Unlike other professions, serving in the military doesn’t last as long. There are several reasons why an officer has to leave the service. It may be because there was a change of heart, to be with family, or to pursue something else. There are also circumstances for an officer to leave for a reason that is out of their control, or is not their decision such as getting fired, negative fitness assessment or physical training test failure, testing positive for drug usage, or crimes. Crimes or negative actions that will not remain unpunished include taking drugs, getting too drunk that results to something really terrible or causes to result negative events, having sex with a minor, sexting usinng a governments phone, having marital affairs, being uneccessarily violent, or withhholding information or failure to report important data.
Or sometimes, a military officer leaves, because it is time to retire. Active duty military members can retire after 20 years of active duty service. Retirees do get a retirement pay for life and the pay is based on the years of service and rank.
There are certain requirements that are needed before retirement:
Now if a military what’s to pursue a career as a civilian, here are tips:
- Obtain a copy of your verification military experience and training or VMET. Do this with SCRA Centralized Verification Service It will summarize your skills, knowledge, and experience, and suggest civilian equivalent job titles.
- If you don’t have concrete or specific plans taking a career assessment test will help you greatly. It can help through assessing your skills and strength.
- In a civilian workplace, your military experience, training, licenses and certifications might be hard to understand or appreciate because civilians might not be aware of what it translates to. What you can do is learn how to explain it in a way that you can show how you can be an asset to them. Do this by utilizing the Credentialing Opportunities Online.
- Fix up your documents. Of course, an important step you can’t forget. Create or update your resume. Take a new headshot. Practice your interview skills and prepare to look smart for the interview.
- Take advantage of every resource and opportunity: recruiters, military transition offices, veteran service organizations, job fairs, and online job sites. Take all the help you can get and you will get a job in no time.
- It’s not as hard or daunting as it seems. There are a lot of organizations or companies who are looking to hire someone like you!
