Matt Ufford is an Editor-at-Large and Video Host at SB Nation - a digital sports media brand and network of team sites built by and for the modern sports fan. He started out at Northwestern University, after which he served in the Marine Corps for four years as a Tank Officer. After the Marines he worked as a columnist at AOL Sports, as well as an editor at Uproxx Media, where he founded their sports and TV blogs.
BreakLine is an education and employment company that builds an affordable path to compelling careers. Their programs combine skills-based training with professional networking and connect participants directly with hiring managers.
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:
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:
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:
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.
