0:55

Hello ladies. And welcome to episode

0:58

217.

1:00

Today's topic is all about figuring

1:02

out your career after the military.

1:05

So if you're transitioning or thinking about the transition,

1:08

this one is for you. And also

1:10

want to encourage you to take notes, but

1:12

if you're driving or you are

1:14

multitasking and you're not able to do that

1:16

now I'm completely okay. Tune

1:18

in. But want to encourage

1:21

you to come back to this episode and

1:23

Rumi take notes so that you

1:25

can start where you are

1:28

in your journey. You may still need.

1:30

A couple of months or maybe 12

1:33

months before you transition. But

1:35

when I tell you these four

1:37

steps are going to help you. With

1:40

a starting point and give you direction

1:43

with the future career

1:46

that you're possibly trying to pursue,

1:48

or have no idea even where to begin.

1:51

This is the episode that you

1:53

wanted to Tilly. Tune into.

1:56

And if you were to transition now or

1:58

maybe love what you're doing, mound highly

2:01

encourage that you still share this episode with someone.

2:03

Another military lady another veteran

2:06

that maybe wants to pivot their

2:08

career. Because these items

2:10

that I'm going to be going over today. Oh, very helpful.

2:13

Even when you are pivoting. Your

2:15

career when you're already in a

2:17

post-military career, because what

2:19

I've learned. And one of the reasons why I felt

2:22

really compelled to make this episode

2:24

is because so many

2:26

of you all. That are already out,

2:28

are still figuring out

2:31

the next chapter. Meaning now

2:33

you've been in a job for a year or two, and

2:35

now you want something different or maybe the

2:37

role that you're in now is not something

2:39

that you can see yourself growing into and

2:42

now you want to pivot. And so that's why

2:44

I wanted to share with you all this

2:46

episode to help you. Get started

2:49

in that pivot in that next

2:51

career. But most importantly, if you

2:53

are still in the military and you're like,

2:55

I have no idea where to begin. I'm

2:58

getting out in a year, year and a half, six

3:00

months. This is something that you

3:02

want to pay close attention to, and really take

3:04

action on because I'm telling you, this

3:07

is the process that's going to help you. Get

3:09

to the next step. And so,

3:11

like I mentioned earlier, it's four steps and

3:14

here are the first steps and I'm going to dive into

3:16

each of each one. Because

3:19

it's so important that we not only elaborate.

3:22

On what exactly

3:24

the steps are, but also to

3:26

keep it simple, I'm all about keeping

3:28

everything simple. So if there

3:31

is something that you're like, okay, I

3:34

don't want to do, or I feel confused

3:36

then maybe you have

3:38

Over-thought that step. And so I want you

3:40

to take a step back because sometimes we do do that,

3:42

especially when we are so focused

3:44

on getting things done and want it

3:47

to look perfect. I want you to take a step

3:49

back and really. just focus on simple.

3:51

And very, general, because

3:53

at this point we're still figuring out what

3:56

we want to pursue. And

3:59

the first one is to brainstorm,

4:02

brainstorm any role

4:04

that you're possibly interested in. Two

4:07

review one of those roles you

4:09

pick one. And

4:12

then the other one is location.

4:15

Location location, location.

4:18

And by that, I mean, the type

4:21

of location that,

4:23

that job role is tied to. And

4:26

then the fourth one is networking.

4:28

And so one of these four

4:31

will help you begin

4:34

to pursue the

4:36

actual job that you might

4:38

be considering, or the actual career

4:41

that you may be considering. And

4:44

for that, I mean, it doesn't

4:46

have to be. Solidified

4:49

it doesn't have to be. Something

4:51

that you have to do

4:54

when you get out, but it's a starting

4:56

point. So for those of you that

4:58

are perfectionism that want to know all

5:00

the details, they want the exact

5:02

plan. This isn't

5:04

how we're going to

5:07

figure all of that out. This is just

5:09

a starting point to get you there.

