Career Handbook

Career Handbook

Understanding Career Transitions

By Gale Kennedy

A transition is a change – nothing more, nothing less. A career Transition can be a major change or career direction or it can be a minor shift of focus. Any kind of change brings with it accompanying stress. Will I be able to find a job? Will I like my employer? How will I fit in? In order to deal with all the questions and decisions of a career transition you must prepare yourself. By seeking out information on training options, potential employers and jobs, you can then plan your transition more effectively. You would never go into a battle without a battle plan. You should use the same careful planning in your career. By combining your chance for a change with information and careful planning, you create choices for yourself. Choices equal opportunities. The more opportunities you uncover, the smarter your decision making will be and the smoother your career transition process is.

If you have a Veterans Administration (VA) rated disability, the Vocational Rehabilitation program can help prepare you for your transition. Even if you are not disabled the process that the vocational rehab counselors use can be used by you on your own.

One of the first things to do is to go through a series of exercises to identify your interests and aptitudes. You need to understand that these are two different things. You may have interests in a wide variety of areas but you may not have the aptitude to do some of those jobs. You can start with some of the exercises in your TAP manual, but that isn’t enough. Many community college career centers will offer either classes or one-on-one counseling services with these types of assessments. You don’t always have to be a student at the college to use these services. Many are open to the community.

Once you’ve chosen a specific career field to pursue some of the career information you should be concentrating on gathering include:

Is the field growing or diminishing? By what rate?

What is the salary range for someone with your experience and skill level?

What organizations, government agencies, non-profits hire for this field.

What other education, licenses, or certifications do you need?

How many people are employed in this field?

What are the annual job openings?

What work values, skills and abilities should you have?

What are some other related occupations?

Some of the books you should use to look up this information include the New Guide for Occupational Exploration, O*NET Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Professional Careers Source Book and others that the Career Resource Librarian can identify for you. There are also many individual “career guides” for a variety of fields. Check with the librarian to see that you have access to the most recent editions.

You also need to consider the variations of ways of getting to your goal. You may need a short-term training program, or you may need to go back to school full time. You may be able to get the training you need via on-the-job training. Perhaps you want to own your own business.

So where do you get the information so you can plan out your choices? Start with your Transition Office. Don’t just attend a TAP or ACAP class. Don’t just sit in front of a computer “looking for a job” to jump into your lap. Make an appointment to speak to the counselor. Talk about what you “think” your career goals are. Ask the counselor about what companies they have contacts with who could use your skills. Utilize the resources in the classroom or career center to identify “veteran friendly” employees. Pick up some of the transition magazines or newspapers in the room to add to your information.

The next step after talking with the counselor is to go to your local state employment assistance office. Each state calls it something different, but they all offer the same services. Each office has specially trained counselors who work only with veterans. All of these folks are also veterans themselves. Ask them the same questions. They have connections with most employers in the state and can help you connect with employers who actively seek out veterans.

Another step in gathering career information is to attend job fairs. Job fairs are primarily set up to help folks make contacts with employers; discuss what types of jobs they hire for and to help employers meet potential employees. A job fair gives you an opportunity to start networking with professionals in your field of interest. Even before you are ready to start seeking employment in your chosen field, a job fair is a great place to do your homework. You can simply explain to the employers that you are in a career transition and are researching potential opportunities, but are not ready to job search yet. They are usually more than happy to give you information.

You may find in your research that what you really want to do is just out of your reach as you leave the military. However, you’ll also learn what you need to do to get to that point. Now is the time to sit down and implement a written plan to reach your goal. You may need to speak to an Academic Advisor. Start at your base education office to get a Verification of Military Education and Training (VMET) transcript which will explain how many college credits you have based on your military experience and training. It is worth your while to investigate multiple schools to see where you can make your credits work best for you. The best types of school for allowing you to use all of your non-traditional education credits are Serviceman’s Opportunity Colleges (SOC). You can find out more about them at your base education office.

If you have done all of the above things, you are well on your way to a successful career transition from the military to your future! Best of luck to you all!

