Free Career and Job Search Advice

[MilitaryMan]

Take a few minutes and help me decide: What to do next?

I have been working in infantry for the last 10 years, frankly I have had enough. I was on active duty 50% of the time. i am fed of the time away from the family and seeing my kids for the first time in pictures.

I have served my country well, I have given everything, my life my mental health and risked my life repeatedly, unfortunately when it comes to leave the military there is not much help and i find myself asking the question.
What to do next?

I have started looking for work on the internet, posted a resume but I am currently on active duty and it is hard when you say you are 1000's of miles away, for an employer to consider you.

My expected return is in 6 months and I cannot wait to see my family, but after the happy hello exchanges the question What to do next? will be in my wife’s head. Got a mortgage to pay and kids to help to going to school!

so What to do next?
??

[Cameron]

Hi Military Man,

I can appreciate your situation. Many of my career coaching clients are wondering what to do next. There are two primary issues to consider: what can you (or could you, with training) do well and, the part that too many unhappy people leave out, what would you ENJOY doing? See, e.g., http://www.ferocecoaching.com/career-aptitude-test.html.

Have you clarified your values? The odds are no; few of us have. But without a sense of what matters to you, you will have a devil of a time prioritizing or setting goals based on what matters. And without goals, of course, you would just have to muddle along. Values inform goals, and goal-setting, an art and a science, is nothing less than the creation of the future self. You owe it to your future self to start setting those goals now, and to start working toward reaching them -- and if you have to figure out what's important first, by all means, do so.

Career counselors can help you some of the way. Career coaches the rest. You can also do some self-assessments in books like "What Color Is Your Parachute?" See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580086152/ferocecoachin-20.

Note: you will receive more useful advice if you include details such as the country you are from (I will guess the U.S.) and your work and skill background.

Bottom line: know who you are, then know what you want to do. There's no short-cut, and no simple answer anyone here can post.

Good luck!

Cameron

[7days]

Good for you being in the military, as governments usually tend to treat military workers better than anyone else. Military workers, at least here in the USA, have lots of benefits and the Gov't usually treats very good care of them not only while on active duty, but a very long, long time later as in the rest of their life usually, free prescriptions, free medical/surgical care at Vet Hospitals, free retirement home, etc. I have heard recently the Gov't doesn't cover Vets dentists, otherwise they cover just about everything.

A job on the internet? Forget it. Don't go there. I do not recommend it at all after doing this for about three years now, as there is very little money in it and a great deal of competition. Even if you are very good at it, there's too many trying to do the same thing. And you don't see hardly anyone so the socialization is not really there much. It's good though, however, if you want to be glued and connected to a computer 24 hrs a day and 7 days a week, and usually more like double that.

What else do you do? Be a good husband/good father for one thing. Don't worry about what you're going to do right now. Just concentrate on doing a good deed and taking care of your country's people and protecting them, and doing what your leaders tell you to do. Get a good recommendation from them, get promotions, etc.

When you get out, THEN think about what to do. Go to school such as a college, university, or technical college, or even courses online would be my suggestion right, away after you leave the military. Perhaps your Gov't will provide for that, since you are a military person.

Lots of jobs may highly appreciate your active duty and you may get rewarded with more job possibilities that way. If you can work in the military field as awful as that can be, you can probably work anywhere and at least then you won't have real wars to deal with.