While many veterans expect to be "found" or recruited long before their transition departure from service date actually arrives, this article addresses those with little time and perhaps even little to no job hunting or house hunting leave left to use for whatever reason(s).

Which seems the best fit for a separating military policeman after about 8 years active duty and earning their military associate degree in criminal justice ?

A. U.S. Postal Rural Carrier Associate

B. Sales Counselor with a Dignity Memorial provider

C. Telemarketer for a temporary staffing agency servicing American Express and Oracle

D. Temporary warehouse laborer for a records management company

E. All of the above

The correct answer is D or E. But, more importantly, why is the best answer D or E?
There are several great reasons why:

1. The postal service had a year long wait for a full time position with health benefits and the married discharged policeman couldn't wait that long.

2. The sales counselor job at the combination funeral home cemetery would require a 9 month with little to no income due to lack of one on one training mentor-ship just to apply for the full time office manager job that would come open.

3. The telemarketer slot was at minimum pay with no benefits and in a very competitive environment again where no training or mentors would be provided.

4. The temporary warehouse labor job would lead to a chance van driver opening with the company and because the policeman had a flawless driving record he was the best qualified. He was already astounding at face to face customer service so he excelled there and was a guru at finding and adapting to the best and safest traffic routes with all of those years as a patrolman under his belt. That meant he was back from every route early which allowed him to not only handle the rush delivery orders to, but also train in the warehouse more and even on customer service/order entry some too. A few years in and he was a tremendous asset and the only driver handling all three departments demands out of one van (paper, data, and shred services). When pay became a challenge and he eventually left for a nearly $20.00/hour contract job at the Army Wartime Casualty Office you might think he would never return. The contract ended a year later and he needed paying work, called at the best possible time (100% employee turnover) and stepped right back in but as the Branch Supervisor this time where he interviewed and hired and entire new team, instructed all of them one on one and a little over a year later they were flawlessly handling nearly a million dollar operation up over double the annual revenue from the previous branch maximum of $480,000. Another year later, the company was sold to a major competitor and who was for the third time in three years instructing another team on how to best succeed and breach achievement ceilings?

Timing Factor: E is the best answer as well because it actually took all of the listed job positions/answers to get this separated policeman into the ideal slot. Unemployment is where we all began and it is a big pond all around us. Each job is a lillypad we can use to hop around the pond until we are in the most comfortable spot for just us.

Always make yourself as prepared as possible for your next hop/jump and don't fear the water when you make a splash - it's a necessary stop in our journey at times.