Retired Military Career In Mid-east Tn? (find a job, college, salary)

[Paul Reynolds]

Hello Tennesseans, [/font]

I am looking to move back to Tennessee after a highly rewarding/successful 20 year career in the military (Navy). Here is the problem: I am having a problem finding potential employers in Tennessee who will recognize my military experience. In my current job, I supervise 200 military and DoD civilian personnel. I also recently earned my B.S. degree in Technical Management. I also have an A.S. Degree in Electronics Technology. My current salary in the navy is 75K. I am looking to start at 65K in Tennessee. Operations or Maintenance Management in a technical environment is where I have the lion share of my experience.

If you know of any military friendly employers in Middle or East Tennessee, please pass their names along to me. I am only 39 yrs old and college educated with leadership and time management skills running out the whazoo. I never guessed job hunting would be this difficult. It seems I am either over or under qualified for any potential employer I contact. Please help.

Thanks in advance.

Respectfully,

Paul Reynolds
pc_reynolds@myway.com

[jguillot]

Paul,

Thank you for your service to our country! I don't blame you for wanting to live in Tennessee. I hope to retire there in 7 to 8 years. Good luck in finding the job you are looking for. Best wishes to you and your family.

[Tony1790]

Howdy squidly :-) that's from a fellow sailor type Coastie ;-)

I went thru the same drill, retired from the Coast Guard last year and was either way over or under qualified. The only military friendly employers that I know in TN is the railroad. I took a job as an operations manager with Norfolk Southern.

Good luck trying to find a job in TN starting out at 65k, you may be better at the job hunt that I was and I hope that you do well with it. As a matter of fact if you come across any pointers, let me know too!!

I graduate my training program tomorrow and am awaiting my orders to my next duty station with the RR, I hope that it's TN, but I may wind up in Roanoke, VA.

Take care, good luck

Tony

p.s. You may want to take some job, just to distance yourself from the military only background. I was denied an interview for a job that I was highly qualified for when the company found out I was military....was told that I would not be a "good fit" for their organization.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Tony1790

p.s. You may want to take some job, just to distance yourself from the military only background. I was denied an interview for a job that I was highly qualified for when the company found out I was military....was told that I would not be a "good fit" for their organization.

Will you tell us who those creeps are? I'd like to know so we can show our support of them by not doing business with them.

[kamoshika]

Here are two lists of military-friendly employers. I'm sure many have offices/subsidiaries in TN:
Careers

G.I. Jobs - Top 50 PR Site

There are many other resources online for transitioning military retirees (e.g., corporategray.com). Good luck w/ your search!