This is the fourth 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 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 Veterans have a tendency towards larger companies, with 45% of veterans employed at a company with 10,000 or more employees. The percentages of Naval Officers declines with company size accordingly. Across Warfare Specialties, Aviators are the most likely to be at extremely large companies (weighted heavily by their presence in the Airlines & Aviation Industry). Marines are more likely than their counterparts to end up at a small company (1 to 50 employees), while Submariners are the most likely specialty to be self-employed. SWOs are more likely than others to end up at a medium sized company (501 to 10k employees).
After looking into the industry and functional roles available to transitioning military veterans, I next looked at the size of company they tend to join. Not surprisingly, most Naval Officer veterans join extremely large companies, with 45% of them joining a company with 10,000+ employees.
Key Takeaways:
I found it most interesting that almost across the board, the smaller the company is, the less likely a Naval Officer Veteran is to join it. That said, comparing each Warfare Specialty to each other, Marines lead the charge in small companies (1 to 50 Employees), while Submariners do their own thing by being self-employed. Aviators flock to the massive companies (10k+ Employees), and SWOs are more likely to join a medium-sized company (501 to 10k Employees).
Navy-Wide Trends:
The full breakdown is:
- 10,000+ Employees (45% of Naval Officers)
- 1,001 – 5,000 Employees (13% of Naval Officers)
- 51 – 200 Employees (9% of Naval Officers)
- 11 – 50 Employees (8% of Naval Officers)
- 5,001 – 10,000 Employees (7% of Naval Officers)
- 201 – 500 Employees (7% of Naval Officers)
- 1 to 10 Employees (6% of Naval Officers)
- 501 – 1,000 Employees (5% of Naval Officers)
- Self-employed (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 Size of Company they pursue. As with Industries and functions, 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.
Warfare Specialty Trends
Submarine Officers (Submariners)
Compared to all Naval Officers, Submariners are the most likely of their peers to join a company that has:
- 51 – 500 Employees(17% of Submariners): your typical submarine has 130-180 crewmembers, so it’s not surprising that Submariners would be more likely than their peers to seek out organizations with a comparable team size. Submariners are 24% more likely than Aviators, and 7% more likely than both SWOs and Marines to end up in a company of this size.
- Self-Employed (1% of Submariners): perhaps due to all that time on their own underwater, cut off from the rest of the world, Submariners are the most likely of all Naval Officers to be self-employed. Submariners are 90% more likely than Marines, 21% more likely than Aviators, and 4% more likely than SWOs to be self-employed.
Compared to all Naval Officers, Submariners are the least likely of their peers to join a company that has:
- 1 to 50 Employees:(12% of Submariners): I actually would have thought that Submariners would be more likely than their peers to seek out smaller companies, but this didn’t prove to be true. Submariners are 27% less likely than Marines, 23% less likely than Aviators, and 5% less likely than SWOs to end up at companies of this size.
Submariners are most likely to end up a company with a size of:
- 10k+ Employees (44% of Submariners)
- 501 – 10k Employees (27% of Submariners)
- 51 – 500 Employees (17% of Submariners)
- 1 – 50 Employees (12% of Submariners)
- Self-Employed (1% of Submariners)
You can see the complete data for Submarine Officer company sizes here.
Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs)
Compared to all Naval Officers, SWOs are the most likely of their peers to join a company that has:
- 501-10,000 Employees (27% of SWOs): This also seemed intuitive, as many Surface Ships are in the lower end of this range. SWOs are 34% more likely than Aviators, 5% more likely than Marines, and 1% more likely than Submariners to end up in companies of this size.
SWOs are most likely to end up in a company that has a size of:
- 10k+ Employees (44% of SWOs)
- 501 – 10k Employees (27% of SWOs)
- 51 – 500 Employees (16% of SWOs)
- 1 – 50 Employees (12% of SWOs)
- Self-Employed (1% of SWOs)
You can see the complete data for Surface Warfare Officer company sizes here.
U.S. Marine Corps Officers (Marines)
Marines are the most likely of all Naval Officers to choose a company that has a size of:
- 1 to 50 Employees (16% of Marines): Accustomed to working in smaller, tighter units, it seemed intuitive that Marines would seek out organizations that were smaller and closer in nature. Marines are 37% more likely than Submariners, 31% more likely than SWOs, and 6% more likely than Aviators to seek out companies of this size
Marines are the least likely of all Naval Officers to choose a company that has a size of:
- 10k+ Employees (42% of Marines): For the same reason, it seems like Marines avoid massive organizations (compared to their peers). Marines are 17% less likely than Aviators, 5% less likely than SWOs, and 4% less likely than Submariners to join a company of this size.
- Self Employed (0.5% of Marines): I was most surprised by this, as I thought Marines would be the most likely of all Naval Officers to be self-employed. However, it turns out that they’re 47% less likely than Submariners, 45% less likely than SWOs, and 36% less likely than Aviators to be self-employed.
Marines are most likely to end up in a company that has a size of:
- 10k+ Employees (42% of Marines)
- 501 – 10k Employees (25% of Marines)
- 1 – 50 Employees (16% of Marines)
- 51 – 500 Employees (16% of Marines)
- Self-Employed (0.5% 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 join a company that has a size of:
- 10,000+ Employees (50% of Aviators): I imagine this is mostly driven by their large numbers in the Airlines and Aviation Industry, Aviators are the most likely of all Naval Officers to join a massive company. Aviators are 20% more likely than Marines, 15% more likely than Submariners, and 14% more likely than SWOs to join massive organizations.
Aviators are most likely to end up in a company that has a size of:
- 10k+ Employees (50% of Aviators)
- 501 – 10k Employees (20% of Aviators)
- 1 – 50 Employees (15% of Aviators)
- 51 – 500 Employees (14% of Aviators)
- Self-Employed (0.8% of Aviators)
You can see the complete data for Naval Aviation Officer size of companies here.
Summary
This was perhaps the least surprising aspect of trends that I looked at, as my starting assumption was that Naval Officers would join larger companies. However, it’s interesting to see the subtle differences between each group. Next, I'll show data for where Naval Officers end up living once they depart from the military.
