Career advice for a soldier

I am an active army stationed in Alaska. My contract is until Jan 2015 so naturally I'm thinking about "should I re enlist" "what am I going to do if I get out"? My MOS is 25N. I work with Cisco routers and switches, CUCM, CME, and various forms of encryption devices. I have a few certs and a security clearance.

After I finish up CCNA sec I am going to use tuition assistance to finish up my AS and in my free time either go for ccnp or another cert (recommendations?)

I want a networking job. I love working with the cisco cli but other forms of IT (server, virtualization) I want to learn, I just have no experience with. I also really was into the voice track and I am strongly considering focusing on voip career wise. After I get my AS or after I leave the service (whichever happens first), I plan on enrolling into WGU for the network admin track.

Questions I have are:

1. Would 4 years of experience (my contract was 4 years) plus my current certs be enough to find a decent job?

2. What do you think on re enlisting for X amount of years to continue using tuition assistance, gain more experience, and get a few more certs?

3: should I learn and get certified in a different type of IT to make myself look more appealing on a resume?

4. Any other advice for me in general would be appreciated

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Comments

shodown

I'm not sure of your skill setup. Most of the time when most folks get out the military there skills only line up for NOC jobs for the 1st year or 2 out as the engineering work is usually done by contractors on most post. However I'm not sure what your post was like. The best thing to do if you don't have the skills is a two step move.

Step 1

PIMP your clearance. You are more than likley to get a job your not 100 percent qualified for by using your clearance which means going to an area with high cleared jobs. Even with whats going on I still get hit up all the time, so the jobs are out there.

Step 2

Move to your final destination when you have the experience you need.

I think you should look around for the cleared jobs where you work in more generalist roles and you can use what you have to get in the door and touch other technologies.

hoktauri

With a clearance and skills (not just certs) you could probably make good money as a DoD contractor, go overseas on contract. My brother was a Marine intel analyst, got out and had $100k offers for six months to back as a contractor.

Mrock4

canoj wrote: »

Questions I have are:

1. Would 4 years of experience (my contract was 4 years) plus my current certs be enough to find a decent job?

2. What do you think on re enlisting for X amount of years to continue using tuition assistance, gain more experience, and get a few more certs?

3: should I learn and get certified in a different type of IT to make myself look more appealing on a resume?

4. Any other advice for me in general would be appreciated

1. The job you find after you get out is largely dependent upon the level of experience you have, not necessarily the certs/degree (although they help). I have seen CISSP's get out and have trouble finding anything more than a NOC job because they didn't get any significant experience while in the military.

2. Re-upping is not bad, but be honest with yourself, if you re-up, your chances of staying in for 20 are VERY high..especially once you hit the 8-10 year mark..I know firsthand. I'll always advocate that people get out and enter the workforce, but that's only because I did that..but at the end of the day, you know what's best for your situation.

3. If you get certified in another area, that's great, but don't do it just for your resume. All that'll result is you'll have a skill advertised that you cannot back up. If you are genuinely interested in another area (like VOIP), by all means go for it..it certainly will not hurt.

4. You're doing the best thing you can now..asking questions and preparing yourself..do not stop furthering your education/certs. I do concur with shodown that you should focus on getting *A* job when you get out, not the perfect job. Once you're employed (which is a big barrier coming right out of the military), then focus on getting to your ideal role (whether that is networking, or whatever)

The truth is, due to the nature of the military (being reassigned every few years, additional duties, being rotated/deployed, etc)- the experience gained in 1 year of the military in my opinion, is worth about 2 months as a civilian. I am saying this since I was in the military, and I've learned more in the 2 years since I got out than my entire enlistment combined (just shy of 7 years). I mention this because this furthers the need to get out and start building your experience even further. I do feel the military offers GREAT exposure to a lot of technologies, but focused experience can be hard to come by in the military, at least for a substantial amount of time.

ajohn

I haven't worked in the military, but have worked with them in different projects. I agree with the above statement that many jobs are taken by contractors. Biggest reason for this is that soldiers are rotated too often to become expert in any single area. You are destined to be a generalist, not a specialist as long as you are rotated between different positions. This is not necessarily a bad thing. As you keep broadening your knowledge and skills, it will become easier and easier to learn new things.

