The military, for the most part, has told you what to do and has provided you with the training. Now that you are transitioning out, whether separating or retiring, the world is your oyster. If you are not sure what it is you want to do career-wise after the military, here are 5 places to go to assist.
1. CareerOneStop
This website is sponsored by the Department of Labor, so you know it will be loaded with great information. Here, you can take a skills assessment where, once finished, occupations will populate based on how you evaluated your skillset. You will have a fact sheet on each occupation, including “best” suggestions. There is also an interest assessment where you select a level of interest on various activities and, based on how you respond, a list of occupations starting with best matches that align with your responses is generated. The last assessment of sorts on CareerOneStop is the work values matcher. You are provided 20 cards and must rank them in order of how much you value the item in the workplace. On the results page, it will list your work values. Click on the highest one and, on the next page, a big blue bar will show up to explore careers with that work value. Click it and explore away.
2. O*Net Interest Profiler
Similar to CareerOneStop’s interest assessment, on this Interest Profiler, you respond with the appropriate interest level that you have for doing the various activities. Once you respond to all 60 statements, you receive your RIASEC score (the score that shows your personality type: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, conventional). Following your RIASEC score, you then select the appropriate level of education and training that you have on a scale of 1-5. Please read the descriptors as it details what makes up each “job zone.” Finally, you receive a list of careers that fit both your interests and your preparation/education level. The list starts with the “best fit” option. If you click on the hyperlink, you are taken to a career fact sheet to determine if that may be your next career.
3. DOL Tap: 2 Day Vocational Track (Career and Credential Exploration- C2E)
Before you transition out of the military, you should sign up to take the Department of Labor Vocational Track. For many, this is an optional track. But, it is beneficial in providing the time and resources to explore a variety of career and credential opportunities. It is a two-day track, each day providing seven hours of content. Please see your TAP Manager to sign up for this track. There are also online opportunities available.
4. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a great resource for exploring a variety of careers and factors, such as salary, that may affect your next steps. Dive into the Occupational Outlook Handbook and browse job occupations by pay, projected growth, new jobs, occupation groups, and/or field of degree. The fact sheets populated when you click on the occupation provide insight into factors such as what that occupation does, how to get there, work environment and job outlook.
5. My Skills, My Future
My Skills, My Future is a partner of the American Job Center Network. On the landing page, you will type in your current or past job. From there, the system will identify alternative career pathways that utilize the skills you currently have based on the job you told the system. On the results page, you can adjust the location to be the city, state you are looking at, then you receive information more specific to the location. With My Skills, My Future, you can see similar career pathways, pay, education, and job listings.