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Claiming anything is the "best" is a bold statement, and one that can't often be backed up by anything other than opinion. "Best" is, well, at best a subjective term, varying from person to person. If your career plans call for you to be a so-called "lifer" in the armed forces, then you can't do much better than to join the military, but for someone wanting to use the military to jump start a career, your outcome can be a little iffy.

I have recently made a stumbling return to the civilian world, and I've spent the last few months trying to find my feet. After six years in the United States Air Force as a Korean Linguist (a job I more or less stumbled into accidentally), two years of living and working in Korea, and gaining two Associate Degrees during my journey, I've exited to find a job market where my skills are less than sought after. Some of this may have to do with the area I live in now There isn't much call for people fluent in far-eastern languages in rural South Dakota but a lot of it also has to do with the general lack of a non-military fields for my military skills and knowledge to cross over into, as well as my post-military career plans being vague at best.

As many of my friends and coworkers reenter civilian life at the end of their enlistments, they have been met with mixed results. A former Airman with aspirations of being a policeman back in his hometown has had resounding success with the job hunt, chiefly due to his four years experience in Security Forces. Another acquaintance of mine, also a former Korean linguist, is now working for a company that fulfills contracts for the U. S. Military in intelligence, but he decided to move to California so he could take the job. Other acquaintances of mine have had less success. One young woman separated from the Air Force, but after six months of not being able to find a job joined the Air National Guard, working the same job she had while she was enlisted.

If you plan on joining the military as a career starter, consider what you will gain from the military. Look at successful people in the field you plan to work in and find out their histories. Did they use the military as their springboard to success? One of my former coworkers with future political aspirations joined the military after making just such an analysis. Others, such as myself, join the military as a springboard to adulthood and a way to pay for college. In the end, I may not be able to find a job using all of the skills I gained in the military, but I have gained a measure of maturity that will serve me well in whatever career I choose, and I'll be able to finish off my Bachelor's Degree with less debt than many of my High School classmates. In the end, whether or not joining the military is the "best" way to begin a career is up to you.

Learn more about this author, Jake Cox.
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