Norine Castle ⋅ Carrboro, NC IBM ⋅ 28 years experience

Probably the connectivity and technology of the 'civilian world' is where you can start. Your experience, skills and qualifications matter. This site below can help you build your resume accurately and aligned to what a company will look for.

Begin with this site, http://www.onetonline.org

This is where most companies build their job descriptions. Begin to become familiar with the terms and technologies. We will use your skills, education and experience and apply it to this structure to create your resume.

I hope this helps!

Aaron Spool ⋅ West Orange, NJ CIT ⋅ 11 years experience

I've always gone by the simple method of writing down a list of "likes" and "dislikes". For instance, say you love public speaking and meeting new people. Those would go on the list of likes. Get a list of about 5 to 10 of each. Now, when you look into jobs and careers, you have a simple way of measuring a job based on what you like and don't like to do. You might end up being surprised that a job you never though of before has the most likes and least dislikes vs everything you thought of before. Also, with doing this research beforehand, you can confidently answer the standard interview question of "why do you want to work here/this job".

Best of luck and feel free to contact me if you want to come up with a strategy.
-Aaron

Terri Lewis ⋅ Zebulon, NC IBM ⋅ 33 years experience

First you have to ask what you have a passion for doing. Then follow that passion. In order to manage, there are certain skills and competencies you need to have e.g. resource management, financial, soft skills, decision-making, risks, etc. If you are skilled in these areas, then create your resume and start with entry level management or project management positions. If you are not skilled in these areas, then I would strongly urge you to go to a community college or local college and take a couple of business courses. These schools would also be a great place to work with an adviser or counselor to help you grow your skills in the areas you tend to migrate. Hope this helps. Terri

Dali Rivera ⋅ Abingdon, MD U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant ⋅ 10 years served

You can go to the career center at your local community college or university. They have databases or skills tests that you can take that asks questions about you and it identifies your strengths and weaknesses to help you decide how to choose a career. They also list industries or job listings that may suit your area of strength. Best of luck!

Ed Romson ⋅ Santa Cruz, CA Plantronics, Inc ⋅ 25 years experience

Samuel,
Go first to what you love.

I know that's easy to say and hard to realize, but your leadership background and experience will help you in any work environment. The realities of life you learned by leading a team in the Air Force puts you miles ahead of new managers just starting out.

Areas to consider for your job hunt are the industries associated with your educational background (what was your major in College), your interests (love to fly and plan flight ops? look at a beginning management position there), or your strengths.

Then take a look at the job postings in that area on Monster.com or other job boards. The job descriptions should give yo a good idea of what is expected for that role. Be sure to try different titles that might apply to the role you want. Those descriptions will also give you a good idea of whether or not you will need further certifications/training to do what you really want to do.

Good luck

Anton Rasmussen ⋅ Bentonville, AR Walmart ⋅ 5 years experience

As Dali said, you may want to start with skills tests. These can also be found in books on Job Hunting like: "What Color is Your Parachute?" Check out the local library and consider going to your local employment office.

You should also check out this website as it's a true "one stop shop" for what you're looking to find: http://www.careeronestop.org/ Their skills profile (found here: http://www.careerinfonet.org/skills/default.aspx?nodeid=20 ) is exactly what you're asking about...

I hope that helps... also, you're on the right track asking questions... don't stop doing that. It's a tough economy and there are so many resources available that it could make your head spin if you didn't seek some assistance. So, keep up the good work and feel free to ask more questions.

Take care,

~Anton