Veteran’s Perspective 38 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 26, No. 6, 2020
A Seamless Military to Civilian Workforce
Transition, Consejos Para Usted
By Lisa “La Coronela” Carrington Firmin, USAF Ret.
UTSA Military Liaison
Office of Veteran and Military Affairs
The University of Texas at San Antonio
A professor once said to me that my
transition from the military to
academia was quick and
impressive. Say what? In my head, it was
neither. Fortunately for me, I had countless years
of leadership experience with adapting and
overcoming whatever situation or role I was thrust
into from my years in the military. So, it appeared to
onlookers that I had indeed “mastered” my
transition, but it certainly was not seamless to me. I
just knew how to compartmentalize extremely well
and never let anyone see me sweat.
My leadership skill-set came in quite handy
during the transition, and I will share some tips to
help those undergoing transitions, but first, let me
address the psychological transformation that I
never saw coming.
I totally underestimated the impact that
hanging up the uniform for the last time would bring,
a significant loss of identity and family. The lack of
a clear mission, sense of belonging and purpose can
affect you once you are no longer serving. I firmly
believe that this psychological transition is
something that needs to be addressed before you
leave the service.
Here are just a few tips to help those going
through transition.
Be prepared for the psychological transition
(emotional intelligence)
- Know that you will experience loss, like shedding
a part of you. There was no checklist for this, no
one had my back. Start visualizing yourself as a
civilian, able to transfer skills to assist yet another
mission. Learn the language and culture, I had to
learn how to speak “academia” quickly to fit in and
excel.
Know what you want or even better, know
what you do not want. (mission-focused)
- It may be hard for military types to know which
positions to apply for as we are qualified for more
than most due to the breadth of our experiences.
Instead of making one resume for all positions,
I created ones tailored for specific jobs narrowing my
focus. I learned what I didn’t want to do.
Always have a Plan B (think strategically)
- Dream big. The military was Plan A; Higher
Ed was Plan B and Plan C was owning my own
business. Higher Ed allowed me to help underserved
populations and create new programming from
the ground up. Now I have one leg in Plan B and
one leg in Plan C with my consulting business,
Carrington Firmin LLC.
Take the Time to Build Relationships (team
building)
- I took the time to really listen to faculty, staff
and students to understand my new environment.
Do not underestimate how long you should spend in
this phase; it took months for me to build solid
relationships which then allowed me to build
coalitions with trusted collaborators.
Be Resilient (adapt and overcome)
- Flexibility and resilience are traits that are
honed in the military. This can be used in a variety
of ways to either seek out employment or help
navigate the position you land. Think about how
many times you moved or were thrown into
situations (like combat) where failure was not an
option, lives were at stake, you relied on training and
experience to get you through. Your critical thinking
and resilience skills will be beneficial in the civilian
workplace.
Buena suerte, good luck as you transition
“seamlessly”.
La Familia that serves. Col. Firmin officiating
her brother’s, Lance Carrington, military
retirement as Chief Warrant Officer, July
2017.
Col. Lisa Carrington Firmin, UTSA
Military Liaison.
Lisa “La Coronela” Carrington Firmin
is a retired Colonel, combat veteran and
Bronze Star recipient. She is the
Military Liaison at the University of
Texas at San Antonio where she founded
the UTSA Top Scholar program, the
Office of Veteran and Military Affairs
and the Center for Military Affiliated
Students. Lisa serves on several boards
and is the founder/CEO of Carrington
Firmin LLC, which primarily focuses on
Leadership, Transitions and Diversity
and Inclusion. A published author and
keynote, she has written and presented
on Leadership, Transitions, Veteran
Culture, Diversity/Inclusion and
Military Sexual Trauma. Lisa also
served on the Secretary of the VA’s
Advisory Committee on Minority
Veterans.
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