San Diego Nesties
Dear Community,

Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.

If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.

Thank you.

Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.

Career Questions

I have about one year left as a Marine before I will have to transition back into the civilian workforce and I'm already becoming stressed about having to establish myself in a completely different environment than I'm used to.  I am also interested in pursuing a career in business/finance (I have yet to pinpoint a specific field) whereas I've been working in communications electronics for the past four years. 

How did you decide which field to pursue?  What was the transition like from college (or a different job or field) into your career?  What resources and information do you wish you had available to you at that point?  What recommendations would you have for someone in my situation?

Thanks for the help!

Re: Career Questions

  • Read (and complete the exercises in) What Color Is My Parachute.  It is the definitive job changing / life path finding book out there.  Or, another excellent book, not as involved but just as helpful, is Unlocking Your Career Potential. 

    If you want to work in business/finance, make sure you have excellent Excel and Word skills.  Pick up any other software you can, Access would be good if you can get it.

    Do the Marines offer career counseling?  If so, take advantage of that.

    Good luck with your transition!

  • I worked a professional job full-time while going to school full-time at night, so for me there really wasn't a transition from college to work.  I already had 3 years experience when school was over.  But I do ditto PP with the Word and Excel thing, Excel specifically.  And Access. 

    I have found though that I pigeon holed myself with my career choice.  I majored in operations management (buisness) and my first jobs were as a buyer/planner, and I found it difficult to transition into product management/marketing because I had "so much experience" in the operations field.  There are times I wish I could go back and change which types of jobs I had my first several years in the workforce, because it seems (at least to me) that once you have established yourself, it's hard to change (without starting all over career-wise and salary-wise).  Sorry if that didn't make sense.  It's still early and I am not quite awake.  ;)


    After 2 rounds of IVF & 2 rounds of FET, we were blessed with identical twin girls!
    image

    Lilypie Third Birthday tickers
  • I chose my field (marketing) in college because it was so broad and figured I could do a lot of different things with it. My transistion from college was pretty easy - I did a couple of internships so I had an idea of what I was getting into. I really feel like the only way to know what a certain field is like and if it fits you is to work in it, unfortunately. Now 5 years later I realize the corporate life is not for me (but that is a whole other post).  In your case, don't the Marines help you out a lot with training on the transition back into civilian life? Good luck! You might want to post this on the 9-5 board as well.
    Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."
    - Martin Luther King Jr.
    BabyFruit Ticker
  • kristisd- Thanks for the reading recommendations.  I was actually planning on borrowing "What Color is My Parachute?" from the library the weekend and I'll reserve the other book you mentioned as well.  Luckily, I am already proficient with all of MS Office, so hopefully that will help in landing a solid job.  The Marines do offer some career courses, but I'll have to wait another six months before I can take one and I'm not sure how in-depth the guidance will be.

    kitomarino13- I'm glad you mentioned the fact that you felt taking certain jobs "pigeonholed" you in the long run.  I know my next job will not likely be my dream position, but I should at least try to find something that can lead to it.  If I were to continue working in the electronics field (with my security clearance and experience), my earnings potential would be much higher, but it may compromise my ability to find a job in the field I'm more interested in.

    SillyStraw- I will look into the transitional courses the Marine Corps offers.  There are some mandatory classes I have to take before I finish up my contract, but I know I'll need to brush up on some things I haven't done in years (interviewing, writing a resume, etc.).  I'm also going to try to see if I can intern or volunteer on the weekends in something similar to what I'd like to pursue so I can get a general idea of what to expect.

Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards