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Transitioning Stories By Dr. Julie Ducharme www.synergylearninginstitute.org This month I am excited to talk with Dr. Karen Walker. Dr. Walker is a well decorated retired United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, with 21 years in the Marine core. Dr. Walker is an expert in organizational psychology, and she is an advocate for diversity and change. She has her Ph.D. in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Human Behavior and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. Dr. Walker has an extensive background in government and corporate industries as well as academia as she has worked with: the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Justice, University of New Mexico, University of Arizona Global Campus, Forbes School of Business and Technology, and Synergy Learning Institute. I asked Dr. Walker what it was like her first year transitioning out of the military…
Dr Walker said, “Every one told me because I was an officer and had my doctorate it would be a piece of cake, but I was unemployed for nearly a year when I left active duty. It was the toughest time of my life and I really struggled to find my way. I was deeply depressed and I really felt like a failure after months of not being able to find my niche in civilian life. What I found is that I kept applying for jobs that I did in the military and that actually is the wrong thing to do.” I thought that would be a good job search approach too, so I asked Dr. Walker to tell me more about her challenges with that approach. What did you find out about yourself by applying for the same jobs that you did in the military?
Dr. Walker answered, “Most military transition programs focus on your skill sets and what you have always done in order to predict what you will be good at in the future. That is a common approach. However, they forget to consider what your passions are and how they can certainly change over time as well. The military morphs us. We all come into the military and leave the 42
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military at different times. Some people enter at 18 years old and some leave after 4 years while some stay for 10, 20 or even 25 years. Whenever a person does decide to make that transition it is important to consider their skillsets and their passions. So, one day, I had a real epiphany, when my sister was helping me prep for a job interview and just as I had for hundreds of others she read the requirements and asked me if I could do each one on the list: travel to multiple locations in the same day—YES; lead hundreds of employees—YES; work 1215 hour days—YES, of course, I’m a Marine I told her confidently. Then my sister turned to me and said, ‘this job sounds awful!’ And I sat back and said, you’re right, it does sound terrible because I had already been doing this job for years in the Marine Corps. It was just like every Operations Officer job I ever held before and it was no longer my passion. I no longer needed to prove that I could do any of these things. That was the last day I applied for any of those jobs and I started living for my passion. So when you left the Marines, how did you know what your passion was?
Dr Walker added, “Well, I had to give myself permission to dream again. I had to switch gears. My passion was now Organizational Psychology. I realized I needed to start applying for what I really wanted to be doing and once I started focusing on that I really haven’t looked back. I quickly found a career I love. If I could give any tips in this area it would be to really focus on what you want to do when you get out that matches your skillsets. Don’t let what everyone else says is a good job for a veteran deter you from your actual passion. Once I went after my passion my life took off in an amazing direction. Not too long after that I also explored many other areas of my life that I wanted to do like adopting my son, Cayleb who is graduating high school this year! They grow up so fast. He is going to be making his own life decisions soon. To get education from Dr. Tiffany click link below https://drtiffanytajiri.com/meet-dr-tiffany/ To watch the Dr. Tiffany live interview click the link below https://youtu.be/oeWm4Oa3keA For more help on active duty transition, education, and more click the link below www.synergylearninginstitute.org
