David Treussard ⋅ New York, NY DHR International ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Luis - it seems to me that you have an outstanding background that a lot of companies should be interested in. my question to you is really around geography. to find the ideal job for your skillset and in your geography (basically what I would refer to as your "constraints", you define to put together a strategy. usually quite simple with 3 big items: job you're interested in and qualify for, type of company, and geography. I am happy to help you on this if needed. best regards, David

Linda Welch ⋅ Plano, TX United States Postal Service ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Luis! Checkout my article Start at the Bottom and Work Your Way to the Top about opportunities with the United States Postal Service. Corpus is a sizable office and may currently have open exams for entry level jobs. Thank your for your service and best of luck with your search.

Walt Overfield ⋅ Virginia Beach, VA United Healthcare ⋅ 15 years experience

If the job market is tough in South Texas, and you can't control the job market, then maybe it makes sense working on the things you can control.
I would begin with the kinds of opportunities you are looking for. I assume you can do anything but I would guess there are many opportunities that don't meet your needs - pay, advancement, education, skills, travel time, and all the other needs that are unique to you. One opportunity you might consider is as a "General Manager". Almost all industries employ general managers and look for candidates with skills and experiences that match your Navy experience. I did a quick Google search for "General Manager Jobs South Texas" and found thousands of opportunities. I would expect most won't meet your needs but this is a simple way to look at jobs to start your civilian career.
Your next step might be to narrow down your search to a few industries. Consider your current knowledge, skills, abilities, experience and interests. Some industries are growing like healthcare, some are declining like retail sales, and many match the growth of the local economy. Some industries have better pay and benefits than others so there is a lot to consider.
Next, I would suggest reviewing your marketing approach to get a General Manager job. First, you might Google for "General Manager job descriptions". Go through these lists and select the skills you most enjoy performing. Look at your whole Naval career and see if you can find the top 10 for you. For each of these skills, see how many accomplishments you can associate with each one.
Next, consider writing a functional General Manager resume that uses your top 10 skills and accomplishments. The goal of your resume is to focus the reader on your qualifications for jobs that would be best for you, not all of your accomplishments in the Navy. Assume there will be many candidates for every good job and that you would be a good person to interview because you know what you want and understand what the employer needs.
One of the best ways to open the hidden job market and gain valuable insight into employer needs is by joining a local professional association. Google Professional Associations for General Managers and see if any work for you. Some offer employment assistance, job leads, networking opportunities, credentialing, training and more. You want to meet general managers in your preferred industries so you can target the best opportunities in South Texas.
I know this is a lot of work but I believe it may work for you. When I retired from the Navy in 1990, I ended up in many marginal jobs and changed careers about every three years until I focused on jobs that met all of my needs and built a lifetime network of managers in my line of work.
Good Luck!
Walt

Tze-Yiu Yong ⋅ Corvallis, OR Hewlett Packard ⋅ 20 years experience

Sound advice from Mr. Overfield. Here are two additional resources - the Kim Allan Network Group seems to highlight unique Texas opportunities. Not sure if they are exactly 'South Texas' but you can join their Yahoo Group (kimnetwork@yahoogroups.com) to see if it useful for you. Also, if you are interested in seeing skills and keywords from other 'General Managers', Monster.com has a nice resume test drive function where you can type in the job title (e.g. General Manager) and see what skills others are listing on their Monster resumes.