5:12

So this is for somebody that if

5:14

you are a year out and you're like, I just

5:17

have so many different

5:19

aspirations, different careers that I want to

5:21

pursue. This is

5:24

what you, where you would want

5:26

to start. And so

5:28

going back to brainstorming a lot of the

5:30

times when women come to

5:32

me and they ask, you know,

5:35

What is it that I could do outside

5:37

of the military? They ask

5:39

me as if I have the answer for

5:41

them. Or here's my other favorite

5:44

one based on my personality quiz.

5:46

Or based on my strengths, this

5:49

is what I should be doing. What

5:52

I always ask them is have

5:54

they even asked themselves

5:56

that question? What is it

5:58

that they want to pursue? Most

6:00

of the time they have, but they

6:02

have not written anything down

6:05

or even consider other roles

6:08

that they are also interested in. And

6:10

here's what most of the time. Also

6:13

a lot of people do not only women, but also

6:16

men out there. If they were

6:18

an HR professional, like myself, When

6:21

they were in, they immediately

6:23

go to. Wanting

6:25

to be an HR professional. And there's nothing

6:28

wrong with that. Absolutely. Nothing wrong.

6:30

But here's the thing. Most of the time,

6:33

they don't enjoy the job in the military.

6:36

And for some reason, they think that they're going to enjoy

6:38

that when they transition out. So

6:40

if you're not enjoying it or something

6:42

that you're not passionate about, something that doesn't. You

6:45

know peak your interest every day, or ignites

6:47

that fire in your belly. That's

6:50

something that you don't want to pursue in

6:52

the civilian sector, because it's

6:54

going to be completely different. You're going to have to

6:56

learn. Different skills. You're

6:58

going to have to also learn different

7:00

material, other hard skills.

7:02

And so if you're not in it for the

7:04

long run, It's just not going

7:07

to work. And so I

7:09

always offered to bring storm everything.

7:13

That you could possibly want to pursue.

7:16

And that even includes in

7:18

education. So it doesn't have

7:20

to even be a specific role

7:22

in the corporate sector or in the civilian sector.

7:25

It could be. Anything entrepreneurship.

7:28

Just list all of that in

7:31

the reason I encourage you. To

7:33

list all of these steps.

7:35

Or upset. Sorry. All of these. Roles

7:38

or opportunities. Is

7:40

because you want to be able to see it visually

7:42

somewhere. On a word document

7:44

on a Google sheet on a piece of

7:46

paper. It doesn't matter.

7:49

You want to be able to

7:52

see it and to be visible so

7:54

that when you're actually going back and you look at

7:56

it and you're like, okay, I really don't want to be an

7:58

interior designer. That was just kind of like,

8:01

you know, I was inspired, but now I don't want

8:03

to do that. Or

8:05

I thought about. Being

8:08

an entrepreneur, but I actually don't

8:10

have. You know, the time

8:12

or the energy to do that. As

8:14

soon as I get out. Or

8:16

I want to go pursue my master's

8:18

degree. But if I'm being honest,

8:21

I really would like to start.

8:24

In an actual role

8:26

and start my career there.

8:29

So that's where a lot of the additional

8:31

questions are going to come up. And

8:34

here's another thing too with Bellus. That is

8:36

so important. You get to

8:38

see. Other roles

8:41

that maybe someone

8:43

brought to you, meaning that somebody said,

8:45

oh, you could be a project manager and you wrote

8:47

it down because again, your brain is going to download all of that.

8:50

It's going to literally give you that

8:52

when you're. You know, just giving yourself

8:54

five, 10 minutes to brainstorm everything.

8:57

And so maybe there's the possibility, right?

8:59

And so then you have that list. You,

9:02

you have it, you put it away.

9:05

You then want to review one role.

9:07

And again, if your son's education, if

9:10

you are, is entrepreneurship,

9:13

I want you to pick one thing. So

9:15

for the role, for example, I'd say

9:17

it's project management. You

9:19

picked that role. And if it's

9:21

for entrepreneurship, let's say you want to start

9:23

your own consulting business. You

9:25

pick consulting. If

9:28

you want to get an edge, you know, master's degree

9:30

and business, you

9:32

pick that. That specific.

