Bill Nobles ⋅ Basking Ridge, NJ Exxon ⋅ 30 years experience

Michael, thank you for your service. This transition is a good time to step back and self-assess your strengths, aptitudes, interests, and experiences before choosing a career. My April 2013 posting on this website provided some free/low cost tools to consider: “What are best tools for veterans to self-assess their aptitude, capabilities, and interests?” Other later posting have offered different choices.
Good luck, Bill Nobles

Emanuel Carpenter ⋅ Alpharetta, GA SDR Master Class ⋅ 20 years experience

Michael:

Good question. The answer really depends on your objectives. Do you want to start making better money right away? Or do you want to do what makes you happy at the expense of starting at an entry-level position?

In the current economy, experience counts more than education. So if it's a better compensation plan you want today, I highly encourage you to seek a position in transportation and logistics. Companies that come to mind are Ryder, Penske, and Avis. Although your role will be in more of a traditional logistics role, you could leverage your company work experience to move to a finance position within those companies. Many of these companies offer tuition reimbursement. So while you're working full time, you could be learning part time at no expense to you.

If finance is your passion, you might try applying for bookkeeper or controller positions. Or consider the types of jobs college grads get right after college. It might take you a while to make the kind of money you want to make but at least you will be doing what you love.

Alternatively, consider volunteering in a finance role a few hours a week. Many non-profits use volunteers to help them. You might also consider volunteering at a startup. Many startups have part-time CFOs that come in once a week. You can use what you learn to help you brush up on your skills. Add the skills to your resume.

If merely brushing up on your skills is the issue, consider taking refresher courses at a community college or on free websites like Coursera. Inexpensive sites like Udemy and Udacity offer courses as well.

To put things in perspective, I highly recommend reading this article by the Wharton School of Business: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-recent-grads-arent-prepared-for-work/

Best of luck.

Joe Paschall ⋅ Madison, AL nLogic, LLC ⋅ 26 years experience

The above is solid advice and I would add that you may also consider looking at MBA programs either full-time or weekend to augment the first position. MBA is a good way to encapsulate your undergrad degree and management experience, and then use the school resources to market yourself for a follow-on entry-level MBA/management track.

Daphne Boston ⋅ Charlotte, NC ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Michael,

I would encourage you to do a skills assessment of your experience in logistics and leadership and you may find that you have more finance experience than you think. As you mentioned, there is overlap across all three of those roles, so if you want to move into a mid-level professional or 1st level management finance-related position, you can highlight the finance skills you extract from the skills assessment on your resume. That along with your finance degree and extensive leadership experience deem you a viable candidate for those types of positions. Check out companies/organizations/government agencies that have openings for leadership development positions/rotations related to business and finance. Those are positions that allow you to work in a leadership capacity while learning/training at the same time. Linked below is an example of such a program with a government agency. Hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Daphne Boston

https://pastaff.panynj.gov/psc/applicant/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?Page=HRS_CE_JOB_DTL&Action=A&JobOpeningId=20542&SiteId=1&PostingSeq=1&;