	Career Handbook
	Understanding Career Transitions By Gale Kennedy
	A transition is a change – nothing more, nothing less. A career Transition can be a major change or career direction or it can be a minor shift of focus. Any kind of change brings with it accompanying stress. Will I be able to find a job? Will I like my employer? How will I fit in? In order to deal with all the questions and decisions of a career transition you must prepare yourself. By seeking out information on training options, potential employers and jobs, you can then plan your transition more effectively. You would never go into a battle without a battle plan. You should use the same careful planning in your career. By combining your chance for a change with information and careful planning, you create choices for yourself. Choices equal opportunities. The more opportunities you uncover, the smarter your decision making will be and the smoother your career transition process is. If you have a Veterans Administration (VA) rated disability, the Vocational Rehabilitation program can help prepare you for your transition. Even if you are not disabled the process that the vocational rehab counselors use can be used by you on your own. One of the first things to do is to go through a series of exercises to identify your interests and aptitudes. You need to understand that these are two different things. You may have interests in a wide variety of areas but you may not have the aptitude to do some of those jobs. You can start with some of the exercises in your TAP manual, but that isn’t enough. Many community college career centers will offer either classes or one-on-one counseling services with these types of assessments. You don’t always have to be a student at the college to use these services. Many are open to the community. Once you’ve chosen a specific career field to pursue some of the career information you should be concentrating on gathering include: Is the field growing or diminishing? By what rate? What is the salary range for someone with your experience and skill level? What organizations, government agencies, non-profits hire for this field. What other education, licenses, or certifications do you need? How many people are employed in this field? What are the annual job openings? What work values, skills and abilities should you have? What are some other related occupations? Some of the books you should use to look up this information include the New Guide for Occupational Exploration, O*NET Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Professional Careers Source Book and others that the Career Resource Librarian can identify for you. There are also many individual “career guides” for a variety of fields. Check with the librarian to see that you have access to the most recent editions. You also need to consider the variations of ways of getting to your goal. You may need a short-term training program, or you may need to go back to school full time. You may be able to get the training you need via on-the-job training. Perhaps you want to own your own business. So where do you get the information so you can plan out your choices? Start with your Transition Office. Don’t just attend a TAP or ACAP class. Don’t just sit in front of a computer “looking for a job” to jump into your lap. Make an appointment to speak to the counselor. Talk about what you “think” your career goals are. Ask the counselor about what companies they have contacts with who could use your skills. Utilize the resources in the classroom or career center to identify “veteran friendly” employees. Pick up some of the transition magazines or newspapers in the room to add to your information. The next step after talking with the counselor is to go to your local state employment assistance office. Each state calls it something different, but they all offer the same services. Each office has specially trained counselors who work only with veterans. All of these folks are also veterans themselves. Ask them the same questions. They have connections with most employers in the state and can help you connect with employers who actively seek out veterans. Another step in gathering career information is to attend job fairs. Job fairs are primarily set up to help folks make contacts with employers; discuss what types of jobs they hire for and to help employers meet potential employees. A job fair gives you an opportunity to start networking with professionals in your field of interest. Even before you are ready to start seeking employment in your chosen field, a job fair is a great place to do your homework. You can simply explain to the employers that you are in a career transition and are researching potential opportunities, but are not ready to job search yet. They are usually more than happy to give you information. You may find in your research that what you really want to do is just out of your reach as you leave the military. However, you’ll also learn what you need to do to get to that point. Now is the time to sit down and implement a written plan to reach your goal. You may need to speak to an Academic Advisor. Start at your base education office to get a Verification of Military Education and Training (VMET) transcript which will explain how many college credits you have based on your military experience and training. It is worth your while to investigate multiple schools to see where you can make your credits work best for you. The best types of school for allowing you to use all of your non-traditional education credits are Serviceman’s Opportunity Colleges (SOC). You can find out more about them at your base education office. If you have done all of the above things, you are well on your way to a successful career transition from the military to your future! Best of luck to you all!

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