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When Clark Scharman reached his 13th year in the Navy, he faced the same choice many service members wrestle with: Push through to 20 years or take his retirement and venture out into the private sector. The nuclear-trained submarine officer looked to his wife and then five children he'd missed for a total of three-and-a-half years to reach his final decision.
"I wanted to see them grow up, quite honestly," Scharman said. "I felt like at the 13-year point, I was still young enough to learn the profession and join another industry. I didn't feel that moving on to command would be best for my family."
About 18 months before he separated, Scharman started investigating the best civilian career options, consulting trusted advisors and working on his resume.
"My eyes were opened up to the energy industry from a few mentors who talked about the volatility of the defense industry," he said.
Because the defense industry mirrors military activity – booms during times of conflict and downturns during peace – mentors told Scharman the energy industry was a more stable option.
"I felt it was a more secure place to go, and it was an industry where my background as a nuclear engineer was going to be very applicable," he said.
He knew his military skills, his undergraduate engineering degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and his MBA were highly marketable, but selecting an industry was just the first step. Even knowing which companies or position he was interested in didn't sufficiently focus his search, he said.
"That's part of the responsibility of what you have when you're preparing for the transition," Scharman said. "It's not just 'Here's what I can do.' You have to know the job that you're going after… You can't just say, 'I want to be a project manager,' they'll still look at you and say, 'Doing what?'"
So Scharman approached his job search from multiple fronts. He made the most of DoD's Transition Assistance Program, signed up with the military-focused headhunting agencies Corporate Gray and Lucas Group, and spent time online at USAJobs, LinkedIn and other job hunting sites. He gratefully accepted feedback on his resume, which he rewrote and finessed for months.
"I cast a very wide net," he said. "I didn't disregard any option when it came to finding a place to land."
But it was a mentor who eventually led him to his second career with Chevron as an operational excellence engineer.
"We'd kept in touch," Scharman said. "When this job came up, he said, 'I know you're from Houston, I know what you can do. This position is perfect for you."
Even with the encouragement and personal connection, landing the job required Scharman to explain exactly how and why he fit the position in civilian terms. (Read "Beyond Military Skills Translation" for more on how to avoid military jargon)
"Knowing how to sell yourself is part of a big challenge," he said. "I would try to use similar language and translate my experience out of the military lingo and translate into the business world."
By the time Scharman accepted the offer, he'd been working on his job search for about 18 months. He started working full time for Chevron while he was still on terminal leave. He says based on conversations with other transitioned veterans, roughly half have jobs lined up by the time they leave.
"The early start (on the job search) is absolutely critical -- as early as you can," he said.
Scharman also encourages transitioning military members to be sure they fully understand all of their benefits as they leave the military for the private sector. He says because he didn't know he could've gotten one more move for his family from the Navy, he "left money on the table" when he opted to have Chevron move his family to Houston from northern Virginia.
Now that he's been in the private sector for almost two years, Scharman says he's made some cultural and professional adjustments to acclimate to a corporate environment. Rather orders down from a chain of command, decisions tend to take longer because there are more parties to consult.
"We (the military) develop very outspoken, very assertive people when it comes to decision-making," Scharman said. "In the civilian world, you have to co-op other decision makers and use those soft personal skills to communicate and bring everyone together. There's a whole lot more communication going on."
Rather than being focused solely on accomplishing a mission, corporations must factor in financial issues.
"The military is not in the business of making money," he said. "If the sub breaks, you're getting the money to fix the sub. Everything in this job, you have to develop a business case to do it. What pays our bills is increasing value for the company."
Now that he and his family are back in Scharman's hometown of Houston and expecting their sixth child, he says he really appreciates the differences and the time at home. The work-life balance, the operational tempo, the higher pay and the culture of Chevron are all factors in a highly satisfying second career, he said.
"I can get 100 percent on day one behind what Chevron stands for because it was very in line with the values I'd developed in the submarine force," he said. "They have their priorities straight with how they treat their people, how they conduct their operations and that fell right in line with the Navy. It was aligned with what I'd developed and was looking for in a company."
Photo Credits: Digital Vision, Getty Images
This story is presented by our sponsor Chevron. For more information, visit chevron.com.
©2015 Chevron Corporation. No U.S. military endorsement is implied.
