The Dream Job that Wasn't Really

My retirement from the U.S. Air Force and transition into what we did then and do now call the real world. Not sure why that is; my real world for 22 years was the military. I wanted to find employment that was structured and organized and obviously fun to walk into everyday.

I started on my own with the paper. Jobs weren't so easy to skim through on the internet back in 1997. My first interview and selection for the job appeared to be an easy transition. I worked as a plant scheduler for a year and then was assigned to be a CSR as well.

This is when I felt the pressure of the real world workforce. I was expected to tell lies to contracted customers. To make this long story short. I left. I moved on to temporary work working under a reputable Temp Service. I continued to search on my own and landed a beautiful position in a large car dealership overseeing 3 stores. I was the Human Resource and Process Manager for all department in all three stores. What a dream come true.

The basic love of my position was centered around meetings with all departments and creating or changing process maps to ensure employees followed structured processes consistantly. Wow, this was what I wanted. Structure. It pulled me into every department of the company. I trained all employees and oriented any and all new employees into their new positions. This included managers of departments.

What a fantastic opportunity. It was a constant focus on process improvement to meet factory expectations on customer satisfaction levels. It worked. All of our stores were in the top 20 percent of the national scores. My secondary job (but first priority) was taking care of 102 people with benefits, monitoring schedules, attendance and basically resolving any employee need. I sat on the Corporate Board of Directors. This should have given me clout to enforce the responsibilities I had as Process Manager and Human Resource.

Now to make this story come to an end, I must say that over a 4-year period, it all started to fall apart. My owner did not support or endorse my attempts to correct a numerous amount of illegalities that were on going in this large company. I was expected to control (EOT) favoritism, harrassment, and discrimination. One of the top managers was guilty of many violations but went on working there for 9 years.

My dream of working in a structured, ethical workforce fell apart over a period of time. I did end up leaving this position as I could not walk into an environment every day that condoned racial name calling and sexual harrassment and ongoing discrimination.

When searching for your perfect working life after the military take some pertinent questions with you to the interview. You have the right to know if the company has a history of problems in any of these areas. Looking back, when I interviewed for the position, it took four interviews, and one month to finally get this position. This impressed me. I had a strong straightforward resume and excellant references.

Be prepared with a list of job references that can be contacted. With the military personell moving around it is helpful to try to find the civilian assistant or counterpart that will be available for contact about your background. Anyone can create their own resume. One page is most often the most viewed. Keep it short. The big business's don't have or take the time to read a lot of flair. Be ready to face a different work ethic.

Good luck and God Bless.

(Submitted by Mary A Boggs, MSgt USAF (ret.))

Comments

[SSG CARL ARMOUR]

Mary, great story and a eye opener for me as well, with 22 years in July 08 and a leader of so many in my time. I really respect you for standing up to these people with there outdated behavior you deserve better, honored to have spoken to a fellow soldier. US ARMY 1986-2008

[SGM Dawn Lisbon]

Great story!! I am getting ready to retire this Oct. and want a fun job to go to everyday instead of sitting behind a desk at a computer.
Thanks for the info.
SGM Lisbon

[SFC John Klingelhofer]

I'm a "M" day soldier with the MDARNG. I have been in the work force through my two careers. As a soldier I went up thru the NCO schools untill I reached ANOC. This really opened my eyes to leadership, and how to recognize week leadership in the cilivan world. This was greatly reinforced with a deployment with a very strong 1SG and Comander that took intrest in my devlopment.
Good luck to all those who have solid leadership skills that have to deal with civilans that are afraid of good leadership.

[Barry Warken MSgt, USMC, (Ret)]

Mary, et al,
Thank you..I am retired (MSgt, USMC) after serving 22 yrs I was fortunate enough to have my military billet converted into a GS civilian position with the Federal Government..sounded great at the time, and I did accept the by-name position but long story short, it is not really cutting it for me so I am looking elsewhere..real tough coming in everyday and working with "superiors" (in GS rank only) who know absolutely nothing about how to instill leadership traits and principles.. good luck to all, God Bless..

[Jay Grove MSgt, USAF, (Ret)]

Thanks for the story. I retired in 2006 after 20 years and now work for a county government doing pretty much the same thing I was on active duty. What I miss most is leadership, vision, and commraderie. I can't agree more with Mary - ask those question at the interview!!! Good luck out there.

[Robert Bundrick SFC. (Ret.)]

I am convinced there are no civilian jobs with the integrity, comradery and brother hood that we maintained in the military. I have been retired for 3 years now and have found nothing that comes close!! Good luck Mary!!

[Joyce Perry, TSgt, USAF, Retired]

Thanks for the story... sounds familiar. I retired in 1994 after 20 years. I've been bouncing from job to job ever since. Leadership is near non-existent out here in the civilian world. And most jobs have no structure. It's been near 14 years now and I just try to roll with the games they play. I keep searching though.. looking to move to NC..maybe will find something interesting up there.
Good luck on your job search!

[B. Gutowski, MSgt, USAF (Ret)]

I'm with SFC Bundrick on this, the civilian community lacks a lot of the values we've lived and embraced for a majority of our lives. I retired 9 years ago and have worked in several different jobs (unfortunately) because I refuse to compromise my values or integrity. A few years ago, I moved back to my hometown and now work for the county, but I've encountered the same things as in other places. I continue to look for that perfect job - hope I find it, But I'm convinced that retired enlisted military should just save some money and own their own business because you already know what you are capable of and what you want and expect of people who would work for you.

[Art Michel, SCPO, USN (Ret)]

It is nice to know that I'm not alone in "life after Uncle Sam." After 25 years and all the things military that we enjoy as leaders, the civilian world has been a hit in the gut! Even in law enforcement, the lack of leadership, commraderie and just integrity of individuals are traits I miss of my time in uniform. Keep on fighting and good luck to you all.

