New veterans and military spouses are always ready to get a job fast -- or faster. In previous years, I had trouble slowing you down long enough to think about your career options. This is a different kind of year. Think slow -- and slower.
While the unemployment rate for veterans has risen only slightly over the past few months, veterans who are looking for work could be struggling more than the numbers show due to slow hiring.
According to the most recent government data, the average period of unemployment for all Americans has risen to 23 weeks, nearly six months. It is one of the slowest periods of hiring since the COVID-19 pandemic. For male job seekers between the ages of 45 and 64 -- the age at which many active-duty members retire from the service -- the average time being unemployed is nearly eight months.
Why so slow? Blame artificial intelligence. In 2025, more employers than ever started using AI to automate, simplify and reduce the cost of hiring. Yet many corporate leaders say they are awash in a sea of resumes, and they still can't find workers with the right skill sets, according to Korn Ferry, an organizational consulting firm.
The more companies insist on a resume that exactly matches the itty-bitty details on the job description, the more matching resumes that applicants send out to more job postings than ever. To get a job in 2025, you will need to conduct a different kind of job hunt.
So take a look at our carefully curated collection of the best tips, instructions and master 2025 classes for your 2025 job hunt by category. I have included all the live links, so that you can just click your way to happiness. (Find out how our free master classes work.)
Whether you are just starting to figure out what civilian job you are qualified to do or you are deep into salary negotiations, here are the strategies that really worked for more than 30,000 veterans, spouses and transitioning military members who used our techniques.
Discover Your New Career Path
What kind of job are you looking for after the military? Articulating exactly what you want to do after the military is no easy task.
First you start with the dream -- finding meaningful work. Our five steps to meaningful work after the military will get you started in the right direction. You might also check out jobs that sound so wrong, but could be so right for you.
What about working from home? If your dream is to work out of the office at least some of the time, our veterans guide to finding flexible work will help you find remote, hybrid, telework or truly flexible work.
Next, you will need to do a cold, hard reality check (which is neither cold nor hard, but I like to give you a little zing). Our exclusive shortcut will help you identify which jobs are really possible for someone your age, at your rank, from your service branch and with your skills.
Finally, take a look at our transition master class video, "How to Land Your Dream Job." In just one hour, I'll teach a step-by-step method to classify your work skills, experience and personality preferences, so you apply for the jobs that offer the most personal satisfaction.
Beat the Head Games
Fear, procrastination and anxiety are a part of the veteran and spouse job hunt. Just because they are normal does not mean that you must suffer through a lingering case of a bad head game all winter long.
So learn to stop telling yourself terrifying transition lies by identifying what they are. Then, I'll teach you how to quiet your perfectionism, quit overwhelming yourself and generally avoid "shoulding" all over the place. Finally, I'm going to reveal the cannibals that devour your transition time, depending on your career level, so you can be a highly successful veteran job hunter.
Find Top Veteran Employers
I am always telling you how you need to find an employer with a military door -- someone with a robust history of hiring veterans. So this year, the team at the Veteran Employment Project put together our exclusive list of the Top 25 employers for 2025 and the mind-blowing things you can expect top veteran employers to do.
Naturally, the list is full of defense contractors, federal agencies and civilian employers that are looking for your security clearance. Those are not the only employers with a military door, though.
To help you find those less-obvious employers quickly, our master class "Veteran Friendly Employers You Don't Know Yet" gives you detailed instructions about how to break into these non-defense employers that are most likely to hire you. As a bonus to watching the class, you can download our time-saving list of employers with a military door based on your state.
Tech Jobs for Veterans and Spouses
When the Computing Technology Industry Association reports there are 3.9 million tech job openings in the United States, and that the median wage for tech occupations is nearly twice the median national wage, we military folks pay attention -- even if we are not currently working in a tech job.
This year, we looked at how to get a job in tech without a tech background. To make sure you are not heading down the wrong path, we identified the seven sure signs you are smart enough to get a job in tech.
Networking for Introverts (and Extroverts)
You probably already know you cannot expect to just apply online and get picked up for an interview, no matter how good-looking you are. While top employers with a military door have already set up a pseudo network for you in the shape of a veteran recruiter, that may not be enough to hire you.
Most civilian companies have a secret demand for some kind of trust marker to be presented before they let you in the door. Which means you need to do a little networking -- not guru-level networking, just a little done at the right time.
Our master class "Networking Without Awkwardness" will let you in on the normal things military people are expected to do during the job hunt when it comes to networking. Introverts, please note: You will be surprised how many of these things do not include talking to total strangers but still yield the best results.
Easy Resumes and Cover Letters that Work
Now -- and only now -- are you ready to put together a resume. If you try to write your resume before you start networking or finding likely employers, you will discover you put together a resume that can't get past the gates hiring managers put up against you.
Even worse, you may find that you civilianized your resume so much that no one can understand your experience. There are rules to civilianizing your resume.
Learn how to get someone to read your resume and move you to the next level. Then, follow our clear guidelines for writing the specialized resume you need for each kind of job. Here are our free resume classes designed to help you get exactly the resume you need to match each kind of job listing. Each class comes with a bonus link to a free resume template that makes everything even easier for you:
- Corporate: The Checklist Resume
- Spouse Employment: Reverse Resume for Spouses
- Federal Employment: The Federal Resume
Finally, understand the place of the archaic cover letter in the current job market and learn to do exactly what is required in our Ultimate Guide to Easy Cover Letters.
The Interview
You know you nailed the networking and the resume when you get an invitation to interview. No matter how gifted you are as a public speaker, or how easy it is for you to come up with the right thing to say in your daily job, know this when it comes to job interviews: You can't wing it, but you can learn to become an interview genius in just one hour.
If you don't have that much time to prepare, click on our tips for last-minute preppers:
- 6 Movie Clips Every Veteran Job Seeker Must See Before the Interview
- 9 Last-Minute Interview Prep Tips
- How to Answer (Not Avoid) the Diversity Question
- 99 Interview Questions to Help Veterans and Spouses Get the Job
Negotiate Your Salary, Benefits and Finances
To my way of thinking, veterans should be able to burst in on a civilian employer and shout, "Show me the money!" Funny how civilian employers do not see it that way.
Instead, employers expect you to already know how to negotiate the job offer so you get the biggest paycheck ever. What employers don't seem to know is that transitioning military members don't know a lot about the civilian money process since you never had to deal with it before. So I developed this method of actively working against the money-sucking lies our brains tell us about salary negotiation. Every 10 grand helps.
Negotiating for a new salary isn't everything, though. You need to be a little craftier when it comes to learning the best way to handle money during military transition -- including decisions about your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) and current mortgage.
Since so few military members actually have a job waiting for them when they leave the military, you will likely go through a period where money is hard to come by. Our 13 Ways to Get More Money for Transition can help you through.
In 2025, you will probably be going from the military, to the transition world, to your next high-impact civilian job. At the Veteran Employment Project, we are honored to be part of your team with our articles, newsletter, master classes and free coaching. We can't wait to connect with you over the coming year to bring you all the best strategies we can find.
Find the Right Veteran Job
Whether you want to polish your resume, find veteran job fairs in your area or connect with employers looking to hire veterans, Military.com can help. Subscribe to Military.com to have job postings, guides, advice and more delivered directly to your inbox.
