Each year, approximately 250,000 military veterans transition to civilian life and begin the journey toward finding a career that leverages the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired during service.
While joyous reunions and exciting new opportunities are part of the transition to civilian life, it can also be overwhelming and downright frustrating. Furthermore, navigating the job market presents unique challenges for veterans.
Here’s a hypothetical situation veterans might encounter: You’re interviewing for a job that fits your skill set, knowledge and character. The hiring manager commends and thanks you for your service. As you describe the skills and qualifications accumulated throughout your service, you sense that they aren’t fully grasping how these experiences relate to the job.
Later, they inform you that, while they really enjoyed the conversation, they’ve decided to move forward with other candidates.
A 2022 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America survey offers insights into similar veteran experiences. When asked about challenges in finding work, 42 percent of respondents cited insufficient education or certification, and 34 percent said explaining how military skills translate to the job were major hurdles.
“Military service is incredibly applicable to the commercial world. The problem is that many hiring managers and leaders in the commercial world are unfamiliar with the military,” said Luke Ferrel, senior director of customer success at Outreach.
Ferrel explained that job requirements like “three-to-five years managing a book of business in a SaaS environment” often result in a narrow view of what the company actually needs.
Veterans like Ferrel, who have established themselves in the tech industry, understand what it takes to secure an ideal role and offer valuable advice and wisdom for those pursuing such positions.
Built In Seattle spoke to veterans from six local companies to hear how military service helped develop their careers in tech — what advice they have for fellow veterans looking to build careers in the tech industry.
Customer-facing representatives use Outreach’s sales engagement platform to boost revenue, increase productivity and drive innovation and growth.
How and where did you serve your country? What is your current role, and what are you working on right now?
I was an Air Force officer. I worked as an acquisitions officer in products and tactics for combat search and rescue, building or acquiring products needed to accomplish certain missions, or creating and optimizing tactics to reduce risk to our teams.
What aspects of your military service have helped you build a career in tech, and what are some new skills you’ve developed since you left the service?
Military service is incredibly applicable to the commercial world. The problem is that many hiring managers and leaders in the commercial world are unfamiliar with the military. Commercial leaders often have job requirements such as “three-to-five years managing a book of business in a SaaS environment.” While I think this is great, it’s a very narrow view of what the company actually needs.
It’s important to pull the hiring manager and company’s view up to a principle-driven level. For example, in customer success I need people who can define strategy, influence senior stakeholders, learn complicated tech and act in an advisory manner. I did many of those things in the Air Force. While I didn’t have direct customers, I did have to influence senior stakeholders, and I did have to learn and teach complicated tech.
It’s important to get hiring managers to focus on principles but also to acknowledge what you need to learn. Since I have been out of the military, I have learned a lot about revenue management and customer-facing interactions. There are limited opportunities to learn these skills in the military.
Reach out to senior leaders in the fields and companies that interest you. Senior leaders with a military background will almost always be willing to help another veteran.”
What advice would you give fellow veterans looking to build a career in the tech sector?
Use every advantage you have. When I was looking to transition from the Air Force, I didn’t want to be the “military guy,” so I didn’t use my military network to find positions and referrals. You are at a disadvantage compared to applicants who have been in similar jobs. You need to reach out to senior leaders in the fields and companies that interest you. Senior leaders with a military background will almost always be willing to help another veteran — I know I am, hit me up on LinkedIn!
I have two other big pieces of advice: First, compete where you can win. I see a ton of veterans who want to get into ML or data science after a 20-year career. You are going to be crushed by kids out of college for three years. If you want to play here, you are starting at the bottom.
Second, think long-term about jobs. You will likely make $5,000 to $10,000 more per year immediately if you go work at a government contractor. There is nothing wrong with this, but there are other fields where you will grow faster. For example, I have a friend who came out as a captain. He started at $110,000 in a tech company instead of the $120,000 to $130,000 he could have made as a prime contractor. Four years later, his base is $375,000!
Featured as one of Built In Seattle’s Best Places to Work in 2022, Highspot created a sales engagement platform that representatives can use to manage content, engage with buyers and access learning resources.
How and where did you serve your country? What is your current role, and what are you working on right now?
I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2004, starting in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune before moving to California at Camp Pendleton. I trained as a tactical network specialist and military occupation specialist 0656 and eventually was a part of the communications platoon with the 3rd Battalion 8th Marines. I was deployed twice — in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006, followed by a Marine Expeditionary across the Atlantic in 2007. While on deployment, I did a handful of different tasks such as radio watch, night drives to resupply missions and running cat5 ethernet cables across government buildings.
I’m currently a DevOps Engineer at Highspot, where I sit on the monitoring and observability crew. I work with a team of experienced developers to ensure Highspot applications are operable, scalable and deliver the highest quality experience to our customers. I participate in code reviews, post-mortems, architecture reviews and planning. Being well-conditioned for fast-paced environments is a skill that is helpful in engineering, too, especially for troubleshooting or during outages.
