You're worried that you don't have the experience for a new career path - you're not sure how to get started, or even get your foot in the door.

The good news is that you can position your military experience to open just about any door you can imagine.

I co-founded a company in 2004. By 2009, I'd hired 75 employees. Over the years, I learned a lot about interviewing, resumes, experience, and qualifications.

Civilians have a lot of (positive) perceptions about military service personnel that, from what I’ve seen from my few months on ACP AdvisorNet, are not being taken advantage of fully.

What are those perceptions? Among others:

Trust/Character
Discipline
Integrity
Honor
Courage
Motivation

TRUST/CHARACTER/INTEGRITY
I’ve been recently mentoring one young man who wants to start his own business which involves children - there is a safety concern in this industry, as he would be setting up equipment for the kids to be playing on. There have been news stories about negligent equipment operators causing injury to children.

I explained to the young man that the US government trusts him to operate weapons in intense situations. If I were a parent selecting a business that could affect the safety of my child, I would have a preference for someone who had been entrusted by the federal government for military operations. Let's face it - the stakes are high for military, they are put into situations civilians cannot imagine.

DISCIPLINE/COURAGE
Maybe you don't have experience for a job you'd like to apply for. Detail the discipline required of you in the military in a cover letter and send the message: "I may not have experience, but I have the discipline to take a challenge head-on."

HONOR/LOYALTY
One thing that employers look for in new hires is LOYALTY. How long will this person stay with us? Were they hopping from job to job before they got here? Employers make an investment in their new hires. Leverage your military experience for the honor and loyalty that the country appreciates: you signed up to give (literally) everything of yourself to the military. That is your commitment level. That is what you will bring to your new career.

In summary, don't forget that civilians have a lot of respect and (perhaps) positive stereotypes of those in the military that you can and should leverage. If you worry that you have a lack of experience, change the narrative: while other job applicants were getting experience, you were serving the military and developing the character that only the military can create.

If you'd like help weaving this narrative into your resume and/or targeting specific jobs with a cover letter, let me know, I'll be happy to help.