Transition Resource Library
Your Complete A–Z Guide for Military Career Transition
Welcome to Your Transition Journey
This comprehensive resource library is designed to guide you through every step of your military-to-civilian career transition. Navigate through our modules below to access valuable resources, tools, and guidance tailored specifically for veterans.
Where do you start and what should you do first? Much of what is involved in finding a job is common sense and follows a rational decision-making model outlined in this guide. The resources below give step-by-step guidance to create an achievable transition plan.
The Process
In the military, you are used to setting goals, developing plans, and focusing on accomplishing the mission. Therefore, the job-finding process should make good sense to you. This guide walks you through a step-by-step process of well-defined career planning and job search steps involving investigation, written communication, and employer contact activities. Successful job seekers learn to implement each of these sequential steps that involve planning, organizational, and communication skills.
Best Jobs for the 21st Century
The job market is in a constant state of change. Today, individuals with the right education, skills, and experience are in a better position to find good jobs that should lead to career advancement in the years ahead. In fact, a list of the fastest growing occupations can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor's website.
Develop an Action-Oriented Timeline
As with any military operation, it is important to establish a timeline and be disciplined in the execution of your planned activities. Developing a sound yet flexible search plan is critical to conducting a successful employment campaign. The time spent planning and organizing your activities will result in a far more effective job search.
Exercise: Planning Worksheet
Use the Planning Worksheet to plan and track the steps in your career transition process.
Download Planning WorksheetYour Job Search Competency
Before you acquire names, addresses, and phone numbers of potential employers, you should possess the necessary job search knowledge and skills for gathering and using job information effectively. Valuable awareness is gained by examining your present level of job search competency. Identify your level of job search competence by completing the Career Competency Assessment.
Exercise: Career Competency Assessment
Download Assessment🎙️ Military Minute: Transition Advice from Jim Thomas
You don't have to face your career transition alone. There are many organizations to assist you with your job search. Many services are free, and we recommend starting out "close to home" for such assistance. The Department of Defense, military services, and federal and state agencies sponsor high quality transition services that include many helpful lectures, seminars, and testing services.
Federal Services
Transition GPS
The Transition Goals-Plans-Success (GPS) program provides a structured overview that includes MOC crosswalks, financial planning for transition, VA benefits briefings and Department of Labor employment workshops. Attend the sessions nearest your separation date.
The program provides these core elements:
- Transition Overview / Resilient Transitions
- MOC Crosswalk
- Financial Planning for Transition
- VA Benefits Briefings
- DoL Employment Workshop
Military Services
State Services
Networking in the job search involves connecting and interacting with people who can be helpful to you (and whom you can help in return). You want to develop an informal information network you will engage with to gather knowledge about available job opportunities.
Military Colleagues
As a member of the military you already have an extensive network. Let your military colleagues know that you are actively searching for a job. Military friends and associates who have already transitioned to the private sector can be especially helpful, for they know first-hand where the hidden jobs are within their organizations.
🎙️ Military Minute: Competition and the Importance of Networking
Military Associations & Community Groups
As a transitioning service member, you have the opportunity to join a variety of military associations, many of which offer some form of job search assistance. Being a member of such an association significantly expands your opportunity to network with other veterans, many of whom are employed in the private sector.
What skills that you acquired in the military are most relevant to today's job market? What other skills do you possess which may or may not be related to your work in the military? Do you need to acquire new skills? To best position yourself in the job markets of today and tomorrow, you should pay particular attention to identifying and refining your present skills as well as achieving new and more marketable skills.
Credentialing Resources
There are several resources to assist you in identifying civilian credentialing requirements:
Types of Skills
Most people possess two types of skills that define their accomplishments and strengths:
Work-content skills ("hard" skills): Technical qualifications acquired through education and training. They tend to be technical and job-specific in nature. Examples include helicopter repair, programming computers, teaching history, or operating an X-ray machine.
Functional skills ("soft" skills): Skills associated with numerous job settings, mainly acquired through experience rather than formal training. Leadership, communication, problem-solving — skills gained through experience that transfer across jobs.