[Jordan Denney]

Gentleman and Ladies,

I only spent 8 years in my beloved Corps (5 active 3 reserve) and got out to pursue a college degree and have found that even after such a short time in the military the transition is the same. Despite the grumpy Gunnys and bad LCpl's the Corps has been my favorite place to be. However I'm w/ MSgt Gutowski on his comment about owning your own business. I started my own small company w/ the help of another Marine Reservist in the area and things couldn't be better (unless I had just remained in the Corps). I put in many many hours but they are when I want to do them. I am able to go to school full time and make enough money to support my wife and I. Please don't sell yourselves short! Besides the contracting community you can make good money while maintaining the integrity of our collective history and culture by working for yourselves. Network with local Vets to find your workforce and assistants and you will succeed. Semper Fi, and keep your heads up!

[Sean Horan]

Could not agree more as I found myself lost with the "civilian world" attitudes. Integrity, service before self, and excellence are tied to promotions (which are rare in this state's government work force). I also found that my supervisors could not keep up with me. The ole' saying "nothing takes 6 weeks takes on a whole new meaning out here. One year in the job after retirement I left and found another job, similar duties while active. After 22 years in the USAF and duties as First Sergeant it is clear that we in the military took for granted the very lives we had.

TAKE ADVANTAGE of the transition programs your services have to offer and don't stop asking questions until ALL are answered.

Live well brothers and sisters.

[SFC Ken Abruzzini]

I am on my terminal leave right now after 20+ years in the Army. I don't have a job lined up and have applied for over 20 differant positions and have heard nothing but NO. Im really scared that i will fail and have to find laborer job just to get some type of income coming in. I try finding a job everyday and i just hope that things work themselves out.

[SFC Steve Bouley]

Mary,
You have hit the target. I retired at 21 years and landed my first job that I thought would culminate into a career. It so happens that the company I work for feels military leadership doesn't amount to the leadership in the civilian world. They say that we use our rank and position to gain results. Fortunately, I have the upper hand. Neither mouth this came from, ever served. So how do they know? Therefore, I am career browsing again after working with such incompetent management for 3 years. I can't work for hipocrits who won't allow retired military to advance in a career. Good luck to all.

[Keith Genter CW4(R)]

WOW, some really great discussion going on here. Another problem I ran into during several of the interviews was the interviewer blowing smoke up my backside. Telling me about how much experience and education I will bring to their organization and that they are willing to offer me a 'top' level position but only pay me $12-$14 per hour. After explaining to them that I'm not a teenager & I have a wife and two short people to feed, they would say "we are just going to supplement your retirement". At which point I told them the interview was over. Unless you have been standing next me for the past 23 1/2 years, you have no right to bring my retirement into the equation. I felt insulted/offended and that they were just wanting me as cheap labor. If nothing else, as a military retiree at least they could count on you to show up to work daily and on time. We have a certain work ethic that can't be expected from the typical high school/college graduate. We are (for the most part) all highly motivated, professional, team-players who believe in getting the job done safely. We finish any task assigned with any/all available resources. God bless you all, and thanks for your service to this great nation that I'm proud to call home.

[Bob Tracy]

I retired after 21 years USAF intelligence in 2001. After a stint of selling real estate and taking pre-reqs for nursing school, 9-11 happend. I felt impotent and wanted to "give back." I volunteered to re-enter the Air Force for two years in 2002. What I found was very illuminating. The integrity and esprit de corp was an illussion. Time in the outside allowed a different perspective. For those two years I fought Senior Enlisted and junior officers positioning themselves for jobs with contractors when they got out. I fought the contractors trying to build their contracts rather than honestly supporting the unit I was in. Then, upon re-retirement, I joined a contractor in Germany. I got another perspective...knowing what's right; providing the guidance; and, then, watching the young military troops disregard your expertise because your just an "old retiree and a contractor". What a waste of effort on my part...Now, I work in the natural gas industry completely segregated from DoD and loving it. I don't bring my retiree status to work. If I find someone else who is a veteran, I acknowledge their contributions then give them that friendly verbal jab we recognize amongst ourselves. The civilians who never served only know the military veteran from what they see on TV, read in the newspaper, or experience first-hand through our interactions. I recommend that everyone try to leave what they did and their rank with the box of uniforms in the closet. Good jobs are what you make of them. Me, I work 14 12-hour rotating shifts within three weeks; then I have one week off. The pay is comparable to my former E-7 pay. Time off is important to me; and the reason why I do what I do. As we learned in TAP, find what is important to you and go for it...if it's money and prestige, be your own boss.

[tim]

22 years USAF and every one said your going to miss this soooo much. Joke was on them. I already missed it, I missed the way it use to be. On the outside I found liars and cheats, much the same as the other blogs here. Low pay, rediculous hours, horrible commutes. Right now I find myself a letter carrier 3 miles from the house and the thing I like most about this job is the fact that I really have no boss. Yes I'm in the office for 2 hours in the am and 15 minutes before I go home but after that I feel the same as I did in the service. That is that I'm trusted to do what I'm suppose to do and have no one following me around or checking my every move. And the pay started really close to $20 an hour. I think I'm actually happy now but will be happier when I can quit for good.

[S. Sleyzak, MSgt, USAF, (RET)]

After 24 four years of active duty I found that the civilian world is not based on the same principles as the
military world. We had a brotherhood, we still had the petty bickering that exists whenever two or more people get together, but with one important difference. We were all working for the same "company", our country.
Out here it is "dog eat dog" to the extreme. The country doesn't matter, profit does.I would certainly never trust these people to watch my back in a combat zone.