9:35

Degree. And so when

9:37

you do that, More specifically

9:39

for the role, what, what that's going

9:42

to help you identify? Is

9:44

to then go in Google

9:47

that role. So again, going back to the project

9:49

manager, manager position, You're

9:51

going to go and Google project

9:54

manager role. And

9:56

it's going to give you thousands.

9:59

Hundreds of job descriptions. So

10:01

when you do that, You're going to pick

10:03

that one role and then

10:06

you get to see exactly.

10:09

The skills required for that role.

10:12

And that's going to be either the hard

10:14

or the soft skills. Meaning.

10:17

The hard skills are the skills

10:19

that are specific to that role in order for you

10:22

to actually get that job done.

10:25

And so for most of us that

10:27

are in the military that have had experience

10:29

in the military, Most

10:31

of the transferrable

10:33

skills that we have

10:36

acquired are either problem-solving

10:38

communication. Teamwork

10:41

leadership. So

10:44

there are going to be already.

10:47

Transferable skills that you can identify and feel

10:49

more confident about that you can

10:51

and are able to do the job. But

10:53

then there's also going to be skills

10:56

that are hard skills, like learning

10:58

how to use a certain point. Productivity

11:01

tool. Great example of this, would it be Smartsheet?

11:03

Some of you probably have never heard Smartsheet.

11:06

Or monday.com. Or

11:08

just a different tool. That

11:11

is being used. In

11:14

that specific organization, that

11:16

company. And so what you want to do

11:18

is now you're learning

11:20

that these are additional things that you

11:22

need to be prepared for and prepare

11:25

with. And so when he gives you

11:27

an idea of all

11:29

the technical and all

11:31

the other skills and all the other,

11:33

you know, education requirements gives

11:35

you all these other preferred qualifications

11:38

that they're looking for. To help you.

11:41

Get started on that journey of what

11:43

exactly am I going to pursue? Is this what I want?

11:46

And so that's a great starting point with reviewing

11:49

the role. So again, first we're going to brainstorm

11:51

the roles. We're going to pick one role

11:53

and we're going to then look up that rule.

11:56

And then look at the transferable skills

11:59

as well as the skills that are needed,

12:01

that you probably don't have most likely

12:03

being the hard skills.

12:05

Which are the technical skills. That

12:07

are required to get the job done. So

12:10

when you have that, you are now more aware.

12:13

Of what exactly.

12:16

You may be wanting to pursue right. You make

12:18

right then and there. So, you know what? Project management

12:21

is not what I want, or this consulting

12:23

company is not going to be beneficial

12:25

for me and my family at this time. Or

12:27

pursuing this degree or getting this real

12:30

estate license, whatever it may be for you.

12:33

But here's the other part of that. So

12:36

now that you've done brainstorming, you're

12:38

new to the role and you're like, okay, I'm getting

12:40

started. I'm getting a little bit of. You

12:42

know, motivation on where exactly

12:44

I want to go with my career outside of the military,

12:47

even though you have 12 months, six months

12:49

still to make a decision. I

12:52

want you to look at the location type. And

12:54

by that. I mean.

12:57

Understanding the types

13:00

of location that are out there.

13:02

So I'll give you the three ones right now. And

13:04

again, this is more specifically for

13:07

corporate roles. Opportunities

13:09

that are in the civilian sector for you to pursue.

13:12

With a company, not necessarily entrepreneurship

13:15

or even. Education.

13:18

And so the three types

13:20

are the on-site. As

13:23

most of us are used to in the military, the onsite

13:25

ones, meaning you have to go in every single day.

13:28

Or maybe opportunities to like a

13:30

construction site. You can't do that remotely

13:33

unless you're a project manager, but again you

13:35

have that option onsite. You have hybrid

13:37

where you possibly have to do some

13:40

work on site one or two days a

13:42

week, or. You

13:44

have the actual, fully remote.

13:47

Which means that you are remote.

13:49

You don't go in the office. You're not obligated to go

13:51

in. You are at your remote worker working

13:54

from your home or from a coffee shop

13:57

in front of your computer. And everything that you

13:59

do is remote. And

14:02

so those are the three, three types.

