quote:
Know a Baw who owns a construction company who will not hire military. Said he made the mistake of hiring some Seabees early in his career and they were the laziest workers he’s ever hired. Different cultcha Baw.

Not aimed at anyone in general but freshly separated military people are notoriously bad employees for the first couple of years (and usually several jobs) into their private sector careers. The longer they have been in and the younger they were in the worse they are. It is not their fault, they are not bad people because of it, it is just the culture of the military which robs them of the experience of learning to fight and scratch for their jobs from an early age.

While in the military they worked for a company that has 2 very unique qualities not found anywhere in the private sector, even government service. The military has no profit motive. None. They are also accustomed to having more money in the budget than they know what to do with. They never had a problem that could not be fixed by tossing unlimited money at it. Neither of those situations exist outside of the military. Again, not the fault of the people, its the nature of the beast. These two facts lead to a very strange management philosophy that will not translate at all to the private sector. Being managed in that environment also does not translate at all.

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Posted by Sam Quint

Member since Sep 2022

4828 posts

Posted on 1/31/24 at 1:32 pm to AwgustaDawg

quote:
Not aimed at anyone in general but freshly separated military people are notoriously bad employees for the first couple of years (and usually several jobs) into their private sector careers. The longer they have been in and the younger they were in the worse they are. It is not their fault, they are not bad people because of it, it is just the culture of the military which robs them of the experience of learning to fight and scratch for their jobs from an early age.

While in the military they worked for a company that has 2 very unique qualities not found anywhere in the private sector, even government service. The military has no profit motive. None. They are also accustomed to having more money in the budget than they know what to do with. They never had a problem that could not be fixed by tossing unlimited money at it. Neither of those situations exist outside of the military. Again, not the fault of the people, its the nature of the beast. These two facts lead to a very strange management philosophy that will not translate at all to the private sector. Being managed in that environment also does not translate at all.

you're over-generalizing a little, in my opinion, but what you say is accurate to a large degree, especially regarding profit motive and budgets. it's hard to shift your mindset to think like that. that said, military guys tend to bring a "get it done" attitude that a lot of non-military guys dont have. the most successful guys are the ones who quickly learn that the trick is to "get it done" but also to do so under budget constraints. in the military, the priority is mission accomplishment. in the private sector, the priority is staying under budget (making money).

other strengths a lot of military guys can bring is an ability to manage people well. this obviously varies widely by the individual - a drill instructor probably wont do great if he cant transition from that mentality, but a guy that has been a platoon sergeant or a platoon commander is likely pretty good at management people - basic leadership.

weaknesses exist for sure - we get a ton of time off in the military. like, a TON. 30 days paid leave every year, 4 day weekends for virtually every holiday that exists and then some others that literally no one else gets off for, plus going to the gym or for a run in the middle of the workday is usually accepted if not celebrated, leaving early or coming in late for family stuff is usually fine, spending an entire day "at medical". this does not translate AT ALL to the civilian work force / private sector.

another weakness is that a lot of vets have a sense of entitlement that, quite honestly, infuriates me. i could start a whole other thread on this, but i'll leave it at that.

just for context, i spent 9 years active duty, got out and worked construction management for several years, then ultimately went back active duty. the reasons i went back in vary. some of it lines up with the stuff above, some of it is jsut that i missed the camaraderie that you dont get in the private sector. i did fine in the civilian world (not great, i'm not trying to suck my own dick here), and i would have been fine if i had stayed there. i had options. ultimately though, that life just wasnt for me. i like going to the gym durign working hours too much