“The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that it does exist.” —Zig Ziglar

For service members and military spouses gearing up for military transition, we want to bring something to your attention you’re probably not hearing from other veteran advocates out there.

Here it is: You have gaps and misalignments when you’re leaving the military and entering the private sector

This shouldn’t be something that raises your ire or offends your sensibilities. Instead, it should be a common sense environmental factor you need to be aware of, think through, and overcome in order to be successful once you leave the military.

Why Are There Gaps & Misalignments?

As a military member, you are educated, trained, and have lots of grit. You’ve probably heard these attributes before and to be clear, these attributes are accurate.

What you haven’t heard is that you have gaps and misalignments with respect to the private sector.

To better understand this, look at the graphic provided, pause for a moment, and remove emotion.

You have gaps and misalignments with the private sector because the military and the private sector environments are so different. Here are three large differences between the two environments to paint the picture.

• Existence
  • The military’s existence is mandated through the US Constitution
  • There’s no mandate for private sector companies to exist
• Competition
  • The military has no competitor
  • The private sector business environment was deliberately designed to be competitive
• The Need to Generate Revenue
  • The military spends an annual budget that’s allocated
  • Private sector companies must make money before they spend it

Don’t gloss over these distinctions—these environments are very different. Said another way, through your military training, your thinking and decision making is optimized for the military. Which means your thinking and decision making is not optimized for the private sector. This means the chances your military transition will be rocky increases significantly. It’s just a common sense observation that’s supported by 30 years of data.

As a cautionary tale, if you don’t set yourself up for success, you’re unnecessarily increasing the risk that you start your post-military life by having to dig yourself out of a hole that you don’t need to be in.

PreVeteran Training Can Optimize You For the Private Sector

Our mission at PreVeteran is to help you optimize your military transition. This means ensuring you find the right career, make more money, and for you and your family to be happier and healthier along the way. This is why we created our Military Transition 2.0 System that guarantees you get the tools and the training to be successful. You won’t find this training anywhere else, so we encourage you to get started now.

Learn about our individual training programs and get into our next cohort.

Schedule a 15 min call with PreVeteran to learn more