By Ken Cates, Speaker | Consultant | Veteran
The Problem: Certification vs. Competency.
You just spent years, maybe decades, honing a craft that civilians couldn’t dream of mastering. You ran a hospital ward, not a classroom. You fixed an engine on a rolling deck in a Category 5 storm, not in a climate-controlled shop. You drove a multi-ton vehicle through a contested IED-riddled combat zone, not across a suburb or rural backroad.
The military gave you the ultimate certification: Competence under pressure.
But here is the bitter, bureaucratic harsh truth that will cost you your next job: The civilian world only recognizes the paper they issue, not the blood you spilled to earn the skill.
Your Army experience as a 68W Combat Medic is not an automatic RN license. Your Marine Corps Aviation experience is not an automatic FAA Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certification. Your Navy experience hauling equipment is not an automatic Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).
The military certified you to do the job for them. The civilian world doesn’t care about their certificate. They care about the one with the state seal or the industry logo.
The Paper Trap.
You will apply for a job you could do blindfolded. You’ll sit across from an HR manager who sees a glorious DD-214 filled with incredible feats, but then they ask the fatal question: “Do you have your A&P?”
You say, “I have 10 years of experience on F/A-18 engines.”
They respond, “I’m sorry, without the license, our insurance won’t cover you. We went with a guy who just graduated, but he had the paper.”
This is the failure. You have the discipline and the experience. The college graduate has the decoration and the paper. And the paper, in this scenario, wins every time because the employer has zero appetite for risk or delay.
Warriors, Stop Gambling with Your Career.
The moment you see that barn door opening, the moment you decide to leave, you must treat securing your civilian-recognized certification, credential, or license as your next mission. It is a critical path item.
- You Have Resources: Use Tuition Assistance (TA) or other service programs while you are still active to pay for the course, the testing, and the time off.
- You Have Time: Every hour you spend watching a movie or checking out early is an hour you could have spent studying for the civilian equivalent test. This is an act of self-discipline, not a mere suggestion.
- Stop Waiting: Don’t wait until you’re a civilian, hemorrhaging cash, and desperate for a job to start the process. Start now. Get the paper while the uniform is still on your back.
A Challenge to Employers: Stop the Wait.
To the employers tired of paying signing bonuses for “talent that quits,” let’s state the truth clearly: You are losing the most disciplined talent pool in the world over a piece of paper.
These warriors have demonstrated years of high-stakes, high-reliability performance. They lack the paper, but they are overflowing with discipline, not decoration.
It is time to go beyond the “Skillbridge Program” and implement On-the-Job (OJT) Apprenticeship/Certification Programs.
Here’s some rough numbers for you:
- Roughly 200,000 service members transition out of the military each year.
- Over 70% of these Transitioning Service Members show interest in Skillbridge.
- Only 10-15% are deemed eligible (not to be confused with “Approved”).
- Less than 32% of those deemed ‘eligible’ participate in the program.
So even rounding up to the higher numbers, less than 7,000 of the 200,000 get to participate in this program.
I challenge you to hire the warrior with 10 years of flight line experience without the A&P, pay for them to take the exam within the first six months, and put them to work immediately under a certified mentor. That is how you capture the talent that will stabilize your workforce and never quit.
Veterans: Your DD-214 is a Record of Honor for your service. Make sure you go after and achieve the license to practice your trade.
