Making the Transition

When it comes to making a job transition, especially from the military after a full career, one of the best pieces of advice I received came from a former Commanding Officer of mine, Steve Ashworth. Steve took me to lunch about six month before I was due to retire and proceeded to once again give me Orders. “Don’t decide on a position until you have interviewed at least 20 times.”

I found this hard to fathom, as I hardly expected 20 companies would want to interview me. But his mandate stuck with me during the succession of interviews that came. I thought a lot about what he meant and it soon became clear. After one interview, you will feel like Sally Fields at the Oscars, “They like me, they really like me!” After three you will begin to understand that they all like you, after a dozen you realize the choice is YOURS even more than theirs. By no means should this put you in a position to be cocky and arrogant, rather by making yourself interview for multiple opportunities, especially when they are with different companies (large and small) with different requirements, you will get past the, “Wow they want to interview me” and hopefully arrive at the point where you can objectively evaluate each perspective employer and make the best decision for you and your family.