Richard Horan ⋅ O Fallon , IL U.S. Air Force, Colonel ⋅ 27 years served

With your retirement and time to build some savings you will hopefully be in a position to find your next career not just a job. With that in mind I recommend you ensure you take time off to relax, recharge, reconnect and reflect. Never met anyone who thought they took too much time off. I took almost six months after my 27 years of service and was very glad I did.

As mentioned by Bret six months of overlap is a good rule of thumb. However for many the demands of their job, family, and community makes it unrealistic to devote quality time to preparing for a post military career so far out. Be honest with yourself and it that’s the case use three or less months. If you are able to take a “sabbatical” I’d also factor that in.

Couple of points to consider:
• To get the most out of the program you need to be able to focus and dedicate quality time to the mentoring process. With any mentoring program you only get out of it what you put into it.

• The program is about transition and career change not just finding a job. For some the greater benefit of their mentor will be post-employment.

• Take time off, after you retire and look back you’ll be surprised just how busy you’ve been.

Good luck with your transition and thanks for your service!

Bret Liberatore ⋅ Plano , TX Hewlett Packard ⋅ 9 years experience

Paul,

I would recommend 6 months out so you can work through the transition with a mentor in your target industry. You can better prepare yourself for your career search while you're still on active duty and still have that support in place as you move into civilian life.

Good luck and thank you!

-Bret

Elise Rose ⋅ Homer , AK ⋅ 2 years experience

Paul,

You are more than welcome to apply to our nationwide mentoring program at any point in your service. I would encourage you to do some preliminary thinking about what goals you would like to achieve with a Mentor, and decide if those goals would be best focused on now or later.

For some of our Veteran Protégés, having a mentorship before beginning their transition is useful, because it helps them plan for the future without the urgency. For others, having a mentorship while still in the service can be more of a time-commitment than they are able to make.

I would encourage you to explore www.acp-usa.org further and please feel free to e-mail me with any more questions about applying (erose@acp-usa.org)!

Best,
Elise