martin kelly ⋅ Wilmington, DE ISM Insurance, Inc. ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi Grace.

First, thanks you for your service!

I asked a friend who's been in the "HR" business for many years; his thoughts follow.

In general, someone coming from a military background should be well-suited to HR work in several ways. If they worked in an administrative or clerical capacity in the military, they would be well-suited for work in HR policies and procedures.

If they were in a training role, they would be well-suited to do the same in an HR/training department.

If they were in an IT role, they would be well-suited to pursue a role in an HRIS (HR Information Systems) role ... or possibly in an HR Data Analytics role.

If all of these things sound like they would be more commonly found in a larger company, I would say that is the case. The larger, more formal, and more structured the company is, the more likely the veteran might fit well there (and there might be more entry-level transitional opportunities for them -- e.g., HR policy analyst I, II, III, etc.).

Another avenue to pursue would be colleges and universities. They are so big and so structured today, they often have large HR bureaucracies -- which might actually be an easier transition than a for-profit company in many ways.

One caveat ... sometimes the "cultural" transition is the toughest part. Example: Many years ago, I worked with a trainer with a long military background who had retired and came to work for us. We were a Fortune-500 company ... but nowhere near as structured as the military, of course. He was a good trainer -- but he had a very hard time adapting on the fly, as is often the case in business. One time our available time for delivering a course was reduced from 6 hours to 3 hours ... and he absolutely couldn't adapt. He insisted on delivering the entire 6 hour course because that's all the information that was contained in the syllabus. Needless to say, it didn't go well. Suffice to say ... being able to adapt to the different pace (and fast-changing nature) of business is a crucial part of a successful transition.

Overall, my main thought would be to focus on large organizations where they can find a niche/specialty that matches up most closely with their military job experience

Good luck Grace!!!

Martin

Amit Chaudhary ⋅ San Jose, CA Doordash, Silicon Valley Software Company ⋅ 20 years experience

HR likely you meant the team caring about people policies, onboarding new employees. Your best bet, look at women & men in those department at top 2-3 companies you would be happy to join & then search on linkedin, check their degree and certifications