What Industries are Naval Officer Veterans Most Likely to Pursue

This is the second article in a series of posts to provide active duty members of the Armed Forces with information to aid in their decision making process about a post-military career. You can view the first article in this series here, as well as sign-up for updates about additional data to be distribute in the weeks ahead. I've started my analysis with Naval Officers in order to make the analysis simpler, but will expand to additional military branches in future posts. One of the first steps taken in a civilian career is to decide on an industry of focus. These industries range from the most common for Naval Officers – “Defense and Space” (12.8% of all Naval Officer veterans) – to the more outlandish (my hat’s off to the 0.05% who have found their calling in “Arts & Crafts”). While the companies within any industry likely vary significantly, there are broader trends within the industry in terms of skill set required, lifestyle provided, and precedent for veterans within the industry. My focus in this article is to provide information for the latter.

While LinkedIn provides 147 different industry classifications, to simplify my analysis I’ve consolidated this to 12 industries. Within the data visualization, you can expand to see a breakdown of all 147 industries, or simply view the 12 groupings. I looked at trends across all US Naval Officers, as well as specifically for Submarine, Surface Warfare, Marine Corps, and Aviation Officers. Unfortunately, there was insufficient data to provide reliable analysis for other Navy communities (SEALs, Seabees, etc). For additional information about methodology you can read more here.

You can view the complete interactive data visualizations here.

Additionally, I wanted to point out a few trends that I saw while analyzing this data.

All Naval Officers

Industry selection varied noticeably among the different Naval Warfare Specialties (more info below). However, for all Naval Officers these were the most popular industries:

  1. Government & Law (22% of Naval Officers): buoyed heavily by "Defense & Space" as a sub industry, this was the #1 most likely Industry for all Officers except Aviators (who favor the Transportation industry).
  2. Technology (17% of Naval Officers): this was the #2 industry for every service group except for Aviators (theirs was Government & Law).
  3. Business (11% of Naval Officers): this was the #3 industry for SWO and Marines, but #5 for Submarines and a close #4 for Aviators.
  4. Transportation (9%): buoyed heavily by Aviators (their #1 Industry, with 28% of Aviators choosing Transportation).
  5. Financial Services (9%): slightly behind Transportation, Financial Services is actually the #4 Industry for each branch of service, but was slightly behind Transportation on totals due to the spike with Aviators.

Submarine Officers (Submariners)  Compared to all Naval Officers, Submariners are the most likely of their peers to choose careers in the:

  • Technology industry (19% of Submariners): likely due to their required training in nuclear engineering, Submariners are the most likely to find a career within Technology. (See a complete list of Technology industries here). Submariners are 53% more likely than Naval Aviators, and 7.8% more likely than SWO, and 7.1% more likely than Marines to end up in Technology.
  • Other Industry (17% of Submariners): I'm not entirely sure why this is (I guess it may be since most of us Submariners are a little different anyways), but Submariners also dominate the longtail industries that did not fall into more specific categories. (See a complete list of “Other” industries here). Submariners completely dominate this “Other” category, where they are 249% more than Aviators, 234% more than Marines, and 80% more than SWO to find a career here.
  • Education & Research industry (6% of Submariners): also likely to the breadth of their engineering training, Submariners tend to gravitate to educational and research roles. (See a complete list of Education & Research industries here). Submariners are 31% more likely than Aviators, 11% more than Marines, and 8% more than SWO to end up in the Education & Research industry.

Submarine officers are the least likely of all Naval Officers to end up in an industry of:

  • Health Services (4% of Submariners): I actually would have thought that the nuclear engineering training might bias more Submariners to enter the rigorous Health Services industry, but it seems like the opposite is true. Submariners are the least likely to end up as your physician or health services staff. (See a complete list of Health Services industries here). Submariners are 39% less likely than Marines, 14% less than Aviators, and 11% less than SWO to pursue a career in Health Services.
  • Arts (2% of Submariners): perhaps this is a side effect of all that engineering training, but Submariners are the least likely to go into the more creative Arts industry (See a complete list of Arts industries here). Submariners are 39% less than Marines, 26% less than SWO, and 21% less than Aviators to enter into the Arts.
  • Real Estate & Construction (2% of Submariners): all that time underwater may adversely impact the around-the-house handiness of Submariners, as they’re the least likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in Real Estate & Construction. (See a complete list of Real Estate & Construction industries here). Submariners are 59% less likely than Marines, 56% less likely than SWO, 44% less likely than Aviators to pursue a career in Real Estate & Construction.

You can see the complete data for Submarine Officer industries here.

Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) Compared to all Naval Officers, SWOs are the most likely of their peers to choose careers in the:

  • Government & Law (25% of SWOs): Not only are SWOs the most likely of all Naval Officers to enter Government & Law, but it is also the #1 Industry choice for SWO veterans. Looks like all those sea lawyering skills pay off in the civilian sector :) (See a complete list of Health Services industries here). SWOs are 27% more likely than Aviators, 23% more likely than Marines, 6% more likely than Submariners to pursue a career in Financial Services.
  • Financial Services (10% of SWOs): SWOs have a penchant for numbers and money, as they are most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in the Financial Services industries. (See a complete list of Financial Services industries here). SWOs are 28% more likely than Aviators, 18% more likely than Marines, and 9% more likely than Submariners to pursue a career in the Financial Services.
  • Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) (4% of SWOs): CPG isn’t a popular industry for Naval Officer veterans, but SWOs dominate this field. (See a complete list of CPG industries here). SWOs are 161% more likely than Aviators, 92% more likely than Submariners, and 11% more likely than Marines veterans to pursue a career in CPG.
  • Manufacturing (4% of SWOs): SWOs seem to be the handiest of all Naval Officer veterans, as they are most likely of all Naval Officer veterans to pursue a career in the Manufacturing industry. (See a complete list of Manufacturing industries here). SWOs are 78% more likely than Aviators, 32% more likely than Marines, and 10% more likely than Submariners to pursue a career in Manufacturing.

SWOs are the least likely of all Naval Officers to end up in an industry of:

  • Transportation (3% of SWOs): all that time on ships must kill their desire to do any more transportation, as SWOs are the least likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in the Transportation industry. (See a complete list of Transportation industries here). SWOs are 91% less likely than Aviators, 69% less likely than Marines, and 14% less likely than Submariners to pursue a career in Transportation.

You can see the complete data for Surface Warfare Officer industries here.

U.S. Marine Corps Officers (Marines) Marines are the most likely of all Naval Officers to end up in an industry of:

  • Business (14% of Marines): When it comes to wheeling and dealing in the business world, Marines seem to have the easiest time making the transition - Marines are most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in Business.(See a complete list of Health Services industries here). Marines are 73% more likely than Aviators, 49% more likely than Submariners, and 32% more likely than SWOs to pursue a career in Business.
  • Health Services (6% of Marines): Marines seem to take the adage, “Take care of your people” to the next level, as they are the most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in the Health Services industry. (See a complete list of Health Services industries here). Marines are 63% more likely than Submariners, 45% more likely than SWOs, and 40% more likely than Aviators to pursue a career in Health Services.
  • Real Estate and Construction (6%): All that rolling around in the mud and rolling up your sleeves to get your hands dirty pay off for Marines – they are the most likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in Real Estate and Construction. (See a complete list of the Real Estate and Construction industries here). Marines are 143% more likely than Submariners, 36% more likely than Aviators, and 7% more likely than SWOs to pursue a career in Real Estate and Construction. 
  • Arts (4% of Marines): this might have been the most surprising trend to me, but it looks like Marines are more likely than any other Naval Officer to pursue a career in the Arts (insert your own favorite Marine Corps hippy reference here). (See a complete list of the Arts industries here). Marines are 63% more likely than Submariners, 28% more likely than Aviators, and 20% more likely than SWOs to pursue a career in the Arts.

You can see the complete data for Marine Corps Officer industries here.

Naval Aviators (Aviators) Aviators are the most likely of all Naval Officers to end up in an industry of:

  • Transportation (28% of Aviators): In the least surprising finding in the entire study, Naval Aviators are the most likely of all Naval Officers to end up in the Transportation industry, which is dominated by Airlines, Aviation and Aerospace.(See a complete list of the Transportation industries here). Aviators are 999% more likely than SWOs, 845% more likely than Submariners, and 240% more likely than Marines to enter the Transportation industry.

Aviators are the least likely of all Naval Officers to end up in an industry of:

  • Technology (12% of Aviators): Although a large swath of aviators enter into technology, they are the least likely of all Naval Officers to do so. Top Gun featured more time in bars and in jets than looking in manuals, so maybe not too surprising.(See a complete list of the Technology industries here). Aviators are 34% less likely than Submariners, 30% less likely than SWOs, and 29% less likely than Marines to enter the Technology industry.
  • Financial Services (8% of Aviators): When you fly billion dollar aircraft for a living, maybe you don't need the high pace lifestyle Financial Services are known for, as Aviators are the least likely of all Naval Officers to enter the Financial Services industry. (See a complete list of the Financial Services industries here). Aviators are 22% less likely than SWOs, 15% less likely than Submariners, and 8% less likely than Marines to enter the Financial Services industry.
  • Business (8% of Aviators): While they may be all business in the air, they're less so on the ground, as Aviators are the least likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in Business. (See a complete list of the Business industries here). Aviators are 42% less likely than Marines, 24% less likely than SWOs, and 14% less likely than Submariners to enter the Business industry.
  • Education & Research (4% of Aviators): This may be driven by their longer length of required service, but Aviators are the least likely of all Naval Officers to pursue a career in the Education & Research industry.  (See a complete list of the Education & Research industries here). Aviators are 23% less likely than Submariners, 17% less likely than SWOs, and 15% less likely than Marines to enter the Education & Research industry.
  • Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) (1% of Aviators): I'm not sure for the reason on this one, but Aviators are the least likely of all Naval Officers to enter the CPG industry. (See a complete list of the CPG industries here). Aviators are 62% less likely than SWOs, 57% less likely than Marines, 27% less likely than Submariners to enter the CPG industry.

You can see the complete data for Naval Aviation Officer industries here.

Summary

While Naval Officer veterans can be found in virtually every civilian industry, 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 may 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 Functional Roles Naval Officer veterans pursue within these industries.