This is the third article in a series of posts to provide Naval Officers with information to aid in their decision making process about a post-military career. You can read more about the purpose of this information, as well as what Industries Naval Officers pursue, or sign-up for updates about additional data to be distribute in the weeks ahead (to include information on the US Army and Air Force). Executive Summary: Across the board, Naval Officers flock towards Operations roles, followed distantly by Functional Roles in Engineering, Program & Project Management and Sales. Within Warfare Specialties, Submariners are more likely than other Naval Officers to seek more numeric roles (Engineering, Program & Product Management, Finance, Information Technology, Research), while SWOs are more likely than their counterparts to pursue a wider range of choices ("Other", Sales, Consulting). Marines are the most likely of Naval Officers to pursue Entrepreneurship as a Functional Role, while Naval Aviators are the most likely to pursue Operations or Military & Protective Services.
You can view the complete interactive data visualizations here.
All-Navy Analysis:
Within the various industry options available to transitioning military veterans, there are a range of Functional Roles to serve within civilian careers. Based on a Naval Officers hands-on leadership experience while on Active Duty, it's no wonder that the #1 industry for all Naval Officers is Operations (29% of all Naval Officer veterans). With the Navy's focus on technology, it's also no wonder that the #2 industry is Engineering (11% of all Naval Officers).
The full breakdown of Functional Roles is:
- Operations (29% of Naval Officers)
- Engineering (11% of Naval Officers)
- Program & Project Management (11% of Naval Officers)
- Sales (9% of Naval Officers)
- Military & Protective Services (7% of Naval Officers)
- Information Technology (7% of Naval Officers)
- Entrepreneurship (7% of Naval Officers)
- Finance (5% of Naval Officers)
- Consulting (5% of Naval Officers)
- Business Development (4% of Naval Officers)
- Education (4% of Naval Officers)
- Research (1% of Naval Officers)
I found it more interesting, however, to look at how each branch of the Navy compares to each other in terms of the Functional Roles they pursue. As with Industries, I've restricted my analysis to Submarine, Surface Warfare, Marine Corps, and Aviation Officers, as there was insufficient data for other service groups. For additional information about methodology you can read more here.
You can view the complete interactive data visualizations here.
Submarine Officers (Submariners) Compared to all Naval Officers, Submariners are the most likely of their peers to take on a Functional Role of:
- Engineering (13% of Submariners): likely due to their required training in nuclear engineering, Submariners are the most likely of all Naval Officers to take on a Functional Role in Engineering. Submariners are 120% more likely than Aviators, 88% more likely than Marines, and 32% more likely than SWOs to pursue an Engineering role
- Program & Project Management (11% of Submariners): perhaps due to all the rules and regulations related to nuclear submarines, Submariners are the most likely of all Naval Officers to take on a Functional Role in Program & Project Management. Submariners are 77% more likely than Aviators, 18% more likely than Marines, and 6% more likely than SWOs to take on a Program & Project Management Functional Role.
- Finance (7% of Submariners): all that number crunching in Nuclear Power School pays; Submariners are most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a Functional Role in Finance. Submariners are 39% more likely than Marines and 16% more likely than SWOs to focus on Finance. Data was unavailable for Aviators for comparison.
- Information Technology (7% of Submariners): again likely related to the nuclear training, Submariners are most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a focus on Information Technology. Submariners are 33% more likely than Aviators, 15% more likely than SWOs, and 13% more likely than Marines to focus on Information Technology.
- Research (4% of Submariners): Beating a dead horse here... Submariners are nerds; they're most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a focus on Research. Unfortunately the other groups did not have data not have sufficient data for comparison, but they were less than 4%.
Submariners are most likely to end up in a Functional Role of:
- Operations (21% of Submariners)
- Engineering (13% of Submariners)
- Program & Project Management (11% of Submariners)
- Sales (7% of Submariners)
- Finance (7% of Submariners)
You can see the complete data for Submarine Officer functions here.
Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) Compared to all Naval Officers, SWOs are the most likely of their peers to take on a Functional Role of:
- Other (19% of SWOs): Maybe SWOs are the jack-of-all-trades; they're more likely than any other Naval Officer to have a Functional Role classified as "Other." They're 111% more likely than Aviators, 32% more likely than Submariners, and 6% more likely than Marines to have their Functional Role classified as "Other."
- Sales (8% of SWOs): SWOs beat out all the other Naval Officers when it comes to sales. They're 20% more likely than Aviators, 16% more likely than Submariners, and 10% more likely than Marines to end up in Sales.
- Consulting (6% of SWOs): Not too away from Sales is the art of convincing someone to take your advice. SWOs are the most likely of all Naval Officers to take on a Consulting role. They're 17% more likely than Marines, and 1% more likely than Aviators (insufficient data for Submariners)
SWOs are most likely to end up in a Functional Role of:
- Operations (18% of SWOs)
- Engineering (10% of SWOs)
- Program & Project Management (10% of SWOs)
- Sales (8% of SWOs)
- Finance (6% of SWOs)
You can see the complete data for Surface Warfare Officer functions here.
U.S. Marine Corps Officers (Marines) Marines are the most likely of all Naval Officers to choose a Functional Role that is:
- Entrepreneurship (6% of Marines): All that critical thinking and leadership come in handy for Marines looking to strike out on their own; of all Naval Officers they are most likely to pursue Entrepreneurship. Marines are 25% more likely than SWOs, 17% more likely than Aviators, and 10% more likely than Submariners to pursue Entrepreneurship.
Marines are most likely to end up in a Functional Role of:
- Operations (24% of Marines)
- Program & Project Management (9% of Marines)
- Sales (8% of Marines)
- Engineering (7% of Marines)
- Military & Protective Services (7% of Marines)
You can see the complete data for Marine Corps Officer functions here.
Naval Aviators (Aviators) Aviators are the most likely of all Naval Officers to take on a Functional Role of:
- Operations (36% of Aviators): Aviators dominate the largest category of all Naval Officers - Operations. They are most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue operations, a full 100% more likely than SWOs, 74% more likely than Submariners, and 50% more likely than Marines.
- Military & Protective Services (8% of Aviators): This one surprised me; I would have thought that the Marines would dominate this field, but it turns out that Aviators are the most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue Military & Protective Services.
Aviators are most likely to end up in a Functional Role of:
- Operations (36% of Aviators)
- Military & Protective Services (8% of Aviators)
- Sales (7% of Aviators)
- Engineering (6% of Aviators)
- Program & Product Management (6% of Aviators)
You can see the complete data for Naval Aviation Officer functions here.
Summary
While Naval Officer veterans can take on virtually any functional role in the civilian world, I hope these trends are helpful. My intention is to make active duty personnel more aware of the broad spectrum of jobs for which they are extremely well qualified. At the very least, the trends my help spark the career search for active duty personnel who are planning their transition to a civilian career. Next, I'll show data for which Size of Company Naval Officer veterans pursue.