Here is a list that briefly describes things to do before you separate or retire from the military:

• Make key decisions early, like whether to continue working, change careers, or volunteer.
• Decide on your future goals and make plans to achieve them, while you have the career stability provided by the military.
• Figure out how much income you think you’ll need and make a plan for how to meet your needs during the transition to civilian life.
• Make a list of your job skills and interests; consider taking a test, such as the vocational interest inventory, to learn how your skills and interests fit into the current job market. The resources listed in DB101’s Getting Past the Myths article can help with this.
• Create a resume that you can update and customize for job applications.
• Make a career plan with a list of possible employers in your chosen career field; and then make an alternate plan in case your first career plan falls through or takes longer than you thought.
• List any training, education, or certification needed for your chosen career field, and look into options like getting financial aid or beginning your classes early.
• Find out about education benefits you may get under the Post-9/11 Bill or Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). If you enrolled in the Vietnam-era GI Bill, find out how you can convert it to the MGIB. Learn more about VA education benefits.
• Check career websites for information about posting resumes and doing online job searches.
• Learn more about the area where you want to live. How is the job market and economy there?
• Look for jobs in the area where you plan to live. Check online, in newspapers, through word of mouth, or anywhere you find jobs listed. Apply for jobs that interest you and follow up.
• Join a professional association in your chosen career field and find ways to become involved in the association.
• Actively network, which means doing things like meeting people in your chosen field and contacting friends who may be able to help you find a job.
• Attend job fairs as a way of networking and connecting with potential employers.

These are some of the overall steps to consider. Now we’ll take a more in-depth look at:

• The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) and its mandatory TAP Curriculum and services
• Using your service record to prepare for civilian life
• VA education benefits
• Organizing your personal finances
• Finding a job

The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) is a joint program of the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of Labor. It offers information, tools, and training to make sure that service members and their families are ready for their next steps in civilian life. You can participate in TAP throughout your military career, not just when you’re ready to transition to civilian life.

Before you separate from military service, there are a few parts of TAP that you must do. The required parts of TAP are the same for all the military services (including the National Guard and the Reserve), but the services have different names for the program and offer it in slightly different ways. The Department of Labor links to the transition assistance programs for each specific branch of military service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard) and provides a Transition Timeline.

Steps You Must Take

The required parts of TAP can vary depending on the military service you belong to. However, the actual steps you must take before separating from the military are largely the same. They include:

• Participating in the Pre-Separation Counseling process, which includes an overview of the programs and services available to you, and details about how you must create an Individual Transition Plan (ITP). Learn more about the Pre-Separation Counseling process.
• Completing the TAP Curriculum, with coursework designed to prepare you for civilian life based on your needs and goals. Find TAP classes near you or attend virtual classes online.
• Meeting Career Readiness Standards (CRS), a set of specific activities showing that you are ready to follow your goals for civilian life. Learn more about Career Readiness Standards.
• Completing the Capstone process, where your commander (or your commander’s representative) verifies that you have met the Career Readiness Standards and made a workable Individual Transition Plan (ITP). The goal of the Capstone process is to evaluate your readiness for civilian life. If you need or want additional help, your commander (or representative) can refer you to partners, like the VA or Department of Labor. Learn more about the Capstone process.

You can attend TAP through any of the military services and at any military location where it is offered, not just your own. No matter where you attend TAP, your commander (or your commander’s representative) still must verify that you have met Career Readiness Standards and offer you further help if you need or want it.

Learn more about TAP.

