Many military personnel worry that there are no jobs for ex-Defence and that transitioning to the civilian world will be impossible due to a lack of suitable roles and employers.
The good news is this is not the case. The Australian Defence Force is made up of hundreds of specialist vocations, and brings with it a wealth of training and skills that makes Defence members highly attractive to potential employers. The tricky part is identifying and the targeting the right areas and then marketing yourselfeffectively to secure the right role.
To be successful in any career transition requires research. Research to assess career paths that match your interests, natural strengths, skills, lifestyle and qualifications and to ensure that the career path also offers positive prospects, financially, emotionally and opportunity-wise, both now and in the future.
To find potential career paths there are a number of methods, both formal and informal that you can use to use. A good starting point if you are unsure of a likely direction is to undertake a career aptitude test or vocational interests tool. Whilst you can choose to do this by paying a qualified career coach there are also a number of good free online resources that can help including the government sitemyfuture.edu.auThis site may look oriented toward school leavers but has highly valuable information for all ages. It helps via its assessment to identify potential careers matched to your interests, and then importantly you can explore what is involved in these different types of positions, their remuneration, training requirements etc.
Another helpful resource is the government’sjoboutlook.gov.ausite. This provides helpful labour market information on the outlook for a variety of roles including remuneration. It also has a career quiz section.
TheJobs Guidecan also be a helpful resource for exploring potential careers you may be interested in.
In addition to these websites many personnel find exploring potential career ideas with their networks, friends, family and ex-Defence colleagues a good starting point. You may wish to joinLinkedIngroups for ex-Defence/ex-military, or defence-network industry and community groups to help with this exploration process. Specialist recruiters and Career Coaches who are specialists in Defence Transition can also be helpful.
To help spark some ideas the following are just a few potential careers (linking to myfuture.edu.au) and jobs that may be suited to some ex-Defence personnel. *(Please note these will not be suited to everyone, may require additional study and is only a small proportion of available paths. This should just be deemed a starting point for career exploration. You should always carefully explore potential careers in alignment with your own needs and circ*mstances).
The above are only a starting point and there are many, many, many other vocations and career paths available. Perhaps the best starting point is to browse through occupation information on credible career sites or speak with defence transition personnel about potential options available to you.
Good luck
* The information providedin this article is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, situation or needs. Before acting on this advice you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, situation and needs. Outplacement Australia disclaim all and any guarantees, undertakings and warranties, expressed or implied, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever (including human or computer error, negligent or otherwise,or incidental or consequential loss or damage) arising out of or in connection with any use or reliance on the information or advice in this article. The user must accept sole responsibility associated with the use of the material, irrespective of the purpose for which such use or results are applied. The information is no substitute for legal, financial or career advice.