Testing Assessment
There are many sophisticated testing and assessment instruments used by career counselors to identify work interests. The Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers-Briggs Assessment are two of the tools for assessing career interests. The O*NET Interest Profiler is another tool to help you explore your interests.
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." — Henry Ford
The Post-9/11 GI Bill and other benefits can open doors for your civilian career. The right education can make you more competitive in the job market, and can also pay off down the road in earnings. Consider degrees, certifications, apprenticeships, or targeted courses to improve competitiveness.
Stay Young — Become a Lifelong Learner!
Pursue training that aligns with your industry and gives you an advantage over other candidates. Use the GI Bill tools to compare programs and plan costs.
Will a prospective employer be motivated to learn more about you from reading your resume? Resumes are important tools for communicating your purpose and capabilities to employers. A resume advertises your qualifications to prospective employers and is your calling card for getting interviews.
Types of Resumes
There are three basic types of resumes:
- Chronological resume: Lists your jobs in reverse chronological order with a description of what you did in each job.
- Functional resume: Describes your core competencies and the functions you can perform outside the context of specific jobs.
- Combination resume: A hybrid that combines your functional expertise with your work history.
For most transitioning military, we recommend the combination format because it highlights your functional expertise and also shows your most recent assignments.
Constructing Your Resume
At the very least, your resume should include the following five categories of information:
- Contact Information – Your name, address, phone number and email address.
- Objective – A job or career objective relevant to your skills and employer needs.
- Experience – What you can do – your patterns of skills and accomplishments.
- Work History – What you have done – your job titles and activities performed.
- Education – What you have learned – your education and training/degrees and certifications.
Sample Military Resumes
Download professional resume examples tailored for transitioning military members. These templates represent a broad cross-section of career fields:
Cover Letters & Thank You Letters
Letters play a key role in a job search. Download professional examples of cover letters, approach letters, and thank you letters:
The old adage, knowledge is power, is especially true when conducting a job search. A successful job search campaign requires gathering intelligence data, just as a military operation would. Your research activities should focus on four major targets: alternative jobs and careers, organizations, individuals, and communities.
Target Organizations
Identify companies, learn their mission, structure, culture, and hiring process. Use multiple sources to build a company profile.
The job interview is the most important step in the job search process. All previous job search activities lead to this one. It's important that you interview for the right job; one that is compatible with your knowledge, skills, interests, and problem solving ability.
Job Interview Preparation & Tips
If you want a job interview, you first need to understand the informational interview and how to initiate and use it effectively. The best way to get a job is to ask for job information, advice, and referrals; never ask for a job. You want your prospects to engage in the 5 Rs of informational interviewing:
- Reveal useful information and advice
- Refer you to others
- Read your resume
- Revise your resume
- Remember you for future reference
Salary is one of the most important yet least understood considerations in the job search. Many individuals do well handling all interview questions except the salary one. You must be prepared to negotiate your compensation based on your projected value to the employer.
Military Pay vs. Civilian Salary
Many transitioning service members often undervalue themselves in the civilian work world because they tend to equate salary with base pay. If you've received base housing or a housing allowance, you know this benefit can be considerable. When comparing offers, include housing allowance, medical and retirement benefits — these often add 20% or more to base amounts. Use online calculators and market salary sites.
With 2+ million workers, the federal government is the single largest employer in the United States. Here we will identify various resources for finding government employment and explain the job application and selection process.
Finding Federal Jobs
Understanding Federal Job Announcements
Federal announcements contain series number, grade, position type, required specialized experience, KSAs (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities), and application instructions. Read carefully and tailor responses accordingly.
If self-assessment indicates entrepreneurial ability, self-employment may be a strong option. Many veterans are successful small-business owners; this section lists training and startup resources. Approximately 4.5 million veterans currently own their own businesses, which represents nearly 18 percent of all businesses in the United States.
Getting Assistance Starting Your Business
Several government agencies and nonprofit organizations offer a wealth of assistance to veterans interested in starting their own business:
Entrepreneurship Training
Programs like the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) offer intensive training in business basics and management. Military veterans can make successful franchise owners, namely because they typically have a strong work ethic and the ability to follow the rules, key attributes for a franchisee.