One of the hardest transitions veterans make has nothing to do with finding a job. It has everything to do with learning how to introduce themselves again. For years, your identity was clear. Your uniform told people who you were. Your rank communicates experience. Your badges reflected the schools you completed. Your tabs represented years
One of the hardest lessons veterans learn after leaving the military isn't that civilians have lower standards. It's that they have different standards. And if you never understand that distinction, you'll spend years frustrated. I've heard it thousands of times. "Nobody cares." "They don't have any discipline." "They accept mediocrity." "They're lazy." Sometimes that's true.
There’s a moment in almost every military transition where frustration sets in. You update your resume. You hire somebody to rewrite it. You run it through AI. You remove acronyms. You add metrics. You convert military terms into corporate language. You submit applications. Nothing. Or worse… You get interviews and somehow walk out feeling like
One of the hardest truths for veterans to accept after service isn’t that civilians think differently. It’s that accountability works differently. And for a lot of us, that realization feels personal. You spent years in organizations where accountability wasn’t optional. If equipment was lost, somebody answered. If timelines slipped, somebody answered. If standards dropped, somebody
One of my favorite coaching phrases (and one that occasionally earns me a look of complete disbelief) is this: “If you think you are a big animal in your field… It’s probably because you’re a dinosaur.” Yup. That one lands hard. Good. Because military transition has enough people blowing smoke and telling you that your
Military transition is not just about resumes. It’s not just about LinkedIn. It’s not just about certifications. It’s not just about networking. It’s not just about translating your MOS into civilian language. All those things matter, of course. But one of the biggest reasons veterans struggle after retirement or separation is that they fail to
There’s a conversation that needs to happen in the military transition space, and some people probably aren’t going to like it. That’s fine. I don’t say any of this from the outside looking in. I’ve lived it. I served. I wore the uniform. I’ve deployed. I’ve sat in the same transition briefs and listened to
I wrote a post the other day about LinkedIn, and some feedback I got was that I didn’t discuss “how NOT to be cringe” on the platform, so here goes a special Frag Out Edition. Also, thanks, MG, for the feedback. Very useful and much appreciated. Ok… I get it. LinkedIn is weird. It’s part
Let me save a lot of transitioning military members a lot of time. Yes… LinkedIn is basically business Facebook. Yes… The platform can be incredibly annoying. Yes… People overshare nonsense that should’ve stayed in their family group text. Yes… There are people calling themselves “LinkedIn influencers,” which is a phrase that should make everyone uncomfortable.
One of the strangest things about leaving the military is realizing that the civilian world often operates on standards that feel… fuzzy. And for a lot of veterans, that’s deeply uncomfortable. In the military (especially in high-performance environments), you know exactly where you stand. You passed selection… or you didn’t. You met the standard… or