What aspects of your military service have helped you build a career in tech, and what are some new skills you’ve developed since you left the service?
Perseverance was the biggest skill I took away from my time in the Marines. When you don’t have the option not to show up or quit, you develop a certain toughness and resilience that keeps you going until the work is done. In any career path, you’ll get stuck and hit walls you’ll need to break through, so having that grit is the key. Additionally, I learned other skills like working on a team, managing stress and the ability to build camaraderie. These are all great skills that are incredibly transferable.
After I left the military, I picked up skills around programming and writing code, which I hadn’t learned during my time in the Marines. I’ve since become proficient in Linux and have really enjoyed digging into that.
Many people leave the military fearing their experience won’t translate to the corporate world. While raw talent is one part of it, a strong work ethic plays a role, too.”
What advice would you give to fellow veterans who are looking to build a career in the tech sector?
Many people leave the military fearing their experience won’t translate to the corporate world. While raw talent is one part of it, a strong work ethic plays a role, too. Starting a career is tough, so make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons — that you find the work interesting and are passionate about it. If you do it for superficial reasons, you’ll only burn out and waste time growing a skill you don’t enjoy.
Use the rigor and structure of the military lifestyle to your benefit. Create a routine to help you maintain the new balance of your corporate life. Personally, I like to get up early, work out and schedule out my day. I’ve developed a love for the drums and exploring new places with my dog. Creating a hobby outside of work allows you to explore new things and sticking to this routine made the shift out of military life a bit easier.
One reality I’ve had to come to terms with is that you likely won’t be able to recreate that sense of purpose you had from your military life to your corporate life. So make sure to maintain relationships with your comrades and build a community where you can.
Anduril is a defense tech company that aims to build and harness cutting-edge technology like AI to solve complex national security challenges and protect military service members.
How and where did you serve your country? What is your current role, and what are you working on right now?
I served 24 years in the USAF in Special Operations as a Combat Controller (CCT).
At Anduril, I work on Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and Special Operations Business Development. I have several other fun projects that I’m working on across our portfolio as well.
What aspects of your military service have helped you build a career in tech, and what are some new skills you’ve developed since you left the service?
Serving as the sole Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) on 11 combat deployments within a joint special operations counter-terrorist team helped me understand tactics, techniques and procedures — and the unique challenges that accompany them. At the end of my Air Force career, I served as the chief of both weapons and tactics and combat development directorate to address operational challenges head-on with a combination of techniques and emerging technology.
Upon retirement, I did business development at a large military communications company applying their technology with other best-in-class equipment to deliver integrated solutions to both Special Operations and General Purpose Forces across the four services and coalition partners. I learned the acquisition system, requirements processes and organizational structure of various units across DoD.
Just because you haven’t been exposed to a process or challenge doesn’t mean you will not excel at finding the solution.”
What advice would you give to fellow veterans who are looking to build a career in the tech sector?
Don’t limit yourself! Just because you haven’t been exposed to a process or challenge doesn’t mean you will not excel at finding the solution. You have earned a ton of knowledge and character through your service and will likely be a valuable team member wherever you land.
Healthcare Management Administrators provide innovative healthcare plans to self-funded employers. For over 35 years, the company has helped companies protect their workforce and save money.
How and where did you serve your country? What is your current role, and what are you working on right now?
I served honorably in the U.S. Army for five years as a cryptanalyst and a Chinese Mandarin linguist. It was an extremely challenging but fun and rewarding job. Today, approximately 20 years later, I work in the healthcare field as a continuous process improvement team manager. I thoroughly enjoy my work. The company I work for and the people I work with are amazing. I genuinely look forward to coming to work each day.
Currently, I’m working with my team on how we can do fewer administrative tasks and focus more on tangible value-add work. When we talk about continuous process improvement, it’s not just us improving how other teams work; it also applies to our own team. Just like when I was a non-commissioned officer in the Army, I believe in leading by example and strive for my team to do the same. That means that positive change starts with us.
What aspects of your military service have helped you build a career in tech, and what are some new skills you’ve developed since you left the service?
I’ve always had the desire to understand how things work. Growing up, I would take devices apart, identify their individual components, learn about what they did and put them back together. Sometimes they still worked afterward, sometimes they didn’t, but that wasn’t the point — although I’m sure my mom disagreed at times. The point was learning and improving over time. Additionally, I was always big into brain teasers like logic puzzles, nonograms, sudoku, mathdoku and so on.
I intentionally chose a job in the military with a similar mindset, and the work I did there only fueled my passions. While I haven’t continued working specifically in linguistics or cryptanalysis since I completed my military service, I have been working in roles with similar interests. I’ve found that my military service instilled a solid work ethic and fed my desire to constantly learn more. I’ve learned and used various programming languages over the years, but my primary focus has been on process improvement. For example, I’m a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and soon to be a Black Belt, and I strive to instill a continuous process improvement mentality in all of the work that I do.
Take all the classes and get all the certifications you can. Never stop learning. Hone your soft skills, like self-direction, critical thinking and adaptability.”