The best advice I have to offer is to follow your interests and jump at any opportunity to learn something interesting. Your attitude can make a big difference in the opportunities that are offered to you.

sigsoldier

I got out and never looked back. As already stated by others, with your clearance and veteran's pref, you won't have any problems finding a job within the DoD. Keep working towards that degree in the meantime! Don't worry about staying in for the TA, that's what the GI Bill is for.

Also, if you do decide to stay in, don't stay enlisted. Drop that warrant packet!

da_vato

Let me start by saying I was a SSG of 13 yrs and wanted to do the 20 but life happened somewhere in between. I couldn't agree more with SigSoldier (exept for the never looking back part), get your education and if you stay in drop a warrant packet (thats what I was doing before I got out). The military lifestyle is not for everyone especially if multiple deployments are eating at you and your family.

It is fairly true that as soldiers we are more generalists than not BUT we are also given skills and many other things that cannot be obtained anywheres else. What rank are you now? If you have PLDC/ALC/SLC you will be able to jump into an IT Manager position as I did.

Finding a job as a Vet will not be as hard as you think (the scary part is a complete lifestyle change) and I can help if you want, ACAP can answer many questions for you about how to highlight skills that you may not even be aware of. Do you have a clue of what location you would to go to if you get out?

The best advice I can give you rather you stay in or get out is get all you can on the Army's dime while you can, education, certifications and so on. As I used to tell my troops the Army will take all it can from you so take all you can from it.

canoj

Yes I was thinking about if I did reenlist, trying to go warrant but the more I think about it, the more I do not want to reenlist.

da_vato: PLDC that is what is now referred to as WLC correct? I have done that already and I am a specialist. Got an waiver for it. I have enough points (by a long shot, 25N have very low points) to be promoted. My team chief will send me to the board whenever I want, it is just up to me to study for it. I just don't know if I want to stop my current studies for a month or so to give me time to prepare for the board. I eventually want to move back to California, but for now, taking the advice of others, I am willing to move to an area that has a need for security clearances to build up experience first.

Valsacar

If you want to stay in the DoD realm (to use that clearance) you'll need to get CISSP or now CASP (the 2nd level Security cert from CompTIA). I'd suggest going for CASP, CISSP is a pain to get.

Why do an AS? I never really understood the purpose of it (unless cost is a factor, which it isn't for you). Just go do WGU now (TA should cover it, GI Bill does as well) where you can get the full BS and a bunch of certs. You've got a year and a half, depending on how much of your AS is done and what moves over with your certs (looks like pretty much all of them) you could easily get WGU knocked out before you ETS (or just after).

da_vato

canoj wrote:

da_vato: PLDC that is what is now referred to as WLC correct? I have done that already and I am a specialist. Got an waiver for it. I have enough points (by a long shot, 25N have very low points) to be promoted. My team chief will send me to the board whenever I want, it is just up to me to study for it. I just don't know if I want to stop my current studies for a month or so to give me time to prepare for the board. I eventually want to move back to California, but for now, taking the advice of others, I am willing to move to an area that has a need for security clearances to build up experience first.

Yes (I forgot what it was renamed to...) I used to tell all my soldiers to take all you can from the army cause it will take everything it can from you. What I mean is go to WLC and get all the education you can while its free maybe even increase your clearance. A month is nothing compared to the return of investment you will gain. Most vet friendly employers were vets and know what our accomplishment are worth on the outside. California (depending on where exactly) is a great place to go as there are lots of jobs.

Start focusing on what exactly you want to do in IT and start getting educated/certified in that direction.

SteveLord

My state national guard (army and air) are hiring IT technicians regularly. One open now. Pay starts at $59k as a GS11. Can't imagine it's that competitive in my state either. https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/343235400

Got to be part of a drilling unit though, but that is great pay for the area. Can still have health insurance and Guard will pay for your education.