The career transition experiences of military Veterans: A qualitative study

Abstract

Transitioning out of a military career can be difficult and stressful for Veterans. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges and needs of career transitioning Veterans. Fifteen United States Veterans from a larger mixed methods research project completed a qualitative semi-structured interview regarding their career transition. Interview questions invited participants to define their transition experience, identify influential psychosocial factors, resources utilized or needed, what it meant to transition out of the military, role changes experienced, and how the participant had adapted to the transition. Emergent thematic analysis revealed 4 themes: 1) it is necessary to actively prepare for the transition; 2) a variety of factors impacted the military career transition process; 3) transitioning out of a military career equated to the loss of structure; and 4) the transition required Veterans to establish themselves outside of the military. Findings from this study identified barriers, desired assistance, and facilitators to the career transition process, which should be considered by those assisting transitioning Veterans and when developing transition-related resources. Continuing to expand on this knowledge will positively impact service members as they exit their military career.

Facilitating United States Service Members’ Transition Out of the Military: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

“…Perhaps more importantly, when veterans perceive a potentially greater sense of relatedness when they deemphasize the transition, they are more likely to buy into this norm. Given the cultural “stigma” in the military surrounding the transition reported by veterans in the current as well as previous studies (e.g., Shue et al, 2021), it appears important to note that such post-career planning does not have to negatively affect service members’ performance while still in the military. In fact, Lavallee (2019) found that professional athletes, for example, who engage higher levels of post-career planning experience positive effects on team selection (i.e., availability for competition), team tenure (i.e., number of years at their current club), and career tenure (i.e., years competing in their sport overall).…”

“…Participants further recognized the value of networking and internship programs as factors that helped them regain a sense of competence, which provides two tangible measures that can be used to foster service members’ transition experience and complement considerations, such as finding a new purpose, achieving career satisfaction, and establishing a new identity (Shue et al, 2021) that have been suggested in previous research. As such, the present findings extend knowledge on factors that facilitate a positive transition beyond the primarily personal and service-related factors that cannot be altered when service members prepare to leave the armed forces.…”

“…They identified strategies, such as finding a new purpose, achieving career satisfaction, and establishing a new identity, that exceed the frequently investigated personal and service-related factors which can facilitate veterans’ transition by allowing them to establish themselves in the civilian world. However, despite the valuable contribution of these findings, Shue et al’s (2021) results do not offer insight into the ways (i.e., mechanisms) that allow individuals to successfully accomplish or implement these strategies.…”

“…While these studies can provide helpful insight into predictors of successful transitions, most of these examined variables cannot be altered when service members prepare to leave the armed forces, thus limiting efforts to purposefully facilitate their experience. Recently, Shue et al (2021) explored the challenges and needs of veterans in their military transition. They identified strategies, such as finding a new purpose, achieving career satisfaction, and establishing a new identity, that exceed the frequently investigated personal and service-related factors which can facilitate veterans’ transition by allowing them to establish themselves in the civilian world.…”

The “Transition” to Civilian Life From the Perspective of Former Serving Australian Defence Force Members

“…The transition from military-to-civilian life is associated with challenges including identity and employment, establishing meaning and purpose, family and personal relationships, and financial hardship. This can lead to harmful behaviours, including suicide (Danish & Antonides, 2013;Kleykamp et al, 2021;Mobbs & Bonanno, 2018;Morin, 2011;Orazem et al, 2017;Ravindran et al, 2020;Shue et al, 2021). To counter these challenges there is an increasing recognition that military personnel need improved support during the transition from military-to-civilian life.…”