How to Determine Your Next Career Move

How to Determine Your Next Career Move

By Benita Ugoline, for USBA

Whether you’re PCSing and on the hunt for a new job, or your spouse is leaving the service and searching for a civilian opportunity, here are some important tips to keep in mind if either of you are expecting a career change in the near future.

There’s no such thing as keeping your options open! You cannot job hunt today unless you are focused on the type of work you want, because civilian employers are focused on what they want.

In a simpler time, you filled out a job application, were called for an interview, and got hired. The employer simply looked at your skills and experience and decided where you might fit in. Those days are gone.

Today, employers don’t often look beyond what’s in black and white on a resume and job application. Employers evaluate your application with their own focus and self-interests in mind. The employer wants a person who has had the very same or a similar job before, has a certain skill set, and/or has worked in a particular industry. These factors allow employers to minimize hiring risk. Make no mistake: Employers hire the least risky candidates.

Since the employer is focused, you have to be focused, too. You can download this free white paper and complete a worksheet to help you consider specific strategies and narrow your focus to the type of job or industry.

Also, be sure to check out the other free resources offered in USBA’s online jobs center.  You’ll find insider tips tailored specifically to the military community searching for careers in the civilian market- like transferring military skills to a resume, long distance job search strategies, and when to have “the salary talk” when you find the right one.

And don’t forget about having life insurance coverage that’s portable through job changes, like the plans offered through nonprofit USBA. Explore the options to help determine which plan best fits your family’s needs.

About the Author

Benita Ugoline is a Kansas City-based job search trainer and career management coach. She has nearly 20 years’ experience helping job seekers transfer their experience from one industry to another. Benita is considered by clients to be a self-marketing strategist who provides them with specific tactics to further their employment. She’s written for and been quoted by the print press, guested on radio, and appeared on television as a job search expert. Benita has been employed by a regional human resource consulting firm and a nonprofit organization in executive-level positions, and worked with management, professional, support and hourly staff seeking new jobs.