are a lot, this can be a start for many veterans. the next step of course in finding a career will be to successfully translate those skills from military to civilian speak which would include giving quantitative values to skills learned. For example, if you worked in the motor pool, don't just say you were an E5 mechanic in charge of equipment. Expand and say "As the team leader for my section I was responsible for supervising (x amount) of personnel while maintaining upkeep and care of (x amount of dollars) tools, equipment, and vehicles."
Now I know that could be worded better but I am just giving quick examples.
If anyone has any questions I am more than willing to help further just shoot me dm or pm or whatever they're called on here...lol.
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SGT Ben Keen
Great comment SGT William T.! Great to see so many people give out so many great resources!
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Sounds like you are describing something similar to a military-to-civilian crosswalk. That is interesting, but I think there are enough resources out there these days to make the right connections. It's easy enough to describe your military role to a potential employer in such a way that they see the benefit in hiring you.
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SGT Ben Keen
I fully agree with you that people should be able to describe their military role to civilians. When people ask me what I did in the military, I tell them I was AT&T in BDUs, providing the voice and data networks to the commanders on the front. But what I find interesting about including this type of information on the DD214 is that it gives the Veteran some direction on where to start their search. It would be interesting to find out why this block was taken off the form as well. Was it seen as no longer needed with the improvement of job searches and stuff thanks to the internet or was it seen as unneeded by someone sitting behind a desk that did not go through their transition yet?
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