What was your expectations of salary when you transitioned out of the service? What was your initial response to your first offers?

I don't think many junior members recognize what is gained by serving. The biggest thing people overlook is the entitlements they received while active duty. Those things are not subject to tax so they have a disproportional impact on quality of life. Once the member leaves the service, and all of their income is taxed, even if they are lucky enough to find a job that offers salary parity their purchasing power is still substantially reduced.

A quick spin around the internet will provide a ton of good information about how the 

military world compares to the civilian market. Everybody owns themselves the opportunity to research the world as they know it in service to the world outside once they leave the military. It makes transition much easier.

As SNCOs, it's probably one of the places we don't spend enough time educating our juniors; or worse yet, it's a place where we don't educate ourselves.