Veterans exiting military service find themselves in the unique position of needing a second career at a relatively late stage. They leave the service with a rich set of skills that should easily translate into gainful employment. But where should they go to look for a job?
In this article, we look at careers that specifically cater to the unique skill sets of military veterans.
Skills that veterans bring to the table
Veterans have different professional and educational experiences, but they share common skills that are baked into military service. People who have served their country will be natural leaders, good collaborators, and generally, calm under pressure. After all, what work-related stress could match the pressures of deployment?
All the jobs presented in this article reflect the need for these skills. Some will also require an educational or professional background that veterans might still need. Nevertheless, they are valuable opportunities to consider.
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship represents the opportunity to strike out on your own with nothing more than an idea and (hopefully) some decent seed money. Small business ownership requires a tolerance for risk and the willingness to work very hard — both traits that veterans have in abundance.
Of course, you’ll need a good idea first, but with brainstorming, you can carve out a rewarding career path for yourself. Why look for a job when you can invent one yourself?
Project management
Project management is a decidedly vague phrase. Who are we managing? Who are we managing? We’re talking about leadership. Who’s better equipped for that? Management jobs require excellent communication skills, the ability to collaborate, follow instructions, and hold up under pressure.
Sound familiar? Of course, the stakes are infinitely smaller. Once you’ve been on active duty, you’ll probably find that keeping an app development project on time and on a budget is pretty much small potatoes.
Law enforcement
Law enforcement seems like a natural and obvious extension of military service, and it is a path many veterans take. Military training and the background work that goes into becoming a police officer is similar. Both involve learning to respond rationally in high-pressure situations and managing the burden of significant personal risk daily.
While police officers spend a lot of time alone in their cars, it also involves a lot of collaboration — a skill that veterans know all too well can mean the difference between life and death.
Law enforcement won’t be for everyone. Particularly not those who are hoping to leave some of the stress and pressures of military service behind. Still, many veterans will find that law enforcement provides a smooth transition into civilian life.
Emergency medicine
Veterans are uniquely well adapted for high-pressure situations. Remaining calm and effective when the pressure is on is a skill that is very hard to teach, but it’s also one that people with military experience have ingrained deep within them. Emergency medicine, therefore, is a relatively direct extension of their existing skill set.
EMTs and other career paths that involve providing immediate medical attention during emergencies need to think clearly and stay calm during situations that would cause most people to panic. It’s not easy work — you see lots of unpleasant things, and due to the job’s nature, patient outcomes may be disproportionately bad relative to other sectors of the healthcare industry.
It’s meaningful work, just the same. As an administrator of emergency medicine, you will get to save lives, and know that you are making a meaningful contribution to society. Something that veterans obviously care a great deal about.
Of course, this is a job that requires medical training. The actual medical requirements will depend on what job you want. Nurses and doctors have a long road to take than EMTs, but in all cases, it’s work that demands a lot of studies.
Mechanic
Many veterans exit the military with sophisticated mechanical knowledge. They are often trained to know how to service vehicles and machinery out in the field because there often aren’t many Jiffy Lubes on deployment sites.
The extent to which mechanical knowledge is learned in the military can vary pretty substantially from person to person. Consequently, this won’t necessarily be the most natural career path for everyone. Still, if it does fit the bill, it’s worth considering.
Mechanics make a stable living, and their services tend to be in high demand regardless of what is going on in the economy. When a car is broken, it needs to be fixed, even when times are tight. Therefore, there will also be enough oil changes and tire rotations to keep a willing mechanic busy.
Cybersecurity
Though not necessarily a perfect extension of military service, cybersecurity should appeal to veterans for several reasons. For one thing, people with military experience are used to dealing with discretion. They often handle sensitive information and are well-trained in how to keep things quiet and handle them responsibly.
Depending on their position in the military, they might even have very direct experience with best cybersecurity practices. After all, military intel is typically significantly more sensitive than the information at a software company. In other words, if you can keep information safe in the military, you’ll probably be more comfortable transitioning into an environment where the stakes aren’t relatively high.
Also, remember that cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing career paths, a trend that is only expected to grow in the next ten years. As more and more businesses digitalize their operations and see the significant risks that can come from not having their information secure, they continue reaching out to cybersecurity experts to keep their sensitive information safe.
Veterans may need to go back to school to get a related degree, then look for the Charlotte entry level positions available. Still, they will be well rewarded for their time. Cybersecurity jobs feature high salaries in the six-figure range and are often flexible, allowing people to work from home.
