ForceWorks
Helping Veterans Stay Informed
Military to Civilian Transition
There is nothing easy about the transition from being an active member of the military to transitioning toward civilian life. Unlike the military, everyone’s transition is unique but there are common threads that intertwine themselves into every transition.
We understand the transition because we have not only done it ourselves, but while employed with Manulife, we helped many service members successfully make the transition to a happy and healthy civilian lifestyle. You may note that we did not use the term career in the last sentence, and that is because some members transition into s semi-retired lifestyle where they can finally explore their hobbies or volunteerism in their community.
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What We Do
We listen. We have found that this is the number one under rated skill for those dealing with military members making the transition. There is a lot of fear and anxiety surrounding release and we have found that releasing members often have more of a plan in their head than they thought. It just takes someone to listen to what they have to say.
We look at transferable skills. Military members have so much to offer civilian employers that their resume’s can often be extremely daunting. We look extremely hard at the skills civilian employers are looking for and then translate military skills earned to fit those qualifications. For example, placing “led small party taskings” on a resume confuses anyone who is not military. Now inserting “successful at junior level project management and the effective management of teams to complete tasks to a high standard”, means something to civilian employers.
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We look at you digitally. We take a look at your digital footprint online to see what appears in searches. We know that 80% of hiring managers in the civilian sector will Google potential clients. Google returns provide hiring manager with your social media profiles and they can easily put you on a short list of candidates if they see the skills that are a match for the job advertised.
We look at your future. We take time to analysis where clients want to be a few years in the future. Long term planning can often make an impact on educational and career choices. It also makes a difference regarding the location that is being chosen as a release destination. Not everyone stays locally upon release. If we know that you are moving then we can look at what qualifications are recognized in that province, and what careers are potentially available in that area.
We have been teaching classes in job search and digital footprints for the last 5 years on Vancouver Island for companies like Chemistry Consulting and WorkLink BC. We understand the job markets and what today’s employers are looking for. Give us a call to book your no charge 30-minute consultation.