Jay Jay ⋅ Jacksonville, FL ⋅ 1 years experience

There was a time in my past where I was in the exact position that you are facing today. I chose a path to go back to school and get a degree. Higher education is very important in today's job market. If you are not interested in attending college then I would suggest you find a trade that you enjoy doing and get certified in it. I have no idea what drives you or what motivates you but if you find a job that you truly enjoy then you will never work a day in your life.

Neil Serafin ⋅ Easthampton, MA Telecommunications ⋅ 40 years experience

As you know, having knowledge of what a "green bag " is has little connection to civilian employment. The only job I ever saw with knowledge of artillery was a a job for snow avalanche mitigation. If you want to be part of the comfort class, get a college education. Go community college then state college. Do not go to a for profit college with the remainder of your GI education benefits. You can do it part time and on line. In the next 40 years you will make millions of dollars more then your non-college degree friends. The chances of your kid(s) finishing college, with you having a degree, go up by a factor of three.

On the what do I do now for income to pay the bills: my industry in your market-Cable TV Technician under jobs on Craigslist for Lexington...then see AM Communications.

As for college degrees that pay enough to be comfortable: Business-become a tech sales guy for B2B. Surveyor- George Washington was a surveyor.

Contact me for questions.

Al Hope, Sr. ⋅ Water Valley, MS City of Oxford, MS ⋅ 20 years experience

Shain,

I would say follow your dream. Ask yourself honestly what it is that YOU like to do? Can YOU do if for the rest of YOUR life and be happy? Will it give YOU that self-satisfaction YOU yearn. I centered on YOU. Whatever it is that motivates you should be your decision and not someone's recommendation. Only you can make that decision. Once YOU'VE found that out then seek the educational requirements for that dream. A list of career opportunities and educational requirements are on the Department of Labor web http://www.bls.gov/ooh/ and www.careeronestop.org. These are great information sites.

Al

Cedric Cook ⋅ Richmond, TX IBM ⋅ 19 years experience

Hi Shain-

{We appreciate your service}

I think that you would be surprised at how many other Veterans find themselves in a similar dilemma. I would also state that what you've stated somewhat describes my personal story.. The one exception is that I was fortunate enough to find my passion prior to hitting my ETS (end of service) and was able to make some choices e.g. course-work, certifications, entry-level jobs, etc. that would get me off to a decent start.

I would suggest that you visit your local workforce commission (aka. unemployment office) and work with the counselors there to determine if there are some near-term programs (e.g. OJT programs, specially funded transition work-programs, etc..) that you can get into as a Veteran.

Please know that I am by no means excluding going back to school.. When the time is right, you should definitely "invest" --includes time/money -- into your career aspirations.

Lastly, while things may seem a bit hectic, just take it one-step at a time and set some realistic goals regarding your future... Now is the time to make it happen!

Good luck!

Cedric Cook

Ted Mittelstaedt ⋅ Portland, OR Portlandia IT LLC ⋅ 20 years experience

Shain,

You can do a lot worse than hitting the books and going to school. You don't say where you live but you need to go immediately to your local community college and pick up a course catalog, then start flipping through it, Or get online and start looking at the course offerings. Your local community college may be a couple weeks away from the start of Spring Term. For right now I would suggest taking multiple classes that look "fun" If you like working with your hands, then take something like a small engines class, and a construction class and maybe a welding class also don't forget an art class like sculpture. Many of these classes are non-credit so their tuition is much cheaper than the credit classes, and since they are non-credit if you don't like them it doesn't matter since your grade in the class won't affect your GPA. You will find something that sparks your interest and you can then talk to the instructor and other class members and that will lead you into something.

Most people don't actually know what they want to do when they get out of high school and so many that go on to college end up picking majors that seem interesting, then they switch to other majors later. It is a lot cheaper and better to do this in a lower-cost junior college or community college than to pay a lot of money for a specific technical trade school or degree in a full university or 4 year college.

Also, don't believe anyone who tells you that you don't need higher education. The United States today is an extremely technical and advanced civilization and needs workers who are skilled and does NOT need workers that are not skilled. And the fact of it is that your military experience mostly probably isn't usable in the civilian job market, so that makes you an unskilled worker. You don't want to end up frittering your life away on low paying jobs so you need higher education.

Lucian Hill ⋅ Pearland, TX AECOM ⋅ 6 years experience

Shain,
Pretty much everyone is correct. This is very common for all veterans, but it is also common for everyone getting started on a career path.

I decided to finish my enlistment and then work in Afghanistan as a contractor to right a few wrongs with my finances and get my head on straight. That was 5 years ago. Today I am an Environmental Engineering graduate from LSU with a couple of years of experience already. If you would have asked me five years ago if I thought that I would be here, I would have said not a chance. At the time it seemed too overwhelming to imagine.

Whatever your path forward, just know that asking the question is always the hardest part. Once you figure out what you want to do, just apply that same determination that motivated you to join the military in the first place and you will thrive along the way.

Regards,
Lucian

Louis Schwarz ⋅ Somerville, NJ AIG ⋅ 43 years experience

I agree, this is a big transition into a big unknown. So, time to think about what you like to do. Try UPS or Fedx. They will be able to provide employment. Education is your power, get some. Look at trade schools or community college. It will be work to get what you need. Try municipal jobs. Good luck..

Phil C. ⋅ Fort Worth, TX ⋅ 3 years experience

Shain,

I cannot emphasize to you enough that using your GI Bill for a college degree or a technical trade is the best and most fruitful route. If you chose the college route, try to avoid any degree program that starts with a P or contains the letters A-R-T. Avoid these:

- Performing Arts (twice as useless)
- Psychology (unless you are pre-med and want to be a shrink)
- Philanthropy
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Paleontology

If you like working with your hands look into aviation maintenance. There are several trade-based and university-based routes. There are even degree programs that provide you with both a degree in aviation maintenance management and your Airframe and Powerplant license. Choose wisely.

Carl Rader ⋅ Hot Springs National Park, AR Motorhome Service Company ⋅ 48 years experience

Shain,

Because you enjoy working with your hands, I'm suggesting you do a web search for Caterpillar and consider becoming a HD diesel tech. CAT is a well established company that's very veteran friendly and does its own training. There are CAT dealers in all 50 states and indeed, all over the world.

And if that has no appeal, keep exploring. In spite of all the negative media hype about "no jobs available", ignore it! There are roughly 3 million positions going unfilled in America--for SKILLED workers. Welders, machinists, fabricators, electricians, electronics techs, etc. College didn't interest me and I lived damn well during my career as a tradesman. I'm now comfortably retired on the fruits of my labors.

Thanks for your service, choose carefully and get it right,
Carl Rader