14:04

And so you knowing that and understanding

14:06

that is going to give you a better

14:09

opportunity to then have these conversations

14:11

with your loved ones, right? Like what

14:14

are my priorities too? We

14:16

want to relocate to our small

14:18

town. Do we want to relocate home

14:21

where, you know, the industry that I'm focused

14:23

on is nowhere to be found.

14:26

Do we want to

14:28

go back home. And I also,

14:31

for my mental health, want

14:33

to be able to go in.

14:36

To the actual site

14:39

and actually have

14:41

face-to-face conversations with other humans. Instead

14:44

of staring at the wall or doing my work from

14:46

home. Or do

14:48

I just want to be on site full-time

14:51

because I want to learn and. I'm

14:53

okay with relocating, wherever the job

14:55

is. So identifying

14:57

that early on is also

15:00

helpful because then you get to see

15:02

that job role, like we mentioned, at the very beginning,

15:04

when we're brainstorming that

15:06

one role that you pick, let's say project manager.

15:09

You look at the roles that are available

15:11

on indeed on LinkedIn. Any

15:14

other site? Even Google

15:16

itself has so many opportunities,

15:19

job postings that are available. And

15:21

you can see what's available based

15:24

on your location type that

15:26

you actually prefer.

15:29

So like, let's say it's remote.

15:32

Now you can see that there's just so many opportunities

15:34

on project management. Remote

15:37

opportunities. But if you're like, I

15:39

really want to go to a specific city.

15:41

Let's say it's Miami, Florida. And

15:44

you are now only

15:46

looking in Miami, Florida for those

15:48

roles and you get to see. What

15:50

the opportunities look like? Yes. You're

15:52

12 months out. You're six months out.

15:54

But you get an idea of what that will look

15:57

like. And most of the time,

15:59

especially my ladies, they don't

16:01

want to even consider a location.

16:04

Because they are dual military. And

16:06

so they're following their spouses. They're following.

16:09

Their loved one. And so

16:11

sometimes it's even a hard conversation

16:14

to have, but if you know that there's remote

16:16

remote opportunities. In the

16:18

field in the industry that you want to go into.

16:21

It's a sigh of relief in religious kidding

16:23

now, too. You know what

16:25

remote opportunities are there or.

16:28

What remote opportunities that I

16:30

am interested are available.

16:33

Now. And so again, it gets,

16:35

you started. In one

16:37

supposed sir, into really understanding

16:40

the opportunities, the possibilities

16:42

that are out there waiting for you. For

16:44

your next career. And the last

16:46

one, my favorite. I think

16:49

this one gets oversee a little

16:51

bit. Because of

16:54

how uncomfortable it is at the beginning.

16:56

And that is networking. And

16:58

a lot of people when B. Here,

17:01

when they're working, they either ready or they want to avoid

17:03

it. And it's because it's a process,

17:06

right? Networking. Is that something that you just wake

17:09

up or take off your uniform? And

17:11

now you're like great at networking. Now,

17:13

if you're a person that is

17:15

an extrovert or loves to talk, loves to meet

17:17

new people, because you don't even have to be an extrovert

17:20

to love to meet new people, but you

17:22

want to be able to keep

17:24

it simple. Like I said, at the very beginning,

17:26

you want to be able to

17:28

be willing to learn on how to communicate

17:31

with either strangers or even.

17:34

The people that you know, but how to make

17:36

it not only impactful. Put

17:38

also beneficial for both parties,

17:40

because that's what it is when you're networking. You

17:42

want it to be where

17:44

you both. Caning

17:47

knowledge, insight, but

17:49

also building that connection. And

17:52

that's really, what's going to help you get connected

17:54

with others and how you're going to connect that

17:56

other individual with other individuals.

17:59

And so the way I always like

18:02

to offer this and

18:05

encourage my clients to do this. Is

18:08

by thinking about it in a way where

18:10

they're just interacting with someone.

18:13

Especially at the very beginning where you

18:15

are the one that's listening. Where

18:18

you don't have to have an agenda,

18:20

you don't have to have any high expectations.

