Tag Archives: military career transition

May is National Military Appreciation Month. Each week this month we bring you articles that honor our nation’s vets. Our fourth post is by Fred Wellman, Lt. Col. U.S. Army (retired), currently President Scoutcomms.

I hate being in the majority. I have always avoided going with the crowd or doing things like others. Yet a year after retiring from the Army I found myself smack in the majority of former service members and leaving my first job after the military. I dropped right into the middle of the toughest job market in decades and worked tirelessly to find a new position to support my family with little success after…

HR Strategist Patra Frame discusses the first steps of a military to civilian transition and the importance of taking advantage of the resources that are available to all service members.

May is National Military Appreciation Month. Each week this month we bring you articles that honor our nation’s vets. Our second post is by Chrissa Dockendorf. a Mentor/Intake Interviewer/Soldier Recruiter with the Wounded Warrior Mentor Program.

Seeking a way to support Wounded Soldiers on more of an individual basis and providing attention that the Army couldn’t, The West Point Class of 1958 had an idea that has since grown into this great organization – The Wounded Warrior Mentor Program. While Military Facilities has excelled in treatment and saving lives, they simply do not have the resources to support a soldier one-on-one as they make life decisions on the…

May is National Military Appreciation Month. Each week this month we bring you articles that honor our nation’s vets. Our first post is by Jane Maliszewski, Colonel U.S. Army (retired), currently President, ISKA LLC, a Strategic Change Consultancy.

“What do you do when you’re branded?”

That was a line from the theme song of a popular show from my childhood called “Branded.” The opening scene was an Army fort outpost on the western frontier and Captain Jason McCord (Chuck Connors), the “Branded” subject, was stripped of his rank, his sword broken, escorted by an armed guard out of the large wooden gates and left to make his way in…

I recently have begun hearing again that some employment counselors are telling transitioning military folks to omit their military service information and/or titles. Instead they suggest one use words like “major international organization vice-president.”  This was a sad trend after the Vietnam war, driven by popular talk that all vets were psychotic. Do you really need a work life equivalent of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?

First, every civilian recruiter, HR person, and hiring manager is going to immediately recognize this trick. It doesn’t work. It can hurt your chances.

Second, do you really want to work for an organization that does not value your military service? Why? There are plenty of organizations that do see…