How can I get my military experience, training, leadership, learned skills to equate to a similar job when I get out of the military. For the enlisted medic no such thing really exists. Yea you are certified as a EMT. So are a bunch of high school kids who take the class as a elective.
What then ? College, Just finding any job ?, Settling or starting over ?
Its a big issue that soldier soon to be veterans are going to face. Do you want to do something similar to what you did in the service ? Do you want to go to college to expand on what you learned while in the military ? What about just finding a job so you can make a decent paying living.
I struggled with this issue myself when I got out of the active army. I had no way to learn how to market my skills, I just looked at the technical skills that I had and what they equated to. That got me nowhere, plus I did not know how to look. I worked at Mcdonalds for several months making 5 pennies above the mininum wage.
My goal was to go to college. I had dreams to become a nurse or a physician assistant. What I did inbetween did not really matter. I went to school to earn my associates degree initially. I stayed out of the service for about a year and then I rejoined the service as a part time traditional National Guardsman. I called it getting my Green back in my book, My Journey as a Combat Medic: From Desert Storm to Operation Enduring Freedom.
I made my military career more of a hobby and not so much as a second job. I enjoyed my service time as a part time soldier. I met and worked with some pretty awesome people, who are good Americans and people of influence in the local community. I worked with some kids right out of high school who had no idea what they wanted in life, but found the Guard as a means of income and for some guidance.
Many of my fellow enlisted soldiers had college degrees like myself who were satisfied with the job and rank and responsibility with the job that did in the military. Some people in the military have often confused rank with level of intellect. This is sadly incorrect. I knew several soldiers who were enlisted like myself who worked as lawyers in their civilian profession. They enjoyed the soldiering an being a soldier.
After I earned my associate degree, I worked as a registered nurse and then took classes to earn my bachelors degree. It was important to have my bachelors degree. I had desire to become a nurse practitioner , which is a masters to doctorate degree.
It is funny though, that veterans preference does not apply directly when applying for these healthcare type positions. I wonder if any military medics who aspire to work to still take care of their fellow brothers and sisters in a VA hospital are aware of this. They do hire veterans, but that veterans preference does not matter.
Veteran Preference is given to veterans to work for the federal government to give us veterans a fair shake at getting a job. Alot of veterans have been in war, exposed to combat, and are used to things being a certain way. Sometimes civilian employees frown on that when it comes to hiring veterans. Not all the times, I am making generalities of course. Working for the federal government after military service means that you can use your military service for retirment time and time in service. It helps.
Veteran preference does not always apply to every position, even when the veteran goes to school to learn a new skill, degree. This is true with the VA hospital. I can not understand why this preference does not apply.
It is an insult in a way to a veteran who wishes to advance him or herself and still take care of fellow veterans. Veteran preference does apply when you want to be a janitor but not when you want to be a registered nurse. Do they think that we are capable of nothing more than mopping floors ?
After earning my bachelors degree I deployed a year later to Afghanistan for Enduring Freedom. I served a year and change. It was interesting and I survived. I wrote about some of my experiences in my book: My Journey as a Combat Medic: From Desert Storm to Operation Enduring Freedom. After I came home , I start school to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. www.armycombatmedic.com
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