18:22

All you have to do is listen.

18:25

Of course, you're going to have to introduce yourself.

18:27

My name is Wendy. I'm a veteran

18:30

or I'm in the military, all of that

18:32

stuff that is already something that you

18:34

have practiced and see a lot.

18:37

Most of the time, because when

18:40

you introduce yourself, you're like, oh yeah, I'm in the army. Or

18:42

I'm in the Marine Corps. I'm in the Navy and this

18:44

is what I do. And that support, right.

18:46

You know how to do that. So you feel comfortable. And

18:49

so I always encourage you to start

18:52

in one of these three areas

18:54

where you're most comfortable, because again, we want to keep

18:56

it simple. We want to keep it to, we

18:59

are not challenging ourselves

19:01

just yet. Especially if you are

19:03

six to 12 months out. And

19:06

the three one, the three, one that I always

19:08

encourage an offer. My clients are.

19:11

Actually connected to other fellow veterans of yours.

19:14

To attend in-person events.

19:17

And three use social media

19:19

more specifically LinkedIn as your

19:22

platform. Two. Network

19:25

communicate, engage, connect

19:28

with others. And

19:30

the way I encourage all of

19:32

my clients again. To do this

19:34

is to one start.

19:37

Where you are more in

19:39

most comfortable. So let's

19:41

just say for you, it's reaching out to a fellow

19:44

veteran that transitioned out last year,

19:46

three years ago, 20 years ago, whatever

19:48

it may be. I know you have at least one

19:50

person. That transitioned out. You

19:52

reached out to that fellow veteran and you say, Hey,

19:54

Wendy, I know you transitioned about seven

19:56

years ago. Would love to

19:59

pick your brain on how you ended

20:01

up what you're doing now. Or

20:04

in your role now? Oh,

20:06

okay. Great. So now

20:09

you're comfortable. I

20:11

feel genuine about your connection. We've

20:13

connected. And now

20:15

we're having a conversation. So your only

20:17

job is to listen. That's

20:20

all you have to do is listen to windy.

20:23

Give you her spill because she wants to talk

20:25

about herself. Who doesn't want to talk

20:27

about themselves, right? This is why it's so important

20:29

for you to just listen. In

20:31

everything that I'm saying you

20:33

are now picking different areas that you

20:36

are curious about that you're genuinely curious

20:38

about. So you just have to be ready

20:40

with one question. Through all of these

20:42

platforms, these three ways that you

20:45

can network. And so let's

20:47

just say now you're ready. Right? Like, okay. Wendy was

20:49

great. I spoke to five others

20:51

now I'm ready to go. And in-person event. Or

20:53

I was invited by Wendy to come to

20:55

this career fair or this. Veteran

20:59

community event, whatever

21:01

it may be or hiring of it. You

21:03

now are more

21:05

confident in asking that question,

21:07

you know, how did you get into this role or.

21:10

You know, how did you get into project management?

21:13

Whatever it may be. And now

21:15

you've built the skill of listening. In

21:17

your identifying curiosity again,

21:19

you're connecting. And when

21:21

that happens, especially in person. You

21:24

are building this connection

21:26

and you're leaving an impactful.

21:29

Connection or engagement based

21:31

on you just listening. Because

21:33

again, people want to

21:36

be heard. And especially

21:38

if you are asking them about them, they are going

21:40

to want to continue to talk to you. And they're going to say,

21:42

oh, by the way, let me connect you with Matthew.

21:44

Let me connect you with Sophia.

21:47

Let me connect you with this recruiter.

21:49

Let me connect you with this person

21:52

that will know about engineering, because now

21:54

you're talking and all these questions

21:56

I've come up and all of a sudden you're like, yeah, I'm motivated

21:59

about engineering, whatever it may be. And

22:02

in the last one is LinkedIn.

22:05

LinkedIn is such a powerful

22:07

platform. Such a powerful

22:09

platform to connect. You don't even have to say

22:11

anything. You can literally just like a post.

