Beyond the Military Podcast: Job Search Help for Veterans & Transitioning Service Members, Military-to-Civilian Career, Veteran Career Transition, · Wendi Wray | Military Transition Career Coach,Women Veteran, Military Mom, Military Transition Coach, Post Military Career

MVP: A Guide for Military Women Figuring Out Post-Military Careers

·25 min·1 clip

Wendy Ray says the process starts with four steps: brainstorm, review one role, choose a location type, and network.

Wendy Ray opens by welcoming military women who want to think about life outside the military. She speaks from her own experience of feeling lost after leaving service and sets up the episode as a guide for women who are transitioning or thinking about the transition. She asks listeners to take notes. If they are driving or multitasking, she says it is okay to return later and come back to the center of the conversation. The goal is not pressure. It is to give women a starting point, whether they have a couple of months or up to 12 months before they separate, or whether they have already transitioned and are still figuring out what comes next. Her first step is brainstorming roles. She tells listeners to write down jobs that seem interesting and to start moving, even before they feel certain. From there, she narrows the focus to one role. She encourages reading it closely and learning what that role actually asks for, instead of relying on the title alone. That review includes looking at the transferable skills they already have and the hard, technical skills, preferred qualifications, and other requirements that may still be missing. She treats that gap as useful information. It helps the listener decide whether the path is right for them, whether that means project management, consulting, education, a license, or something else. She also asks them to think through whether the role fits their family and season of life. Location matters too. She brings up work setup and says listeners should understand the kind of arrangement being offered before they commit to a path. Networking closes the episode. She presents it as practice for the real conversation, a way to get comfortable saying what you need and to learn whether a recruiter or another contact may already have an opening. By the end, she turns a stressful career transition into a simple sequence of actions: brainstorm, review one role, think through location, and start networking.

As heard by us

A clear starting point for women turning military experience into a civilian career search.

Wendy Ray offers a practical reset for military women facing life after service, turning career uncertainty into a sequence of small, workable steps.

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Why you'd press play

You need a calm first plan for figuring out your career after the military.

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