When a lot of veterans exit the military, they bring a lot to the table. They may have useful skills, that the military trained them in the highest levels of proficiency and that are directly transferable to the civilian sector — even if they were infantry, that brings along a plethora of abstract qualities like leadership, a willingness to get down and dirty and simply work, and a “think outside the box” mentality. All of these things are desirable and lacking in the civilian world.

Jobs should be chomping at the bit to hire you, right?

Wrong. You could have all the qualities in the world surrounding a certain job, but if you can’t do the one thing you’re there to do — how can they use you? If you’re working in a marketing company, you have to learn how to use Twitter and you have to know how to schedule posts on Facebook. If you’re working in a newspaper distribution company, you have to learn how to a paper route works, how the newspapers are built beforehand, and how the company mitigates disaster when breaking news gets printed last-minute.

These are basic things in the industries you’re getting into. Day one knowledge, like always putting your weapon on safe if you’re not actively engaging the enemy, or learning to automatically clear a malfunction in your weapon should one occur.

My experience is with Rangers, and unless you were a SOCM Medic, had an MOS in communications, or had some other niche skill, your direct skill of kicking down doors and shooting or detaining the enemy will likely not correlate. You have to adapt and overcome — a phrase many hear but have difficulty applying to the boring or uninteresting facets of civilian life.