Life Changes

This week I have been helping a friend summarize her 20 year military career into a one page resume. It reminded me of when I got out of the service and realized the mistakes I made and the right things I had done. Retiring from the military is like graduating from college, you have hit the pinnacle in one part of your life and you have to move on. Often you are moving on to the bottom of a new occupation. She has worked as a recruiter for the last nine years, including 3 years in the Army and 6 years in the National Guard. She has also done other jobs to assist recruiters in that time. How does that help her get a job in the logistics field?

I guess some people have natural progressions in their job experiences, but I wonder how common it is. It goes with the same question of how many people get jobs that are the same field as their college major. This recruiter started in the Army as in logistics and then finished in recruiting. When we did her resume we wrote half a page on the logistics she worked in and about an eighth of a page on what she did in recruiting even though the two jobs took an equal portion of her career.

skylight

I think everyone that has had a career over twenty years realizes it is hard to summarize all their jobs they have had in their progressive career. It would be kind of sad if they had the same position over all those years.
What goes through our minds as we change jobs, whether it is our decision or not. We are elated that we have a new opportunity, but scared of the unknown. It would be nice if we just made the same money all through our life even when we changed jobs. Some people would be happy with that, and some would be upset because they want to make much more money than they did in their old job.

Life is about change. My friend is deciding when that change will happen. Another friend knows that the military will force him how in a few months and he will wait until the last minute when they force him to leave. I think the best thing to do is move on when you know it is inevitable. It is like driving on ice you are supposed to accelerate so your car has control, rather than put on your breaks so your car totally loses control. Look for the next opportunity rather than be content. It is like investing and when you are content then you start to go down rather than up in revenue. When you know you have to change then embrace it and make the move. The worse thing is regretting that it wasn't your decision.