Or...is it still being written?
Share with us here a short story of your own transition:
What did you do in the Military?
What steps did you take to prepare for a career in Project Management?
What type of civilian jobs did you land in and what has career progression been like?
What skills from the Military translated well to civilian Project Management?
What skills did you not have that the civilian world was looking for?
What have you found different about managing civilian projects from military ones?
How did your civilian salary or compensation match up to your expectations?
How did your job search go?
What advice do you have for others just starting their transition journey?
How did project management certifications play a part in your story (PMP, PMI-ACP, etc.)?
What did you do in the Military? Army, Intel (35P/98G - Cryptologic Linguist/Signals Intel)
What steps did you take to prepare for a career in Project Management? In service, had Operations (S3 shop) for long duration at Brigade/Division level. Saw the MDMP aligned well with civilian PMBOK and PM methodology and low and behold, civilians pay a lot for our skill set. Got my PMP, Scrum Master, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and Agile certifications to set me up for success.
What type of civilian jobs did you land in and what has career progression been like? IT Project Manager in local school district immediately following running small to enterprise level projects, CFO of a start-up running operations and internal projects in addition to increasing revenue and managing systems, and now am a Director of Operations and Sr Project Manager for a Salesforce Consulting partner.
What skills from the Military translated well to civilian Project Management? Stakeholder management, briefing skills, decision making, risk identification and mitigation, communication skills, planning skills, and consolidating lessons learned (AAR/Post-Mortems)
What skills did you not have that the civilian world was looking for? Direct hands-on with some technology or difference in verbiage/terminology for PM processes.
What have you found different about managing civilian projects from military ones? The possibility of not everything doing their job and being a team player is higher on the civilian side, in the military, rank and teams, as well as the caliber of individuals help ensure the quality of effort, whereas on the civilian side, that can be hit and miss.
How did your civilian salary or compensation match up to your expectations? PM is a very lucrative industry and there is a great need for successful PMs in the civilian sector. Get in, make a difference, show them your value!
How did your job search go? Once I realized how important networking and informational interviews were, it went very well.
What advice do you have for others just starting their transition journey? While your resume is important, networking and who you know is extremely more important. Employee referrals carry so much weight, and I would advise everyone coming behind me to take advantage of things like mentoring platforms and informational interviews.
How did project management certifications play a part in your story (PMP, PMI-ACP, etc.)? I got my first PM job post-Army without my PMP certification, but I could speak as to how my experience translated to the PMBOK methodology at least as a key. Having your PMP and being able to relate your experience to the PM methodology and the impact you've had as a PM is critical for the more senior positions.