From Serviceman to Civil Engineer: Advice for Transitioning Veterans

A growing number of military officers with engineering degrees are punching out early to pursue careers in engineering. But alas, making the transition from serviceman to civilian engineer can be troublesome, especially when you’ve spent years away from engineering. This article will give you some ideas on how to make this transition successfully.

First, I’ll tell you my story:

I attended Brigham Young University on an Army ROTC scholarship, graduating in 2010 with a BS in Civil Engineering. I passed the FE right after graduation. I originally planned on making the military my career, but after serving for five years, I was diagnosed with some medical problems and received an honorable discharge. During that five-year period, I didn’t use my engineering degree. At all. I just did standard Army stuff. However, I did luck out and got assigned to work for the local resident office of the Corps of Engineers for 18 months. That experience helped.

For the first two years out of the military, I drifted from job to job and struggled to find my niche. Then I got into civil service. Today I work for the US Army Corps of Engineers as a civilian engineer.

Tip #1: Civil service is an ideal match for a transitioning veteran

Of all the transitioning military veterans I’ve worked with, I only know one engineer officer who went to work for a private sector consulting firm. The rest of us have either opted for government engineer jobs or left engineering altogether.

The federal government employs over 10,000 civil engineers in over a dozen agencies. These agencies include the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Federal Highways Administration. Federal jobs are ideal for veterans for a few reasons:

• These agencies give us preferential treatment when it comes to hiring. You’ll include your DD-214 in your application package and it’ll give you extra points as a candidate.
• Federal jobs are stable with minimal risk of layoffs, regardless of the economy.
• You’ll have the option of buying back your time from the military. That is, you pay back 3% of the amount you earned while serving and suddenly all your time in the military counts towards your civilian retirement benefits. It’s a good deal. That way, the time you spent working for Uncle Sam won’t go to waste simply because you didn’t stay in long enough to retire.
• The skill set you develop as an officer will translate better to a government job because these jobs have a greater focus on management as opposed to design programs. If you transition to the private sector, you’re at a disadvantage because other engineers will have years of experience in design work.

Tip #2: Prepare now by getting your PE

The single most important thing you can do before getting out of the military is getting your PE license. Even if you plan on staying in the military, I would suggest taking the PE exam as soon as possible. It’s a strong skill identifier for both military and civilian engineers. Even if it’s not required in the job announcement, having those letters after your name will greatly increase your chances of getting a job post-military.

In some states, you can take the test before you fulfill the experience requirement. If your state isn’t one of them, you can travel to a state that does and take the exam there. Contrary to what you may think, having real life experience under your belt doesn’t increase your chances of passing the exam, you just have to study for it the right way. Also, if you go into federal service, it doesn’t matter which state you’re licensed in. For example, my PE license is in Arizona and (as of this writing) I’m working in Maryland.

Another challenge with getting your PE is finding someone who can sign off on your experience. I was fortunate enough to have a former West Point engineering professor in my battalion who had a PE license. He signed off on my experience. Getting the state board to accept the Army as a “professional engineering experience” is another challenge, but my state board accepted it.

Tip #3: The pay grade for your first federal job will depend on a few things

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) uses a pay grade system similar to the military. However, you don’t get promotions simply due to time in grade: you have to apply for new positions within the system to climb the ranks. In order to accept a job the next grade up, you must serve in your current grade for at least one year. As such, it’s in your best interests to start at as high a grade as possible for your first job. As a transitioning officer with a civil engineering degree and a PE license, it’s not unrealistic to shoot for a GS-12. That was my pay grade when I entered federal service.

The availability of federal jobs also depend on the agency and the location. Locations with a higher demand (e.g. the Washington DC metro) will have more vacancies for mid-to-high-ranking engineers. Also, remote, “undesirable” locations (e.g. North Dakota) will have fewer applicants and will thus be less competitive. Once you’re in the system, it’s much easier to move from job to job.

Tip #4: Graduate school is an option, but it’s probably not your best option

If you have the GI Bill, a graduate degree in engineering may not be a bad idea. However, you have consider opportunity cost: attending university full-time means you won’t gain the work experience and you’ll miss out on the money you would have made if you kept working full-time. For these reasons, many working professionals are opting for online programs to get their master’s degree.

If you go for an online master’s, be sure to do you research when selecting a program. The quality of the education varies depending on the university. As long as it’s from a respected institution (either a state school or a well-regarded private university) you should be good to go. I ended up choosing Norwich University and their online Master of Civil Engineering program. They’re a veteran-friendly military school. For example, they included their books as part of the tuition, which saved me thousands in reference books that I needed for the PE Exam.

Does having a master’s degree on your resume help you find jobs? Honestly, once you have years of experience in the field and have earned your PE, hiring managers won’t scrutinize your educational credentials as much. Your degrees just check a box, and it’s not that important of a box: even at the highest grade of civilian military engineers, most only have just a bachelor’s degree. Nevertheless, if you have the means of paying for it, a master’s can be a wise investment: even if tips the scale in your favor for one job, it could be worth it.

Tip #5: Good references will help

You’ve heard the adage: “it’s not the grade you make but the hands you shake” and it’s somewhat true even in engineering: if someone important gives you a strong endorsement, it’ll help you secure a job. Start looking for senior officers within your organization who can give you a strong endorsement and get their contact info to use in your personal references. If they say glowing things about you to an inquiring hiring manager, it’ll tip the scale in your favor.

Summary

It’s difficult to make decisions when not all the requisite information is on the table, but that’s a skill you develop while serving as a military leader. If you have additional questions, feel free to drop me a line kolkena@byu.net.