TAP: The Sooner the Better

I am currently in transition. I have been on terminal leave for nearly a month, and have been job hunting since January when I was on permissive TDY. Doing the job hunt thing on your own is very hard. The first step is to go through TAP. Do it as soon as you feel like getting out. The sooner the better, like a year before you take that final walk.

There is so much info there, you may want to take it twice. That alone won't help get that job, but it's a start. My best bet was linking up with headhunters like Bradley-Morris. They have taken out all of the guess work from resumes to corporate America fits. I have had numerous interviews through them and now I'm just trying to pick the job that I like most. It is giving me the chance to have a say-so in my future where doing it on my own would have left me begging for any job by now.

Background:
I am separating after 10 years as a Logistics Plans Officer, now Logistics Readiness Officer. I have been working the job boards since six months prior to separation [in oreder to] "practice" interviewing. This helped out a great deal, even though I was too early to accept a great job offer. I was never able to network. Get in with your career field annual conference and professional organizations now so that when the time comes, the good 'ol boy system will help you get a job. The headhunters become critical to job hunting success if the good ol' boy network fails you. They will polish your resume and introduce you to great fits for transitioning military. Another tip about headhunters: Lucas Group, Orion, and Bradley Morris are FREE! The company that hires you pays the fee. The member never does. if you hook up with a headhunter that wants you to pay a fee, walk away.

Some tips I have:

1. Network now!

2. Do TAP at least one year out from leaving.

3. Hook up with a headhunter. I wasn't pleased with Lucas Group or Orion. I liked Bradley Morris, but to each their own.

4. Post your resume on Monster.com or Military.com.

5. Search the job boards daily. The more you get your resume out there the faster some recruiter will see you and make contact.

6. Use your benefits! Burn up all of your Tuition Assistance and start into your VA benefits. That degree will matter when you cross over.

7. Don't use your base pay at separation as a gauge for how much you are worth on the outside. Junior officers are worth $60-80k starting out. If that disappoints you, you can easilly prove yourself within a couple of years and the money will flow much more generously. Remember, you need to break a few eggs to make that omlet.

Best of luck to all transitioning folks, and I'll see you in the real world!

(Submitte by John Cantera, Jr.)