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Thanks for sharing.

Here is the Ugly- I do not think the Transition Offices have a real Task, Purpose, and Mission other than To receive outgoing service personnel, show them power-point slides of endless VA, education, and other service connected benefits, spend time on a MOS Cross Walk that is non effective for the service member to complete without having any understanding of the corporate or civilian job culture, and round out with a poorly crafted resume In Order To gently send you on your way with a flag and lapel pin.

Now for the Bad, I would not and do not focus any of the above on the personnel at these offices. Most are contracted and are following the guidelines of the statement of work in the contract. The Contract is multi-millions and its at the Pentagon Level to fix. Since those folks are connected and have not sat in the class it is doubtful if the material is refitted to mirror the current job hunter market.

And the Good, Solution- obviously most folks tell you to begin your transition years out. That is not practical for all. So, get a mentor in the career field that you want to enter. Get into professional organizations that are in the career field. Start reading their magazines and start getting on LI and make contacts. Then start talking with recruiters and ask them for informational interviews to get an understanding of the company. Just because you read the company's web page you will not know the next 1-2 year strategic plan for the company and the role you might have in assisting the company realizing that goal. Then decide which companies that you would like to work for and in what capacity. Recruiters know this: there are 3 types of people. One just wants a job, any job. The second wants a job at this company. And the third, the third wants a specific job with a specific company. Recruiters are looking for that 3rd job hunter. Plus they have 300 other resumes now to look at to find yours.

Hi Alicia - just sent you a connection request, but I'm working with the NCOA to try and provide an automated solution to at least get employer jobs into the offices, as well as to create opportunities to connect employers directly with transitioning military. I posted a more in-depth reply on the LI post as well.