Transition Insight

The Big Lifestyle Adjustment

By Barbara Adams, CPRW, CEIP, CMRC, CFRW
www.militaryresumewriters.com and www.careerproplus.com

Finally I Get To Go Home...Maybe
After twenty or more years of service life—including numerous duty stations at different locations around the country and around the world—you may be eager to settle back in your hometown and start a new career. Even if you've done just one tour, you've been gone a while. The problem is that things have changed back home, and so have you. Even if you've returned from time to time or have even been stationed nearby, it's not going to be the same place you left. Chances are the job you seek or area of work you are most suited for may not align with what's currently available. You may be able to find something suitable, but more than likely you won't. Try not to force the issue of insisting on relocating to your hometown only to face difficulty in your career path.

Home Is Where the Job Is
In other words, be prepared to relocate one more times wherever your next career leads you. Many military members have excellent logistics experience, and land lucrative careers with large companies where employers view discipline, leadership, and troubleshooting as prized attributes. Large distribution facilities, warehouse operations, and logistics companies are located around the country. There may even be one near your hometown. Other career paths offer similar situations. Technology is a very robust job area for military folks, and many superior companies are looking for your expertise. They may be located in parts of the country that you hadn't even considered. Many military members elect to pursue federal employment, taking advantage of their credit for years of service, military preference in applying, and security clearance status, which can be a real door-opener. Many of these jobs are located near Washington, D.C., but there are thousands of opportunities nationwide and worldwide.

Focus on the job you want, find the ideal company or agency, and then decide if it's a place you'd care to live for some time. You are now in control for a change. Make the most of this opportunity for career, lifestyle, and location options.

Lighten Up, Francis
While adjusting to civilian life, you need to adjust your attitude toward rank and position. It's no longer necessary (and it can be awkward) to address everyone as "Sir" and "Ma'am." At the same time, if you are accustomed to people saluting you, standing at attention in your presence, and all the associated etiquette, you need to put that aside as well. Keep the respectful attitude, but ditch the military protocol being sensitive to the prevailing corporate culture. Also, be prepared to have to justify your decisions as never before. Not only your superiors but your subordinates will want to understand your decisions, and know your justification for them. While there will still be situations where "an order is an order," especially in emergency or life-threatening situations, be prepared to accommodate need-to-know and like-to-know situations, and react to each appropriately.

Your Are What You Wear
Prepare for your new wardrobe as well. Don't overdress for your job (and make everyone else look bad). You want to consider the phrase, "Don't dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want." That may mean a long-sleeve, button-down shirt when your peers are in short-sleeves. It may mean a more business-like tie if shirt and tie is the dress code. For women, it can be more meaningful to observe the culture and attire of the peer group and the promotion-level group, and act accordingly in dress and demeanor. Dress well but don't go overboard. In the military, it's easy: put on the uniform of the day, and keep an eye out for stripes, bars, and stars. In civilian life, it's more subtle. You can hardly ever go wrong dressing up a bit more than the group, but you can definitely go wrong out-doing your boss on one hand or being too casual on the other. Keep your eyes open; look and act like you belong. Continue to be the reliable, respectful leader you've always been, and you'll do just fine.

Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global (CPG), the parent company of www.careerproplus.com and www.militaryresumewriters.com, has been a member of the careers community for the past 20 years. Ms. Adams holds four prestigious industry certifications. CareerPro Global is the only ISO 9001-2008 Certified Career Service in the industry, as well as one of the fastest-growing Military, Federal, and Civilian Resume-Writing and Careers-Coaching companies. The team of Certified Professional Federal and Military Resume Writers at CPG assist thousands of clients in applying for and gaining employment each year. We can help you land your military to civilian job.

Law school opportunity opens for military officers

By Spc. Cassandra Monroe 135th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – For Soldiers interested in expanding their legal careers both in and out of the military, the Office of the Judge Advocate General is now accepting applications for the Army's Funded Legal Education Program.

Under the FLEP program, the Army can send up to 25 active-duty officers, from second lieutenant to captain, to law school.

The officers must have accumulated between two to six active-duty service years of total federal service by the beginning of the legal training. Interested officers can review Chapter 14, AR 27-1 (The Judge Advocate’s General Funded Legal Education Program) to determine their eligibility.

"We have a lot of officers who perhaps had a political science degree or some sort of undergraduate legal training," said Col. Jonathan Guden, the staff judge advocate for the 3rd Infantry Division.

"For those individuals, it's a great opportunity for them to get their law degree, [and] continue to serve in the U.S. Army. Regardless of their undergraduate degree, it's a great opportunity to switch branches and experience life as a judge advocate, practicing law in the military."