22:14

You could comment. On

22:16

any pulse, which by the way, if you're not following

22:18

me on LinkedIn, I invite you

22:21

to come follow me on LinkedIn. I

22:23

am now posting or

22:25

actually providing

22:27

weekly newsletters on how

22:30

to help you with your transition. And

22:32

so if you don't already, my handle

22:35

is a Wendi, W E N D. I.

22:37

Last name Wray W R A Y.

22:40

And you can find me on LinkedIn, hit the follow

22:42

button, subscribe to my newsletter and you'll

22:44

get it directly into your inbox.

22:47

And so with LinkedIn, you, what

22:49

I love about connecting on social

22:52

media is that a lot of the times you'll

22:54

find people that are connected with other

22:56

people. So you'll connect with me

22:59

and you'll connect with my connections and

23:01

their connections. So it's like third and

23:03

second degree connections.

23:05

Meaning you'll have access to my connections.

23:08

Just by connecting with me. And so

23:11

that's beneficial, especially when I'm

23:13

connected with the recruiters, with other

23:15

people that are hiring other people

23:17

that are looking for veterans. And so it can, it's

23:19

so helpful and such a

23:21

powerful platform to be on, especially

23:24

if you're figuring out your career, you're

23:26

trying to. Learn

23:28

more about that industry, about that role.

23:30

This is a great place to start in,

23:33

by the way, when you send someone a message

23:35

and they respond to you when you're like, Hey, I'm trying

23:37

to connect, I'm trying to build my network. I'm

23:39

trying to learn more about what you're doing as a project manager.

23:42

They will literally want to help you

23:44

and might not be right away, but they will respond.

23:47

And you'll have it right there

23:49

visible and you can literally copy and

23:51

paste. Their feedback

23:53

or the recommendations. And you

23:55

already have it ready without even having to take

23:57

any notes and you have it in your

23:59

toolkit, right? And so

24:01

again, the question that I recommend

24:04

for you to focus on any of these three,

24:06

or how did you get into this field? That's

24:08

the one question, that's it? It's so simple.

24:11

And you don't need to overthink anything and it doesn't have

24:13

to be perfect. You don't have to be. Or

24:15

have the perfect pitch, but here's what I

24:17

also want to encourage you to do. When

24:20

you get to 90 days or

24:22

closer as you're getting out. Preferably

24:25

120, so four months out when you're

24:27

ready to work. I want

24:29

you to go to as many events as

24:31

possible. And or

24:34

connect with as many people as possible

24:36

on social media. And here's why. You'll

24:38

be able to tell them

24:41

exactly what you're looking for and

24:43

exactly what role you're interested

24:45

in. And it's going to become easier.

24:47

You're building this habit. You're building.

24:50

This confidence on how to communicate

24:53

with another individual face to face

24:55

and be able to tell them what you're looking for.

24:58

What you're interested in and it's going to become so

25:01

much better. You're

25:03

going to tell them exactly what

25:05

you need and they will

25:07

help you. And that is

25:10

the beauty of networking. You're literally practicing.

25:12

You're using this for when you

25:14

are in front of someone that can help you. That

25:16

is a recruiter. You never know, right. Someone may

25:19

have an opportunity available for you. And

25:21

we'll be right there waiting for you. And

25:23

just to wrap it up. First you want

25:25

to brainstorm. You want to review that role.

25:27

You want to focus on location type, and

25:30

then you want to start networking. That's how

25:32

you will start figuring out as a starting point

25:34

on how. To figure

25:36

out your post-military career. All right,

25:38

ladies. Have a great rest of your day Hey

25:41

lady, if this podcast helped you, challenged

25:43

you or inspired you in some way, please

25:45

leave me a written review for the show on Apple Podcasts

25:48

and share it with another military sister. Helping

25:50

you integrate balance, prioritization

25:53

and growth in your relationship with God is

25:55

my ultimate calling. I'm so blessed that

25:57

you are here and please join us

25:59

in the faith led military women community

26:01

on Facebook at bit. ly forward

26:04

slash beyond the military

26:06

GRP. Again, it is. Bitly

26:08

beyond the military GRP. All

26:11

right. Talk to you soon. Bye