The Military-to-Civilian Workforce Transition Hole Story

“One day, a military member transitioning out of their military Service Branch and back into the civilian workforce, the “CIVDIV”, fell into the Transition Hole, and he couldn’t get out.

Later, as a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer walked by, the stuck Transitioning Soldier called out for help. The “Senior NCO” yelled down to him, telling him to “Suck it the f#!k up, dig deep, and drive on!”, and then threw a shovel down to him as the “SCNCO” walked off. But the Transitioning Soldier could not suck it up, and could not drive on, he was in a hole. And ended up only digging the hole deeper.

Then, a Senior Officer passed by, and again the Transitioning Soldier called out for help. The Senior Officer told him to “Use the tools your Senior NCO gave you” and threw a bucket down to him. But the Transitioning Soldier was using the tools his Senior NCO gave him, to dig the hole deeper, and now to fill up the bucket too.

A little while later, as a Transition Assistance Program class instructor walked by, the Transitioning Soldier yelled “Help! I can’t get out!” and the TAP instructor threw down to him an official class roster to sign, a generic resume template in a large binder full of a lot of information he had no context for and said, “Make sure you write a great resume, make sure you target it, make sure you interview well, and make sure you sign the roster”.  Then Transitioning Soldier said thanks, signed the roster, flipped through the book, jotted down some items on the resume template in the book. And continued sitting, alone, lost, and distraught, in the hole.

Then, a civilian hiring manager from a well-known Corporation strolled by and heard the Transitioning Soldier’s cries for help. He stopped and asked, “Are you using LinkedIn? Are you a SNCO or JMO? Fill this form out and maybe we’ll call you”. The Transitioning Soldier thanked him, filled out the form, and sat in the hole.

And when a priest walked by, the Transitioning Soldier again called for help. The priest tossed a Bible down to him and said, “I’ll say a prayer for you”. He got down on his knees and prayed for the Transitioning Soldier, who also knelt, and then left. The Transitioning Soldier was incredibly grateful, and he began reading the Bible for comfort, but he was still stuck in the hole.

Finally, a Transitioned Soldier happened to be passing by. The Transitioning Soldier cried out, “Hey, help me. I’m stuck in this hole!”, and immediately the Transitioned Soldier jumped down into the hole with him. Shocked and dismayed, the Transitioning Soldier said, “What the f#!k are you doing Man!? Now we’re both stuck in here!!” The Transitioned Soldier smiled as he calmly replied “Calm down, Brother. It’s okay. I’ve been here before, and I know how to get us out”.

I’m the last actor in this story I’ve adapted to my decade of experience helping over 13K veterans become project managers in over 1K companies.

And Vets2PM is ready to jump in your hole and show you the way out at www.vets2pm.com/training