Why You Should Consider a Career as an Operations Specialist After Your Military Service


Going from an active military member to a civilian can be nerve wracking. It’s a big change in your life.

Some vets are concerned about finding a job after their service. They seem to struggle more than civilians when looking for jobs.

Operation Specialist jobs may be the perfect fit. It uses the skills you developed through your military career.

Why It’s So Hard for Vets to Find Civilian Jobs

Finding a job is hard for anyone. But veterans seem to have special reasons why it’s so difficult. So if you are a vet, and you are having a hard time, it’s not just you.


About 1 in 3 employers are concerned that a vet applying to their company has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They feel that it would be a step backwards for their company to hire a veteran.

Another stereotype is that employers worry that veterans are so used to taking orders, that they won’t do anything on their own. That they will be too rigid to go with the flow when it’s needed.

Hiring Managers Don’t Understand Their Skills 

Hiring managers are used to seeing resumes with college degrees and 1 or 2 jobs. What they aren’t used to seeing, is what a veteran can bring to a civilian employer.

You may have been the best of the best while serving, but showing how the skills you learned during that period can be hard.

What is an Operations Specialist?

Group study

It’s kind of a broad term and it can vary depending on the industry you work for. For the most part, they are people who work for firms and organizations to help make their operations better. They often are experts in whatever industry they are in.

They have really impressive resumes and know a lot about how to make their industry’s operations smoother.

They often travel from company to company, never staying in one place too long. It’s good for people who can get bored easily and likes to travel often.

Why Operation Specialist is the Right Choice for You

Not to generalize anyone, but there are lot aspects of being an operations specialist that could suit anyone with skills learned from the military.

Being Organized

You must have good organizational skills from your service. You will be able to keep track of documents, assignments, and dates.

Many people have a hard time being and staying organized. The fact that you come into this job already extremely organized will give you an edge against other applicants.

Being Able to Lead

Knowing how to properly lead is a rare skill. Many people have a hard time doing it without being too aggressive or weak.

Some people can make it difficult for employees because they are too strict and oppressive. Then are people who get nothing done because everyone is pushing them over.

Being an approachable, but respectable, leader can really boost any business in any industry.

Being Able to Multitask

You would be surprised at how many people have a hard time with multitasking. This usually leads to mistakes that have to be corrected. But, you, you are probably used to multitasking.

You have to handle so many different things happening at the same time while serving and you need to know how to balance it. That’s a very valuable skill.

Able to Handle Pressure

Sometimes jobs are stressful. Deadlines suddenly appear and some people can’t handle the pressure. Former military members are used to pressure and stress.

If sudden projects or problems appear, you will be able to handle them without breaking a sweat. This is highly appealing to employers.


Depending on what your responsibility was, you probably had situations where you had to do things on the fly.

Being able to think on your feet is a highly valuable skill that employers look for. You’ll be able to handle all kinds of situation, whether it’s a logistical error or a communication breakdown.

There are a lot of people who can’t handle this sort of situation without stressing out. To the point that they could cause additional problems.

Communication Skills

Because you have talked to a variety of people while serving, you can bring that skill to civilian work. Depending on the job you choose, you will be able to approach anyone. Whether they are higher ranking or interns.

Employers are always looking for people who can handle workplace politics. Those employees can get stuff done.

This will be extra easy for you because the job probably won’t be as rigid as the military.

Team Player

Depending on your career choice, you will have to work with others. Being able to work with anyone of any experience level will make you extremely appealing.

You’ve had to work with someone for almost nearly assigned task and working effectively together to stay alive. You will be to help others who are struggling with their work, so that the assignment can get done properly.

You’ll know when to lead and when to follow.

Civilian Careers That Need an Operations Specialist

There are a bunch of different jobs that could use you as an operations specialist. You will have the pick of different industries. You can look for jobs on sites like SimplyHired, USAJOBS, indeed, and other job sites.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance jobs need someone who has a sharp eye, good concentration, and who is goal oriented. This is perfect for someone coming from the military.

You will be able to lead a team that will never let something that is less than perfect get pass them.

Human Resources

Your communication and people skills will come in handy with this job. Human resources can be a very stressful job.

You are going to have to deal some very delicate situations. Fighting between coworkers, sexual harassment claims, and more human situations.

You will be able to handle the pressure, take control of situations, and will be able to talk to anyone.

Emergency Preparedness Coordinator

This job involves being in charge of both the technical and the administrative duties that help with Emergency Management Programs.

Your ability to multitask will help with you keep everything running smoothly. These trainings can be for a variety of different emergencies making it so that you have to be adaptable and change quickly when its needed.

You will also need to be able to work with a variety of people from different departments as well.

Homeland Security Officer

Your many missions that you’ve taken on as a military member will help you handle this job. You can take on dangerous situations, pressure, and being able to think ahead. You also need to work with teams to track people down.

Emergency Management Specialist

Someone in this position coordinates disaster response or crisis management activities. This can be creating disaster preparedness training and emergency plans and procedures for natural, wartime, or technological emergencies.

Being prepared, able to handle emergencies, and interacting with a multitude of people are all things that should be a breeze for you. Many of these responsibilities you’ve probably already done or done something similar during your military career.

Transportation Operational Specialist

writing in the paper

This job involves coordinating schedules and performing technical reviews. You also handle project management, field supervision, and transportation planning.

This can be overwhelming to most people, but not you. You can handle all the schedules with your organizational skills and ability to multitask.

Your attention to detail will make you good at giving technical reviews and handle field supervision.

Investigative System Operational Specialist

With this job will have you conduct regular scheduled surveillances using Remote CCTV Monitoring ensuring APP Best Practices and procedures are followed properly. You will be keeping an eye on a variety different things involving safety.

Basically, you are in charge of making sure everything is running safely and smoothly.

There is a variety of skills that you have that will be good for this. Your attention to detail, multitasking, being able to handle pressure, and your communication skills.

This may be one of the jobs that would be one of the easiest to transition to from your military career.

Something to Think About

Going from military service to civilian life is a rather jolting change of pace. It’s best if you take this transition one step at a time.

If an operational specialist sounds like a good job for you, then do research into the type of jobs that need one. Make a list of your top ones that way you have a place to start.

Remember to update your resume and communicate all the wonderful skills you learned from your service in a way that a civilian hiring manager can understand.

Maybe the most important thing to remember is that if you don’t get a job right away, it’s not your fault. Getting a job is difficult for civilians, let alone veterans. Try to remind yourself it’s a process and don’t give up.

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