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5.5. Other Education and Training Options

You should take advantage of the transition process to consider your options for future success, especially your education and training options. Before your separation from active duty, visit your local Education Center, Navy College Office, or Marine Corps LifeLong Learning Center. Guidance counselors there can provide assistance in determining the goals that are right for you, the appropriate curriculum and educational institution, and help you with the paperwork necessary to enroll in an academic or vocational program. If you are unsure of what you want to do after military service, counselors can recommend aptitude tests or vocational interest inventories to help clarify your career goals and identify skills for which you have an aptitude. Once these skills are identified, they can be matched to specific occupations and careers outside of the military.

Once you have identified your career goals, education counselors can also advise you on alternative educational opportunities, such as college-level equivalency examinations, part-time educational programs that allow you to work while you train, converting your military training and experience into college credit, distance learning opportunities (including learning though CD-Rom, the Internet, satellite TV, cable TV, and DVD/video tape), and vocational and technical school programs designed to provide the skills needed to work in occupations that do not require a college degree.

Your military occupational specialty (MOS) may require a license or certification in the civilian workforce. There are several resources available to assist you in finding civilian requirements for licensing and certification, including the following:

• www.acinet.org/: Department of Labor website. Go to "Career Tools" section to look up licenses by state, requirements for the license, and point-of-contact information for the state licensing board.
• www.dantes.doded.mil/dantes_web/danteshome.asp: DANTES website has information on certification programs.
• www.cool.army.mil/ and https://www.cool.navy.mil/ Find civilian credentials related to your MOS, information about credential prerequisites, and available programs that will help pay credentialing fees.

• https://silentprofessionals.org/private-security-jobs/: this free service is available to help veterans find work in the private security sector. This site was launched by a combat veteran to help others with their transition by helping them find work using the skills they gained in military service.