What advice would you give fellow veterans looking to build a career in the tech sector?
The transition from military to civilian life is challenging. They’re very different worlds. A major challenge I faced was translating my military duties into corresponding civilian ones. For example, my work involved codebreaking in a foreign language. Outside of government, where can you find a job like that in the civilian sector? I found that breaking my work down into its individual parts made it more relatable. This goes for any military duty. If you don’t know where to start, ask around.
There’s no shortage of places willing to help, many of which are free for vets. Regarding working in tech, think about what aspects of it you’re interested in. Take all the classes and get all the certifications you can. Never stop learning. The main thing I’d recommend, though, is honing your soft skills, like self-direction, critical thinking and adaptability. In my time in the Army, I learned a lot of hard skills, like how to shoot a rifle and break codes, but not nearly as much regarding soft skills. Sure, they’re harder to measure, but they are still critical to success, especially in the civilian sector. Additionally, they’re often a key determining factor between two otherwise skilled candidates.
Healthtech company Accolade offers personalized healthcare with a human touch. Accolade’s mission is to match employees with the best care options, guided by intelligent technology and actionable data.
How and where did you serve your country? What is your current role, and what are you working on right now?
During my military service, I was fortunate to have served in two branches of the armed forces.
My career started directly out of college as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force stationed at the Air Force research laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base. My role was as a developmental mechanical engineer working on boost-stage liquid rocket engines.
The second part of my career was in the Army as an infantry officer, where I served initially with the 82nd Airborne. I led both platoon and company-level operations both stateside and in Afghanistan.
Today my role at Accolade is VP of platform operations. Responsible for several engineering and operational teams from member to customer.
What aspects of your military service have helped you build a career in tech, and what are some new skills you’ve developed since you left the service?
Leadership, communication and critical thinking. The military is great at giving leaders an objective, a box of “stuff,” which can be people, equipment, or environment and letting us figure it out. While both roles I served in were vastly different, the three aspects listed above were key to success.
Be curious, continuously learn and leverage the skills learned while serving to accelerate your chosen path.”
What advice would you give fellow veterans looking to build a career in the tech sector?
Be curious, continuously learn and leverage the skills learned while serving to accelerate your chosen path. Former military have a reputation for being reliable, critical thinkers and good with abstract problems.
Foursquare’s location data bridges the gap between digital information and physical spaces. The independent geolocation tech company connects people with meaningful experiences while helping businesses achieve better outcomes.
How and where did you serve your country? What is your current role, and what are you working on right now?
I served on active duty in the Marine Corps for five years in intelligence and for five years before that in civilian roles, working closely with all military services and a variety of civilian agencies. At Foursquare, I’m currently part of the go-to-market team, which is the “boots on the ground” for revenue generation. I’m leaning heavily into leveraging the novelty of my public sector experiences at Foursquare to explore the spectrum of ways our capabilities can help public entities to serve society’s interests while adhering to our privacy policies.
What aspects of your military service have helped you build a career in tech, and what are some new skills you’ve developed since you left the service?
Some hard skills the military teaches are directly transferable to civilian careers, but many aren’t. To be honest, it was the intangible skills and character traits I gained in the military that have helped me most. The military imbues its members with a distinct “mission and team first” ethos and unique perspectives that are differentiators for veterans. In particular, service members — regardless of role — have no choice but to learn to be steady amidst hecticness, comfortable being uncomfortable, able to navigate uncertainty and make sense of ambiguity, and adept at being team players and leaders with a bias for action.
These qualities aren’t specific to the military, but there are few environments where they exist in a context as sobering and unforgiving as that of the armed services. The combination of these factors sets vets apart and predisposes them to be distinct value adders in organizations. Personally, the first thing I learned was to use, shall we say, less colorful language! But more importantly, the biggest adjustment had to do with internalizing the pressures and drivers of the private sector, especially the need to focus on contributing to the income statement.
It’s important to embrace unknowns as opportunities rather than obstacles. The next step is just that, a next step.”
What advice would you give to fellow veterans who are looking to build a career in the tech sector?
The tech industry tends to be particularly fluid and fast-moving. While the military as an institution might have quite a bit of inertia, day-to-day operations require agility and scrappiness. “Semper Gumby” — meaning “always flexible,” “expect the unexpected,” and “improvise, adapt, overcome.” These mantras are so universal to the military way of life that they’ve become a cliche, and vets should capitalize on already being used to quick changes in direction when starting in tech.
Vets entering tech will probably have many more questions than answers, but they shouldn’t be dissuaded: Play through the growing pains, put ego aside and ask “stupid questions,” identify thoughtful and committed mentors, and trust the process. Related to that, it’s important to embrace unknowns as opportunities rather than obstacles. The next step is just that, a next step. You might find an immediate connection to a role in tech, but the odds are that you won’t.
That’s not only fine, but it’s also great! My aim when I go into a new experience is much less about finding the answer than it is about finding what isn’t the answer. Keep stock of what works and doesn’t. Be patient and take pride in your difference.
