Careers In the Military

Hi there! I previously wrote a blog about Indeed.com and explained how one of it's features can help you apply for a job, or enhance a career you already have. Being a former service member in the U.S. Army, I get questions alllll the time related to joining the military. Even those who aren't interested in joining seem interested in the opportunities and process of it. I'm going to try to keep this short....

The Recruiting Station 

Traditionally, you reach out to a recruiter or a recruiter reaches you. They may either come to your location, or have you swing by the recruiting office. Recruiters are often very experienced and competent service members. At least in the Army, you have to be very "high speed" to become one. They can basically tell you anything you need to know about the service you're joining. Not all of them are totally honest, of course. They're ultimately selling you a product. If you hear "oh, if you're in this MOS (military occupational specialty), you won't deploy blahblah", don't believe it. Anyone can be deployed, no matter how mundane your job is.

My advice is to not take what a recruiter says 100% to heart, especially if it's too good to be true. In today's age, you can research everything yourself, or post questions on an online forum where you will get more honest answers. Additionally, recruiters won't tell you the truth but aren't lying. For example, my recruiter told me I wouldn't be with female soldiers in Basic Training. I'm talking to him 2 months later, and he's in shock and awe that there is a 39 year old woman in my platoon that hasn't done a single pushup throughout her entire time at Basic. Sometimes, they're in recruiting for so long that they can't keep up with all the little and big changes the regular military makes.

Sidenote: I was going to join the Reserves after leaving Active Duty, but then I saw reservists being stationed in Kuwait. Nope. 

 ASVABs and MOS 

 From being a cook, to high-end technological jobs, the military needs everything. The way they figure out what jobs you can select from relies on how you do in the ASVAB, which is not hard. Invest in an ASVAB study guide. Sometimes the difference between you getting a great job and a not-so-great job available is 1 single percentile point.

 Basic Training & So On 

 Basic Training wasn't very hard. That's all. It just sucked being away from home and everything. Some of it was scary, some of it was physically challenging. But really, there's so many out-of-shape kids that pass it (like me, back then), no one should feel so intimidated. Army Basic Training is probably even easier now! Marine Basic Training is much harder then the Army's, though. If you're a Marine or ex-Marine reading this, let me know what your experience was like! The Navy's and Air Force's training programs are much less physically demanding, and as far as I am aware, shorter.

 So after you graduate Basic Training, you go to "AIT" (Advanced Individual Training), or A-School as the Navy calls it. This is where you learn to do your actual job. There are some jobs in the Army, and military as a whole, where you can blow things off and still pass. For others, if you make a single mistake, you're taken out and have to select a different job. This wasn't really that bad. Usually the shorter this training is, the worse it is. They can't have to living in a watered-down Basic Training environment for a whole year straight or something, if your training takes that long (some last a few weeks). In the actual military There are so many career options once you're in the military, that I can't possibly cover them all. They range from the typical "spend 20 years, get retirement pension" to getting yourself discharged from active duty to spend 4 years in a college, and then come back as a officer. And that's on the military's dime. You can become a Warrant Officer. You can become a recruiter, or a drill sergeant. You can become a member of a service's elite, such as the Army Rangers or Special Forces. If you're looking for an organization with a flexible career path, and an endless array of options, you can't find one better than any of the military branches. You may get stationed in Germany, Italy or Japan. You may also get stationed in Africa, or Iraq (and Syria now, apparently?). And while you're doing all this, you can take college courses for free (on Tuition Assistance, which is separate from the 9/11 GI Bill).

Before I end this, it's worth noting that while you're in the military your college credits get you "promotion points" as an enlisted member, and if you have ANY Bachelor's degree, you can either become an Officer right away, or become one while you're in the server.

Conclusion 
I'm hoping that this serves as an interesting preview of joining and being in the military for those who are interested. Military life is so vast and complex, but can be summarized like this: sometimes it sucks, but damn if there ain't a lot you can do.

Please like and share this article if you've found it helpful or interesting, or have friends that may. Thank you for reading! My next article will be on government-run Career Services.