Seven Lessons I Learned After Leaving the Military Three Years Ago

Looking back on how I quickly switched careers, I could have been better prepared. In hindsight, it was impossible to feel more ready for change.

There is no such thing as being 100% ready for something. I followed community wisdom on what to be aware of while switching careers. However, I still discovered blindspots in what I was paying attention to.

Here are some lessons I encountered after leaving the military three years ago.

The Differences

Job market and job security

I worry about job security and feel the shifts in the economy.

As a military member, I thought I'd serve for twenty-five years. So, there was no worry over when my employment would end. On top of that, economic downturns hardly affected military employment (it was unaffected by economic booms, too).

As a professional in the tech industry, there are no guarantees of steady employment. I've been furloughed and laid off since switching careers. The current economic downturn has significantly reduced bonuses and taken away pay raises.

Before leaving, I understood I was trading job security to become a civilian. Everyone I took advice from understated the potential impact of economic forces on the job market.

Career progression

I went from following a well-worn marked path to trailblazing my way ahead.

My career path in the military was very predictable. I finished the required training packages to earn my qualifications. Supervisors scheduled meetings to set milestones for the year. Passing the milestones helped me score high on performance evaluations to increase my chances of a promotion. Promotions led to new training packages, and the cycle would repeat.

Navigating my career in the tech industry has been challenging. I quickly upskilled in cloud computing to get an entry-level position while the field was booming. A more experienced role requires a wide array of knowledge with no apparent sequence to follow. Also, industry trends could significantly affect career planning.

Career progression was more linear in the military. The potential paths to follow in the tech industry feel more like a choose-your-own-adventure book.

Volunteering & chasing paper

While serving in the military, I never felt the need to put in extra effort to earn more money.

I volunteered for many tasks to gain broad experience in the military. I believed that volunteerism was part of being an excellent military member. I earned some unique experiences and a break from the usual work of a technician. Earning more money by volunteering for a deployment or sailing never seemed a good option.

I replaced volunteering with upskilling and earning certifications. Upskilling made me more effective in my role since I could help with more issues. Certifications give me a slight edge when participating in a tough job market. There's an understanding that higher-skilled professionals can compete for higher-paying roles.

In the military, I gravitated towards chasing experiences. In the tech industry, my focus shifted towards building skills that could unlock better-paying opportunities.

Setting the pace

The military had a lot of control over the pace of my life.

Early in my career, I was willing to take on as many sea days as possible. Later, I felt internal and external pressure to keep agreeing to more sails even if I had doubts. Eventually, I had to choose between time ashore for family or time away to develop my career. I left when it felt impossible to make a good choice.

There were a lot of exciting opportunities in the military. For example, I could become a ship's diver, operate drones, or join the urban search-and-rescue team. Getting on the courses for these opportunities felt unnecessarily tricky. I had to line up my paperwork and submit(or resubmit) my application when my unit could afford to have me away.

Now, as a remote worker in the tech industry, I get to set the pace. I can learn as quickly as I want from so many free online resources. If it would be helpful to learn more about cloud technology or DevOps, I don't need to wait for permission.

In the past three years, I've enjoyed setting the pace of my life.

The Similarities

In the past three years, I learned that my military training has prepared me for a tech career.

Continuous learning

Both industries require lots of learning.

I had a new set of responsibilities at every rank in the military. I applied for unique opportunities that allowed me to learn more than most sailors. Furthermore, my trade, weapons engineering technician, had one of the longest training programs in the Royal Canadian Navy.

Continuous learning is required to keep up with changes in the tech industry. The expectations for technical roles are creeping up over time. Furthermore, as a tech consultant, I am encouraged to have broader skills.

Lifelong learning throughout a military or tech career is the norm.

Logical thinking

Both industries need workers with a good understanding of troubleshooting and testing.

My military training to become a weapons engineering technician taught me how to break down a problem logically. I learned how to test systems to isolate an issue to a specific component or circuit. Also, I had lots of opportunities to propose workarounds and estimate timelines.

There's a substantial transfer of experience from the military to a career in tech. Many military troubleshooting and testing approaches have helped me pinpoint where errors originate. I am familiar with diving into the documentation since it allowed me to understand naval equipment and software products further.

Troubleshooting and testing are significant areas of similarity between the military and tech industries.

Systems thinking

As a former weapons engineering technician and current tech professional, I've had to use systems thinking.

A major part of my technician training is understanding how a ship's systems work together. I had to learn the inputs and outputs of different components. When a subsystem fails, I had to learn how it would affect other equipment.

Due to my previous experience, I am comfortable learning the architecture of a software product. Instead of hardware components, the systems I work with now are digital. With software components, I still have to deal with inputs, outputs, and tracing errors down to specific lines of code.

Thinking in systems, subsystems, and individual components is something a naval technician and tech professional have in common.

Deeper dive

I've written about the similarities in depth in previous blog posts, which you can find here.

TLDR

When I left the military three years ago, I was mentally ready for the change. However, I needed to pay more attention to some important things as a civilian.

I had to learn about job markets and how they move with economic forces. Also, I had to learn about industry trends to increase my job security.

I discovered that career progression in the tech industry is unlike in the military.

I realized I could spend some energy on financial incentives and not volunteer all of it away.

I grew an appreciation for being able to set the pace of my life. I gave up control of this when I joined the military, and I'm glad to have it back.

Finally, I'm grateful for the military experience. It has prepared me well for a career in the tech industry.

Have you made a career switch away from the military? What did you learn about yourself after leaving the military? Let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.