Considering the Military
For the longest time, you couldn’t find anyone more against a career in the military than I was. I grew up a Navy brat, so the thought of raising my own family under similar conditions was far from appealing. Of course, I remember thinking that I wouldn’t pursue a career in computer science, either, and I did a complete 180 on that. It should come as little surprise, then, that since my job prospects have been less than encouraging, a military life started to look pretty tempting.
One thought was really all it took to start making me think differently about the subject. My father and a healthy portion of my extended family have all had military careers. Most spent several decades doing it. Why should I be so opposed to the idea when it obviously worked well enough for them? Granted, it has its drawbacks, but it couldn’t be any worse than going on unemployed.
Thus, my wife and I have spent the past few days looking at civilian and enlisted military jobs. I wouldn’t think to go into the whole idea without her full support. Doing otherwise would be downright dysfunctional if you ask me, and I have no need for more drama in my life. Besides, enlisting would have just as much of an impact on her and our son as it would me, so it really shouldn’t be just my decision.
So far we haven’t come up with much. I’ve found it nearly impossible to track down a recruiter, which I thought a bit odd considering all the marketing done by the military. I still hope that something in the civilian sector will come up first, but I’m through leaving my employment up to chance. I’ll have a new job soon, one way or another.