Using Your Service Record to Prepare for Civilian Life

The best time to make sure your service record is accurate is when you’re still on active duty. Follow these tips to work on your service record while you get ready for your transition to civilian life:

• If you don’t have a current one, ask for a copy of your complete service record. There are many reasons you may need your record to prove something in the future, such as trainings you completed or awards you got. Having an updated record is like having a copy of your birth certificate — you never know when you might need to provide a copy of it. If you don’t have a copy of your service record, it can take a long time to get one, but if you have one in a file already, you can send a copy to a potential employer the same day they ask.
• Read your service record carefully to make sure it lists all schools, awards, copies of Permanent Change of Duty Station Orders and Active Duty for Training Orders, and documentation of Earned Retirement Points if you were ever in the Selected Reserve.
• Use your service record to make a list of all the jobs and positions you’ve held in the past. Start with your current position and work backwards. List each job title with a one-line description of duties and dates (for example, “March 1998 – June 2003”). If you held more than one job within the same command, list them individually. Also list any equipment you worked on and the command or unit you were assigned to. Keep this list in a simple one- or two-line format.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers education benefits to veterans, service members, and their families. Benefits can include help paying tuition, finding the right school or training program, and career counseling. This page introduces a few of the most important programs.

Post-9/11 GI Bill

You may be able to get Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits if you’ve served on active duty for at least 90 days, whether continuous (all at once) or for shorter periods over time, since September 10, 2001.

If you are enrolled at an approved university or trade school and are in good standing (which means you have to meet certain academic standards, usually a GPA of 2.0 or better), the Post-9/11 GI Bill gives:

• Tuition payments directly to your school, and
• Monthly cash payments to you to help with housing, books, and supplies.

You can also transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to your spouse or child.

Learn more about the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Montgomery GI Bill

The Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) gives you monthly cash payments while you are enrolled at an approved college or trade school and remain in good standing. There are two Montgomery GI Bill programs and you may qualify for benefits from one of them.

Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB-AD)

You can get benefits through MGIB-AD if you:

• Served at least two years on active duty
• Were honorably discharged, and
• Have a high school diploma, GED, or 12 hours of college credit.

You also must meet other program requirements.

Learn more about MGIB-AD.

Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (MBIG-SR)

You can get benefits through MGIB-SR if you’re a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard Reserves, Army National Guard, or Air National Guard, and you either:

• Agreed to serve six years in the Selected Service, or
• Are an officer in the Selected Reserve who agreed to serve six years in addition to your initial service obligation.

You also must meet other program requirements.

Learn more about MGIB-SR.

Other Programs

You may be able to get help paying for school tuition, testing fees, and advanced licensing or certifications through other VA educational programs. Learn more about advanced training and certification. This can include entrepreneurship training to help you start or improve your small business.

How to Apply

The VA lists the documents and information you need to apply for education benefits and offers an online GI Bill Comparison Tool that lets you see what benefits you can get at the school you want to attend.

You can get help picking the right program for you by working with a trained professional at a veterans service organization (VSO). Search for an accredited representative.

Once you’re ready to apply for VA education benefits, you have several options. You can:

• Apply online
• Go to the VA's Detroit Regional Benefit Office and have a VA employee help you
• Work with your school’s certifying official (usually the school’s registrar or financial aid office)
• Call 1-888-442-4551 (1-888-GI-BILL-1) and ask to have an application mailed to you. Fill it out and mail it to the VA Regional Processing Office nearest to the school you want to attend.

It typically takes the VA about 30 days to make a decision on an education benefits application. If your application is approved, you’ll get an award letter, or Certificate of Eligibility (COE), in the mail; bring it to the VA certifying official at your school.

After you go back to civilian life, you may be living on a tight budget for a while. If you don’t plan carefully and watch what you spend, you could get into financial trouble.

The earlier you look at your finances, the more time you have to create a workable plan. Here are some things to think about:

• Your family budgets and spending plans
• Your record keeping
• Your health care and life insurance costs
• Your credit
• Your debts
• Your taxes
• Your investments

Create an estimated civilian budget. It should include things like rent or a mortgage payment, taxes, health insurance, and medical fees. And don’t forget to budget for saving some money each month, and paying off any debts that you owe.

Also make sure to think about the things that are free or low-cost for service members. While medical care, housing, childcare, life insurance, and gym memberships may cost you little while in the military, they’ll cost a lot when you’re a civilian. And you might have to pay state taxes too, depending on your state.