Officers who are eligible and are interested in applying for the program must take the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT, a standardized placement test for law school. Officers must then submit the results of the test with their application packet through command channels, along with their undergraduate transcripts.

Officers must also conduct an interview with their servicing SJA. Upon acceptance, officers will attend law school at either a school in their state of residence, or a school that grants in-state tuition to military personnel.

"It's a highly competitive program," said Col. Guden, a Chippewa Falls, Wis., native. "When an officer is selected for the FLEP, he or she will go to law school, typically where they can get in-state tuition, and that will be their job for three years." The law school experience doesn't end after school is out for the summer.

Through this program, officers will also have the chance to get real world, on-the-job training by serving in a military legal office during their summer break. "I think it's a great program, because it really does allow you to practice law and serve in the military at the same time," said Lt. Col. John Frost, the deputy staff judge advocate with 3rd ID.

Frost, an East Lansing, Mich., native, attended the University of Maine School of Law under the FLEP and said his experiences in military law have been very diverse as opposed to the career path of a civilian lawyer. Besides working in stereotypical areas of practice like trying cases for the government or defense at courts martial, judge advocate generals also work as legal advisers for commanders at all levels.

"The military area of legal practice is expansive, and that is of great value to lawyers, even just out of law school," he continued. "A typical lawyer in a law firm might spend 30 to 40 years looking at contracts or at one particular niche area of practice, whereas we have an expansive area of practice... We're advising Soldiers in areas of legal assistance; and command in administrative, fiscal, contract, operational, criminal and military justice law matters."

The JAG Corps is looking for people who have a desire to serve in the military and to practice law. If interested in the program, officers have until Nov. 1 to submit their applications through their chains of command and contact the SJA for an initial interview.

More than 1,100 schools partner with VA on GI Bill

8/9/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Paving the way for recipients of the post-9/11 GI Bill to attend higher-cost schools, Department of Veterans Affairs officials have entered into more than 3,200 agreements with over 1,100 schools for the upcoming academic year under the "Yellow Ribbon" program. Schools can enter into multiple agreements with VA to accommodate different programs of study offered.

"We are pleased that so many institutions are joining us to support the educational goals of the men and women who served this nation so honorably," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

The Yellow Ribbon program, a key provision of the new post-9/11 GI Bill, allows VA and participating educational institutions to share in supporting students attending high-cost schools.

Normally, the VA-administered post-9/11 GI Bill reimburses students for tuitions that don't exceed the highest in-state undergraduate tuition rate for a public institution. Under the Yellow Ribbon program, when schools contribute to the difference between the in-state maximum and their usual cost, VA will match them dollar for dollar up to 50 percent of the difference.

The Yellow Ribbon program is reserved for Veterans eligible for the post-9/11 GI Bill who served at least 36 months on active duty or served at least 30 continuous days before being discharged due to a service-related injury.

The post-9/11 GI Bill, passed by Congress in 2008, is the most extensive educational assistance program authorized since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944.

The maximum benefit allows every eligible veteran, servicemember, reservist and National Guard member an opportunity to receive an in-state, undergraduate education at a public institution at no cost.

The program includes payments for tuition and fees (paid directly to the schools), a housing allowance, and a books and supplies stipend.

For information on specific schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon program, go to http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/CH33/YRP/YRP_List_2010.htm

Additional information about the post-9/11 GI Bill, as well as VA's other educational benefits, can be obtained by visiting VA's Web site, www.gibill.va.gov, or by calling 888-442-4551.

Move.mil launches redesigned website

by Capt. By Army Maj. James F. Lowe, U.S. Transportation Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - Officials at the U.S. Transportation Command this week launched an improved website to assist both the military and Transportation Service Providers in using the Defense Personal Property System, or DPS.

The website -- www.Move.mil -- has been redesigned for its three types of users: Service members and civilians who are processing a move in DPS, Personal Property Shipping Offices, or PPSOs, who coordinate and support the moves, and TSPs who pack and transport household goods.

Officials encourage users new to www.Move.mil or familiar with the old site, to start their www.Move.mil experience by selecting their user type on the front page and taking a short video tour.

The improvements aim to make the site more user-friendly and helpful. In addition to some new features, most of the information previously available is still on the site, reorganized and updated where possible.

With the new website, officials know the site will still need some adjustments and will carefully consider all feedback. (Compliments are welcome, too!) Send your feedback to the Move.mil webmaster at move.mil.webmaster@ustranscom.mil

In addition, to help transportation officials gauge the overall success of DPS and to identify the best providers, customers are encouraged to fill out the DPS Customer Satisfaction Survey after delivery of their household goods. The survey is also available online at www.Move.mil.