Transitioning from the military can bring on a lot of uncertainty, not just for the Veteran but for his or her spouse as well. Typically there are several potential employers who look to hire Veterans, and I do recommend starting there. It is always best to have an income ready to start when you are officially OUT!

What I have found though is that the zeal or sense of relevance to the bigger picture a Veteran might have ultimately had through military service isn’t replaceable by working for someone else in transactional role.

Most Veterans would never think of insurance as a profession, and I must admit initially my idea was that it would be much more boring than what I was used to in the Marine Corps. However, what I have found has been quite the contrary. This brings me to my SEVEN reasons that I think the Insurance Industry — especially the Senior Market — is a great place to find purpose after service.

Everyday, I think of new ways to get the message out to senior citizens on how I can help them save money on their Medicare Supplement, Prescription Drug Plan, and just to educate them on benefits that they may not understand or even know they have. The calling translates to other acts of good will, and when you can parallel your profession with something that helps people, this is always a BONUS!

That resilience is key in this industry, and I can’t think of a group that has more of that thick skinned mentality than Veterans.

People tend to tie the idea of prior military service to the idea that the Veteran has a more developed moral compass than their coutnerparts. I’m not saying this is always the case, but of course while in the military I noticed this as well. Also, a lot of the people out there aging into Medicare are Veterans or spouses of Veterans, and they feel a connection between their past and yours.

This trait should translate into civilian life for Veterans, and being dependable means a ton to your customers. It also generates more referrals than you can imagine. A referral is amazing because the trust the person referring has in you transfers to the person they are referring to you. Referrals come from this dependability more than the initial transaction.

I have witnessed this. I believe I do really well as a young person in the industry because my customers are more optimistic about the future of our nation by remembering that there are still young people who are hard working and compassionate.

Part of this is because the average age of people in the insurance industry is higher than other occupations. Because most Veterans getting out now are younger and required to use computers while in service, this really gives them an advantage coming into the industry.

In the military you are required to do a lot of leadership training as you climb the ranks. I got out as a Sergeant and I had done Corporal’s Course while in Iraq and Sergeant’s Non-Resident PME. I had also had several Marines work for me and constantly had to give “Hip-Pocket” lectures.

These things DIRECTLY translate to being able to manage your agents or employees and to even giving training lectures to your employees or potential customers. Just make sure to remove all of the profanity you might have used in the military.

Alright! I think you can see that the skill set translates and in some ways gives you a HEAD START in this industry. Of course there are others that do this too, but insurance has been really good to me. I have been surprised how many successful agents I have met turned out to be Veterans.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.