What Makes this Book Different?

There are countless books on the shelves on the subject of career transition. So what makes this one different? It is different because it is written by a military officer who suffered through the ordeal of career transition, found a great job in the private sector, lost a great job, found another great private sector job in career consulting, and now owns a business specializing in military to civilian career transition. Of equal importance is that the book shares the experiences of thousands of successful military job hunters, both officer and enlisted and civil service, and combines that knowledge with a process which has been proven over and over to be right on target. By the time you finish reading this book, you will be able to teach the course!

Who Should Read This Book?

This book is written for senior military and civil service careerists transitioning to private sector careers. However, anyone leaving one career and moving to another will benefit from reading this book. The book will not be enjoyed by someone who intends to sit on a stump and vegetate for the rest of their years. It is for someone who would like to pursue another career in any field, be it your own business, a major corporation, a non-profit organization, or a local place where you just want to lend a hand. The techniques described will benefit all of those efforts. 

When Should You Read This Book?

There is little doubt the majority of military personnel wait too long to begin considering a second career. There is always something else to do. I have had hundreds of officers and senior enlisted personnel tell me that they should have taken our seminar years before leaving active duty - one four star admiral told me that he should have taken the seminar five years before retirement. I would recommend reading this book about every five years during a career. This is not to encourage anyone to think about leaving active duty before the appropriate time, but to keep you thinking about what you will do when the time comes. Remember, there are only two ways for a careerist to leave the service . . . retire or in a pine box. This means, of course, that you cannot stay forever! Sooner or later you will have to leave, and most of us do so sometime between 20 and 30 years . . . or at 40 to 50 years of age. Just think, you will have another 20-25 more years to work, and that’s enough time to build a whole new career. What an opportunity!

A major reason for considering your “career after service” now is so that you can give consideration to any preparation that might be needed. That could mean additional education or the kind of jobs you ask for while on active duty or the affiliations you might belong to while on active duty. Keeping the second career active in your sub conscious will also keep you alert to contacts that might be able to help you when the time comes. I can’t tell you the number of times that a private sector business person handed me his/her business card and said “call me when you get ready to retire from the service,” and the same number of times I pitched those cards in the circular file. Not good planning!

What You Will Get From This Book

• A feeling for the emotions involved when transitioning from a military career to the private sector and some ideas of how to cope with the negative ones. How to cope with what every job seeker faces . . . REJECTION!
• An approach to deciding what objective to pursue. The vast majority of career military personnel have not decided upon a career objective when retirement time comes
• An understanding of the purpose of a resume and how to use it in preparation for a job interview as well as networking meetings
• An understanding of what networking is all about and why it accounts for over 90% of all jobs that senior career military land
• Insight into the various ways to market yourself and how to make a reasonable and calculated response to the infamous question, “Tell me about yourself”
• How to get yourself organized to conduct a successful job search and how to research areas of interest to you
• Proven ways to determine and negotiate a base salary and insight into the ways that companies think about salary and perks
• How to interview and be interviewed. Understanding the various techniques used in interviewing by professional screening interviewers 
  

What This Book Won't Tell You

• It won’t tell you where the specific job you are looking for is . . . they are everywhere
• It will not research for you or conduct networking meetings for you . . . but it will tell you how to go about it in an organized and proven way
• It will not conduct an interview for you or negotiate your compensation package
• It will not show you a painless method of getting a job. Looking for a job may be the hardest thing you have ever done . . . especially the first time. Correction . . . every time!