Considering Military Career after College... (credit, applying, jobs, benefits)

[cityhopper]

No one could have even convinced me a few years ago that I would consider this option but I have been considering the idea of joining the Air Force. I have a BA from a liberal arts college and I have spent the majority of my professional career in personal finance and management. Unfortunately, corporate America has not been very nice to be and I have to reconsider my plans.

My goal is to eventually get a Masters in Acct'g and get more specialized training in acct'g and finance management. I don't have enough college credits to sit for a CPA or work immediately for an accounting firm. I cannot afford to go back to school FT or even PT now.

So here I am considering joining the AF and entering into OTS to help to achieve my goals. I am a female. I have no desire to be a pilot but felt more comfortable with the AF than any other branch. I would hope after serving my time I would transition to a Federal Position in the same field.

Has anyone experience this or had loved ones make a similar choice? How do I properly evaluate the benefits and costs? (Yes I have done some basic Google searches on the topic).

I plan to consider this along with some other options over the next few months but I hope to get some support and good advice of the pro's and con's and even personal experiences (directly or indirectly).

Thanks

[North Beach Person]

Actually the Air Force, or any of the services, would be glad to get you. Just like law schools not wanting all poli sci majors the military doesn't want all engineering or ROTC people.

[lisdol]

There's a reason one of the derogatory nicknames for the AF is "chair force" - there are a lot of office jobs. Your background could transition well into things like Personnel and Finance (though I have heard DFAS is getting sourced out to contractors and consolidated but I have not seen that yet). My SILs field is Personnel and she has had a variety of HR-type jobs - something different every time she moves it seems.

You could also look at federal jobs instead from the get-go - check out federalsoup.com for information on a gov't career. USAjobs will list jobs within all of the agencies but definitely get information from federalsoup before starting to apply - there are specific steps and methods for applying.


Good luck!

[annerk]

Agreed, a friend of mine was in the Navy after getting her masters in economics. She loved the experience and they loved having her. She was an administrator who oversaw a lot of budgetary items. When she left the Navy and joined the USCG Reserves, she spent her weekends doing payroll for the entire base and working on a lot of acquisition administration.