If you are considering a career in the defense industry, Kawakami suggests checking with your Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) or Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer to see if there are any restrictions that affect your working for a government contractor. There may be some companies and programs you cannot work for, especially if you have had significant procurement or source selection responsibility in the military. Some of these restrictions may last a lifetime.

"If they get that legal opinion from their DAEO, it will make their job search much quicker," says Kawakami.

Defense companies such as Northrop Grumman recruit officers at job fairs that focus on military personnel such as MOAA's Career Fair.

"We set aside part of our recruiting effort to consider retired officers, "says Kawakami of Northrop Grumman. "An outstanding performer in the military will have a number of opportunities in the defense industry."

If you are having difficulty identifying a position or an industry such as defense that needs your skills, try working with an executive recruiter. An executive recruiter's job is to help you find the right opportunity.

Maj. Gen. Randy Jayne retired from the Air National Guard in 2000 after serving for 20 years. Before that, he spent 11 years in the Air Force, including two combat tours in Southeast Asia.

Today, Jayne is a senior partner at Heidrick and Struggles International in Chicago, Ill. A provider of executive search and leadership consulting services, the company specializes in chief executive, board member, and senior-level management search assignments.

Before joining the firm in 1996, Jayne had several positions in the defense industry, including being the president of McDonnell Douglas Missile Systems Co. in St. Louis, MO.

He has spent time as a volunteer talking to retired officers who are making the transition from the military to a second career and suggests officers look at what they have done in the military and determine if they can do it in corporate America. Jayne also suggests officers look for roles where they can use their leadership skills. In fact, one area he has seen retired officers succeed in is customer service and field service of a company's products.

"They [officers] know how to manage that kind of practice, set standards, and get results," says Jayne.

Despite military experience, he suggests officers not take line management and organizational leadership roles as their first positions in corporate America.

"You are accountable for a very different set of performance measurements than you were in uniform," explains Jayne, who believes unless the officer has a business degree, those occupations could prove difficult. "We have seen great officers put in those CEO and [chief operating officer] COO roles and fail because they weren't given enough opportunity to learn on the job.I urge people to think about functional leaderships roles."

Functional leadership roles are management positions in which you are not actually running the business, such as sales and marketing.

The only things that count in the business world, explains Jayne, are revenue, sales, and profit and loss. There is "nothing comparable" in the military.

"You don't want be in a position where you are responsible for the success of the business, and you are not accustomed to the expectations of performance," he adds.

If corporate America does not suit you, and you want to continue a career of public service, a great option for retired officers is teaching. Teaching enables officers to bring much-needed leadership skills into the classroom. To pursue a second career as a teacher, contact Troops to Teachers, a Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES). This teacher-recruitment program brings the skills and education of military people to public school classrooms. Based in Pensacola, Fla., Troops to Teachers recruits people to go into those schools or school districts that serve disadvantaged children.

"Good quality teachers are needed," says John Gantz, chief of Troops to Teachers. "Retired military people are responding to that need." (For more information on Troops to Teachers, see the Fall 2003 edition of Today's Officer.)

Finding the best options for a second career is not an easy task. However, you can find the job that is right for you by considering the experience you gained in the military, knowing what you enjoy doing, and by being willing to learn how to adapt to a new environment.

"The single most important thing is you still need to be a very aggressive learner," says Jayne, who advises retirees to read, ask questions, do research, and let people coach them. "It's all about learning."