I was recently at birthday party that had in attendance several (albeit younger and still on active duty) fellow Naval Academy graduates. There I heard a refrain I had long since forgotten: what am I going to do when I get out? It struck me as a reminder of how little visibility active duty military officers have on what career possibilities await them. When I was serving onboard nuclear submarines, I faced a similar challenge. The veil separating me from civilian possibilities was intimidating. When I decided to resign my commission, my thought process was as simple as:
- I like managing people
- I imagine that if I want to manage people in the civilian sector it will have something to do with business
- Therefore, I’ll go to business school
At Stanford, I started to realize just how little I knew about my career possibilities. Veterans are exceptionally well qualified for a broad and diverse set of civilian career options. However, it pains me to see many veterans make a major career decision while not having access to information that might better inform their decision. This includes members of the Armed Forces who:
- Make a hasty decision to leave the military, only to realize the depth of satisfaction and camaraderie they enjoyed while on active duty and miss as a civilian
- Remain on active duty out of fear of the unknown
- Depart from the military and settle in a career not well aligned with their personal interests due to a lack of knowledge of more suitable (though less known) career options
I believe that – while all veterans share a wealth of common experiences and values – we each have different desires, personal goals, and priorities. So, sadly, there is not one universal answer to the complex question of what to do with ones life and career. However, I also believe (as Master Chief Granito was fond of saying at each all-hands meeting on the USS Alaska) that “knowledge is power.” As a result, my intention is to delve into data, insight, and information that I wish I had known at the time of my separation from the military. It is my hope that this knowledge, I can in some way give back to a community that has given me so much.
If this topic resonates with you, I ask that you share this with anyone you believe would benefit from this knowledge. In the following weeks, I’ll be posting on topics including:
- What Industries are most popular for veterans
- What Functional Roles are most common for veterans
- What size companies are most likely to employee veterans
- What geographic locations are most typical for veterans post separation
- How time in service affects each of these factors
- How one’s branch of service affects each of these factors
To be updated as I release more information, you can follow me on LinkedIn, or request updates at http://www.beyondtheuniform.io. Additionally, if you have ideas on what additional information would be valuable to the men and women who serve in our country’s military, please contact me here.