What has been your biggest struggle in transitioning to a civilian career?

Vikki Nicometo — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 09:09:28 -0500

What do you wish you'd done differently? What do you wish you'd known? What help do you wish you'd had?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2016 9:23 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 09:23:59 -0500

I wish I had finished my degree while still active, gotten more CompTIA certs, and stayed in the gym instead of prioritizing my work so much.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2016 9:26 AM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 09:26:10 -0500

For starters, it would've been great if those involved in mentoring me while still on active duty had been forthcoming about the "odds" of actually making it to retirement. If I had known, for example, as a young officer, that I'd be looking for a new job in my mid-twenties, I may have taken more advantage of educational and financial benefits so as not to enter the civilian workforce on the "bottom" so to speak.

Other than that, I'd have saved more money-If nothing else, six months "off" after leaving would've been suitable to "de-tox" before heading into the wild, wild west.

Response by Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth made Mar 10 at 2016 9:33 AM

Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 09:33:08 -0500

My biggest struggle was the fact that for many years I was on time for work, stayed late if I had a mission to accomplish, was on time for meetings, and dressed the part. When I retired, I went to work in industry and people showed up late, dressed poorly (did not present the image the company needed), showed up late for meetings, played on their computers all day and were out the door at 4:30 no matter what needed to get done. I was told to not dress so nice as it makes the rest of them look bad and they didn't want to change. When I asked about being on time they looked at me like I had a third eye. Different mentality...in the military we have a mission and we get it done and move on to the next one. In the civilian world they have a bottom line and if it gets done early and they meet the goal they throttle down.

I wish I had taken a little more time off between retirement and working just to get the military mindset a little more breathing room before taking on a whole new mindset. I wish I had more help on a resume...a good one. My was good but it could have been stronger. Just wasn't going to pay someone serious money to help with that. I wish there was a veterans service that was worth a darn that could have helped me a little more to transition my military experiences to civilian ones. The ones I used told me the same things and it didn't help.

Settled in now and doing ok...just took a while.