How Military Experience May Get You a Job
Between the G.I. Bill paying for education and the various benefits that Veterans' Affairs offers, a separating soldier has a whole spectrum of assistance to find and keep the kind of employment that he wants. But you should also consider the advantages you gain, not written into any regulation or law, simply from having served in the military.
A Military Resume Builds Trust
Serving in the military means more than simply being in the employ of a government agency. Anyone who hires you, therefore, knows something about you simply from the fact that you were a service member. Whether you were in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard, you were entrusted with a mission vital to national defense. If you were in a position that required you to hold a security clearance, this is even more impressive to employers. It shows that you have proven yourself, by a national standard, to be worthy of trust.
The Army Boosts Your Network
You are not the only one to have served. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are Veterans, and this includes many employers. And, if given a choice, a former soldier may select another former soldier as an employee over another candidate with a comparable resume. Once you have served in the military, you belong forever to a respected subculture, a brotherhood of former warriors, and that sense of brotherhood can be an "in" for many situations.
Your Service Bolsters Your Reputation
Granted, not everyone thinks of the military in positive terms. But enough people, especially in these days when the military is well-known to be over-worked and under- manned, have great respect for the profession of soldier and that having been a soldier is a positive quality in most situations.