If you can, build up a transition savings fund before you separate from the service. It’s good to have enough money to cover living costs for three to 12 months. That way, you’ll be able to deal with unexpected costs or gaps in your income while you look for a job. How much money you need to save depends on whether you are single, married, or have children, and what kind of income you expect to have as a civilian.

If you expect to get disability payments, it might be several months or more before you get your first payment. You may need to rely on your transition savings until your disability payments start.

Check your credit

Get free copies of your credit report from the top three credit reporting agencies — Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax — by ordering them at AnnualCreditReport.com; it’s the only website that is part of the legally mandated free credit report program. Beware of other sites that claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring” — in some cases, the “free” product can cost you money.

Each credit reporting company gets its information from different sources, so the reports can vary from company to company. You can request reports from all three credit companies at once, or you can order from one company, review the report and clean up any errors or problems, then order from the next company, and the next. Remember that you can only get one free report from each company every 12 months.

Review a credit report carefully and make a note of any accounts you have a question about. Cancel any open accounts that are inactive or that you no longer need. Call the companies directly and ask them to close your account and send you a written confirmation that the account has been closed. Learn more about free credit reports.

Finding a Job

The easiest way to get a job is to know someone who already works at your target company or organization. This means that one of the most important things you can do in your job search is to network. Find ways to meet people who know when jobs are available and who can help you have a better shot at success.

If you want a government job, find out the exact requirements for resumes and applications. Different agencies have different requirements. You can search for jobs at federal, state, county, city, and local government levels.

If you prefer private employment, start preparing your resume. Search online for “ military resume” or “military to civilian resume,” and you’ll find many sample resumes that can give you an idea of how to get started. There are also hundreds of sites to help you; some are free and some charge a fee. Be sure you understand what you’re getting before you pay any money. Your resume is an important tool and you’ll be revising it when needed for years to come.

Crafting Your Resume

Your resume needs to clearly show how well your military experience transfers to a civilian job. Here are some tips:

• Have a clear goal: Define your target civilian job. Because many service members have done many different things in the military, their resumes can be too general to be effective.
• Show how you can meet the employer’s needs. A resume needs to answer the employer's question, "What can this person do for me?" Find out exactly what’s needed to do your target job, and make sure those skills and traits are highlighted in your resume.
• Don’t assume the reader knows anything about the military: Avoid acronyms and military jargon. Before sending out your resume, show it to friends who do not have a military background. Demilitarize your job titles, duties, accomplishments, training, and awards:
  • Military.com offers a Military Skills Translator to match your military experience to civilian jobs.
  • CareerOneStop.org shows how to tanslate military job terms and acronyms into civilian language.
• Highlight your accomplishments. Your military career gave you excellent training, practical experience, and advancement. Emphasize these on your resume so the average civilian can understand the importance of what you did and the skills you learned.
• Feature your military background. Your military experience is an asset, and your resume needs to show that. Detail the traits you developed in the military, like dedication, leadership, teamwork, a positive work ethic, and cross-functional skills.

Job Boards

Here are a few of the many online resources that can help you look for work

• VetJobs.org: Anyone can search for a job on this website, but to post a resume you must have been a military service member or a military spouse or dependent.
• USAJobs.com: The official job board for the U.S. government, this site lists federal jobs across the U.S. and around the world.
• FedsHireVets.gov: Operated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, this site explains veterans’ preference (the special hiring authorities that veterans can use to get hired) and how federal jobs are filled. It also offers resources related to your job search.
• VACareers.va.gov: Learn about jobs available with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the nation’s largest health care system.
• VAforVets.va.gov: This site lists jobs with the VA, in programs designed to help your fellow veterans. The VA gives hiring preference to veterans, especially veterans with disabilities.
• Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (VETS): The Department of Labor lists a variety of resources for veterans and their families who are looking for work.
• Veteran and Military Transition Center at CareerOneStop.org: A one-stop website for employment, training, and financial help for veterans.