Here are a few things I learned as I approached retirement. Pass them along!

1. Tell your troops to hang onto ALL Certificates of Training! They are the ONLY source document used to prepare the DD Form 214 to reflect training received while in the Air Force.

2. The DD Form 2586, Verification of Military Experience and Training, only goes back to 1986 (at least for Air Force personnel). This is a standard DoD document provided to all eligible military departees verifying their military experience, training history, associated civilian equivalent job title(s) and recommended educational credit information. It's designed to assist service members in verifying the previous experience and training to potential employers, writing their resumes, interviewing for jobs, negotiating credits at schools, and obtaining certificates or licenses. Here's the kicker! All formal military training (all those blue rocket papers) we got before 1986 ARE NOT INCLUDED in the data base at AFPC! You have to research each using the CCAF catalog located in your "friendly" education office--course by course.

Our military service has given us training and work experience useful to many employers. Our task is to consider our own work and find a way to use the information to our best advantage. Following is a list of some strengths we probably have used in our military service. As you read the list, make notes about your own experiences. You will use the notes later in preparing your resume to emphasize points the company is looking for.

- Leadership Training: The military trains people to accept responsibility and give direction. You may have had responsibility for other people and their activities. You are trained to lead by setting an example and by giving directions.

- Abilitly to conform to rules and structure: In any organization there must be rules and structure to avoid chaos. You have learned and followed rules in the service. Companies value employees who will follow the rules and fit into the structure of the work place.

- Ability to learn with advanced training: You received intensive, and often specialized, advanced training in the service.

- Familiarity with records: You are familiar with the need for records and complete paperwork. You understand the need to be accountable for everything you do.

- Ability to work as a team member and a team leader: In the military you worked in a team environment. You understand that everything you do affects someone else. You may have served as a team leader where you analyzed situations and options, made decisions, gave directions, followed through and accepted responsibility.

- Ability to work in a diverse group: The military employes all Americans regardless of race, gender, enonomic status, age, religion, intelligence. In the service, you have worked with people of all backgrounds, attitudes, and characteristics.

- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines: In the military you must perform. You do your job right the first time. There is pressure and stress; if you fail, people could suffer. This attitude toward work is valued in the business community.

- Systematic planning: Most military operations require thorough planning. You must consider objectives, the strengths and limitations of other, resources, time schedules, logistics, and various other factors. You also assess progress during the operations. The ability to plan is highly valued in many civilian job settings.

- Emphasis on safety: Military safety training is among the best in the world. You understand the cost of lives, property, and objectives when safety is ignored. An emphasis on safety will often be valued in the civilian work force.

- Ability to give and follow directions: You know how to work under supervision. You are accountable for your actions. Being disciplined in your life and when dealing with others is important in the work place.

- Drug free: You have been working in a zero tolerance environment, with frequent and random drug testing. Most employers view this as a distinct advantage.

- Maturity: You may have maturity beyond your years. You can bring this out in an interview by relating your experiences and responsibilities. Employes may see you as more mature than other applicants your age.

- Security clearance: Many military personnel have achieved some level of security clearance. For some employers, your clearance will simplify the process of applying for a civilian clearance and save them money.

Our military experiene also leaves us with several limitations that we must overcome. These limitations are factors that we will learn to handle. Each of the factors is briefly decribed below.

- Communication: The military talks in alphabet soup. You have learned to use acronyms and military jargon. Everybody in the military understands it, but almost nobody outside the service will! You must consciously think about using words, not acronyms or jargon, to communicate.

- Stress: You need to understand that stress is different in the civilian world. So far you have learned to work under pressure and have dealt with stressful stiuations such as long hours, adverse conditions, and physical strain. But in the civilian work force you will not have the job security you had in the military. In the civilian work force people sometimes get laid off with nothing more than a written notice with their paycheck.

- Money: Leaving the military will mean a temporary loss of a regular pay check. You may go a few weeks or months without work. It may take months to find the right job. You will need to save money, figure out how much money you will need, and develop a budget. Even though a good job search strategy will reduce the time you spend unemployed, you will still need to budget and conserve resources.

- Sterotypes: Some employers have false impressions of the military. Being aware of the sterotypes up front will help you break them down when you encounter them. Some of the sterotypes include:

.....-- military personnel do not know how to dress or socialize in the civilian community;

.....-- all military personnel are rigid and lack creativity;

.....-- you only get things done because of your rank;

.....-- the military is not bottom line oriented, does not think with a profit mentality; and

.....-- military life is easier than civilian life; etc.

- Unrealistic expectations: Many military personnel feel they will enter the civilian labor market and get a high paying position. Frequently they will take a cut in pay and status equivalent to someone changing careers.

In order to show your worth to an employer, you must provide facts about yourself. This requires you to gather information about yourself--your experience, training, accomplishments, personal information, military record, etc. One way to assemble and organize this data is by creating a Career Catalog. It is an up-to-date summary of your qualifications. You may want to collect documents in a loose-leaf notebook with pockets so you can add to the materials over time. Spouses can use the same catalog by deleting items that do not pertain to them. Among the types of records you should collect in your career catalog are:

The Master Application below will help you develop a history of your education and training, work experience, military service, hobbies and interests, organizational memberships, and community activities. Using the worksheet will help you organize the information to use later when you write your resume, fill-out employment application forms; and answer questions in a job interview.

High School

College

Graduate, Professional, or Advanced Technical Training

Training (professional, technical, clerical, management, license, certificate, training programs)

SPECIAL SKILLS

OTHER INFORMATION

FIELD GRADE OFFICERS