The Career Transition Process

Plan to Work and Work the Plan

All career transitions, either military to civilian or civilian to civilian, can be challenging. You are leaving what is familiar to you and that can be disorienting and even devastating. But though career transition isn't easy, it's also potentially exciting. As military transition educators we've had the privilege to help veterans complete many career transitions, including executive transitions, and they are all thrilling. That's because it is the time in your life when, as psychologist William Bridges put it, "innovations and experiments have an especially good chance of succeeding."

There is more good news, too. You aren't the only person to transition from one career to another, and you won't be the last either. That means others have "blazed the trail," so to speak, for you. In the process, they've left behind a wealth of information for your benefit, and it's all contained in the three steps of career transition.

Ending

You have to end a career to transition to a new one.

Finding the Neutral Zone

You may feel like you're treading water, but you're actually laying the foundations for your new career.

New Beginnings

This is where the "rubber meets the road." Now you'll map out your strategy, craft your resume and find the career that fits you.

These descriptions are brief, so we highly recommend you read the Career Transition white paper in the Career Transition Toolkit. Also, don't forget to read the Military Career Transition paper for more great information on military-specific transitions. Both are available in the Toolkit. Click here to access the toolkit.