TRANSITION CENTER

“One key to successful leadership is continuous personal change. Personal change is a reflection of our inner growth and empowerment.” – Robert E. Quinn

I’m writing this article many years after my first shot at being in an upper management position, over a group of civilians. This position was offered to me after being in the military, where I was trained how to “manage troops”. First of all, if you’re a veteran, thank you for your service. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I’m the daughter of a twenty year military veteran and my grandfather is a twenty year military veteran as well. I have several other family members who served honorably and I could list other family members who are presently serving in the military. I have a lot of respect for those who choose to serve our country.

I served in the Air Force as a reservist for ten years, working in the medical and flight medical service. I was honorably discharged as a Technical Sergeant (E-6). While being in the reserves, I also worked full time in civilian emergency medical services (EMS) as a Nationally Registered Paramedic, and I was often promoted to leadership positions at my civilian jobs because of my military training. I’ve learned a few important differences between these two leadership settings, and I wish to pass this along to other military veterans who may be placed in a position to lead civilian employees.

Read More

In this interview, we ask a recently transitioned veteran about his journey of leaving the military and succeeding with perseverance and advice from mentors on Veterati.

Read More

What’s the difference between a Corporate recruiter and a Military headhunter?  Military headhunters are placement agencies that act as an agent for the military member with Corporate America. The purpose of this service is to place transitioning veterans into the hands of client companies for interviews in hopes of a hire. Headhunters are geared towards Corporate America throughout the United States but also can be region based. Read More

I was laid off a few years ago and went through a harsh awakening about how little I knew about job searching. I’d been at the same company for eight years. I was a manager with diverse, but generic, experiences. I had my Veteran status, significant management experience, and a master’s degree in business. I thought finding a job would be easy. I was naive and foolish, to say the least. It took months to find a job and over a year to find the right one. Read More

As a disabled veteran myself, I understand that many veterans have their reasons for not taking the time to research filing for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). You’ve heard all the horror stories of backlogs and denials. And you may think, why apply for a handout when so many others have it so much worse?

Read More

Reading should be a significant component of your military transition and there are many reasons why. It’s imperative to build and sustain daily or weekly habits of improving oneself through reading and introspection. Those that stop learning will become stagnant in other areas of their lives. How do you expect to push your limits past your uncomfortable boundaries into success without persistence, discipline, and determination?

Read More

I spent five months unemployed before I started my first civilian job and I wasn’t prepared for it at all. My plan was always to roll right into my next job, and I would have never believed that it would take me that long to start working again. I started planning my career transition a full year in advance to avoid this exact situation. How could this have happened to me?

No one ever told me that I should plan for this. Why would they? Up to that point, my career had been playing out perfectly. My peers who left the military before me were able to get on their feet quickly, or so I thought. The truth is, most service members experience a period of unemployment. It’s not ideal but it’s also not the end of the world. Here are a few things that surprised me about unemployment:

Read More

As an HR Director for a growing retail grocery company, I interviewed, hired and worked with lots of people, including several veterans. Each time, I was excited about bringing our shared, time-honored and battle-tested values into my company to help accomplish my company’s mission.  When that happened, it was great. However, there were times when it didn’t always work out.

Read More

Any major life transition causes a complexity of emotions including fear, anguish and excitement. A military transition is no different and arguably may be more complex. You’re leaving a security blanket and leaping into the unknown. With that comes an unbelievable growth experience that requires hard work, incredible tenacity and thorough self-introspection.

 When you came out the other side, what did you learn? What did you learn about the process of the transition? What made you successful? When asking these questions to transitioned veterans, most often you’ll get the high-level responses such as: “I networked or prepared well for my interviews.” I want to take it one step further and dive deeper to provide you with 10 “secrets” or creative approaches that you often may not hear.

Read More

1. Take care of yourself and stay healthy. Now, this may seem like your traditional new year’s resolution, but of course there is a military twist. Yes, we all know we are more productive when we eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. But as a transitioning service member, make sure you get your health check-ups while you are still in. Remember, once you’re out, you may be paying for health care for the first time and those trips to “sick call” will not be free anymore. This is also important if you were injured while in the service, and may need health care from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. If an injury or condition is not in your medical records, you will be hard-pressed to get help from the VA.

Read More