{"id":36012,"date":"2017-10-11T21:05:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T21:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/11\/former-va-secretary-3-tips-for-transitioning-service-members\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:01:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:01:02","slug":"former-va-secretary-3-tips-for-transitioning-service-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2017\/10\/11\/former-va-secretary-3-tips-for-transitioning-service-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Former VA secretary: 3 tips for transitioning service members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bob McDonald, who served as Veterans Affairs secretary from 2014 through January, said connecting with others and not limiting yourself will help service members transition from the military to civilian life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McDonald, an Army veteran, was recently named chairman of the board of directors for RallyPoint, an online network for those in the military community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former VA secretary said he joined RallyPoint as a way to stay involved in the veteran space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Army Times spoke with McDonald on Wednesday at AUSA\u2019s annual conference about what service members can do to ease their transition out of the military.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link smg-interstitial-link--fallback wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/ausa\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__fallback-link\">Click here for more coverage from the 2017 AUSA conference!<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>1. Connect, connect, connect.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDon\u2019t try to do everything yourself,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cConnect with people who have already done it, and connect with people who may be interested in hiring you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s so much easier today to connect with others than it was when McDonald got out of the Army in 1979-80, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wrote letters to about 130 different companies &#8230; and waited to hear back from them, then interviewed with about 30 companies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During that process, he said, it was interesting how every one of the companies wanted to put him in a box they created for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWest Point grad, engineer student, military veteran,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s put him in manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said companies thought running a manufacturing line was a lot like running a platoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOr let\u2019s put him in sales because military people have confidence. They\u2019re assertive. They\u2019d be great in sales,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But McDonald said he didn\u2019t want to do any of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs a service member getting out, don\u2019t allow yourself to be stereotyped,\u201d he said. \u201cOne way to do that is connect with other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>2. Translate experience into civilian language.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McDonald said companies aren\u2019t lacking people or assets \u2014 it\u2019s leadership they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we need to do as veterans is to tell companies about the leadership experiences we have,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd how those leadership experiences have led to better outcomes with the people we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>3. Don\u2019t undervalue education.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Going to school is harder to do the older you get, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou might have a family that might inhibit that,\u201d or a job or location that inhibits it, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThink about using the GI Bill as a transition point,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cOnce you figure out what you want to do, then get the education you can get in order to make yourself even more successful in that new role.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McDonald said he finds that a lot of service members undervalue the role of education, \u201cwhich arguably to me is one of the most transformative experiences in life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Army veteran and former VA secretary Bob McDonald was recently named chairman of the board of directors at RallyPoint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,26,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2954],"class_list":["post-36012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"U3GCWRRDA5C3BEFHOCKCRZU55M","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2017\/10\/11\/former-va-secretary-3-tips-for-transitioning-service-members\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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