Enlisted service members' transition into the civilian world of work: a cognitive information processing approach

Career Development Quarterly, March, 2008 by Elysia V. Clemens, Amy S. Milsom

According to data regarding the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy, the U.S. military's strength, or number of active duty members, is approximately 1.4 million service personnel (Office of Army Demographics, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 2004d). Of the U.S. military's active duty personnel, 84% are enlisted and the remaining 16% are officers (Office of Army Demographics, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 2004d). Approximately 15% of the enlisted service members were recruited during the 2004 fiscal year (Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, 2004). Education is the primary factor differentiating enlisted service members from officers upon entry into the military. Fewer than 4% of enlisted service members hold 4-year college degrees compared with officers, who typically enter the U.S. military with undergraduate or advanced degrees (Office of Army Demographics, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 2004d). The size of the U.S. military and the percentage of enlisted service members are significant to career counselors because, at some point, most of these individuals will transition into the civilian workforce.

Transitional Challenges

Many of the developmental challenges civilian employees and civilian families factor into career choices, including child care, social networks, financial gains, and transportation, also apply to enlisted soldiers. A mitigating factor in some enlisted soldiers' postmilitary career choices, however, is the propensity for military personnel to make frequent moves (Drummet, Coleman, & Cable, 2003). Frequent relocation while serving in the U.S. military might make it difficult for military personnel to establish or to maintain civilian professional and social networks. Drummet et al. indicated that military personnel and their families move nearly twice as often as other Americans and make international moves at 4 times the rate of civilian families. Professional and social networks are often developed simply through time spent in one location and are frequently used as a method of locating jobs (Gunn, 2005). Thus, the frequent moves associated with military service might decrease the likelihood of an individual learning about specific career opportunities through professional or social networks.

Services Provided by the Military

All branches of the military are required to provide preseparation counseling and to offer transition assistance workshops aiding in the transition from military service to civilian life (Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act, 2001). The legal requirement to provide transition assistance is grounded in a 1990 recognition by the U.S. Congress that military reductions were impending and some skills (e.g., combat arms) do not readily transfer into civilian career skills (Military and Veterans' Benefits, 2002). One of the mandatory steps for an enlisted service member to clear, or to separate from, the U.S. military is establishing proof that preseparation counseling has been received (DD Form 2648, 2005; U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza, n.d.). Receiving preseparation counseling is defined as completing a preseparation counseling checklist (i.e., DD Form 2648) at least 90 days prior to separation and involves the service member simply accepting or declining the U.S. military's various transitional services. Some of the available transitional services include job counseling, placement services, financial planning, and task-based services such as resume writing or interviewing skill development (DD Form 2648, 2005; Military and Veterans' Benefits, 2002).

Although a number of services are available to help enlisted service members adjust or readjust to the civilian employment sector, limited data are available on the outcomes or effectiveness of programs and not all enlisted service members use the services (Military and Veterans' Benefits, 2002). During the 2001 fiscal year, the U.S. military held 3,905 transition workshops with average class sizes ranging from 24 in the U.S. Army to 41 in the Marine Corps. The number of individuals participating in the transition workshops (118,857) pales in comparison with the number of separations of service members (217,717) during the same fiscal year. The U.S. Army reported the lowest participation rate in transitional workshops (only 33% of separating service members); the participation rate for other branches ranged from 64% to 72%. The substantially depressed participation by the U.S. Army's enlisted soldiers compared with other enlisted service members is significant given that the U.S. Army enlists more service members than do the other branches (Office of Army Demographics, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 2004d).

Many enlisted service members are not participating in transition assistance workshops and, therefore, are not receiving task-based information on resume writing and job search strategies (Military and Veterans' Benefits, 2002). It is important to keep in mind that many enlisted service members entered the military following high school graduation and, therefore, have never experienced postgraduation civilian work (Office of Army Demographics, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 2004d). Without knowledge that could be gained through participation in the U.S. military's transitional services and with little or no previous civilian work experience, some enlisted service members reenter civilian life with little direction or understanding of the civilian world of work. It is likely that some enlisted service members lack the knowledge and skills to make effective career decisions. Cognitive information processing (CIP) theory can be helpful in conceptualizing potentially effective interventions for these individuals.