Transition Timeline

Work this backwards from your separation date.

If you are eighteen months out, you are in the best possible position — the highest-value options, like SkillBridge and credentialing assistance, are all still open to you. If you separated last month, start at the block that matches where you are and work forward from there. Nothing here expires, and plenty of people have run the whole thing in reverse after they were already out.

Your progress is saved

Tick items off as you complete them and the page will remember where you got to. Everything is stored privately in this browser — nothing is uploaded anywhere and nobody else can see it.

Because that record lives on this device, clearing your browser data or moving to another computer will give you a fresh start. Keep the dates and contacts that matter in your own notes as well.

18–12 months out

This is the window where the most valuable options are wide open to you — SkillBridge placements, credentialing assistance paid for by your branch, and time to build a network before you need it. Work done here pays off several times over later.

18 to 12 months before separation

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Reset

• Confirm your separation or retirement date and put it in writing.
• Register for TAP (Transition Assistance Program) — do not wait for it to be scheduled for you.
• Research DoD SkillBridge. It requires command approval and host-company placement, and the good slots fill early.
• Start a plain document listing every assignment, responsibility, number, and accomplishment. You will forget details fast.
• Request your Joint Services Transcript (or CCAF transcript) to see what college credit you have already earned.
• Check your branch COOL site for certifications your training already qualifies you for — many exam fees are covered.
• Read Where to Look First and decide which market you are targeting: federal civil service, government contractor, or commercial. This shapes everything else.
• Ask your security manager, in writing, for your clearance level, investigation date, adjudication date, and reinstatement window. Do this early — it is much harder after you out-process.
• Open a personal email account and a LinkedIn profile using it. Do not build your professional identity on a .mil address.
• Start a VA medical record review and begin documenting any conditions while you still have access.
• Have the honest conversation with your family about where you want to live and what you are willing to trade.

12–6 months out

12 to 6 months before separation

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• Run the Core Inventory prompt and save the output.
• Pull your evaluations and award citations and mine them for numbers.
• Decide on a target role and industry — or a short list of two or three.
• Build a first-draft civilian resume using the resume prompts.
• Build out your LinkedIn profile properly: headline, About, experience, 50 skills.
• Identify 20 target companies using the market research prompts — include federal agencies and contractors, not just commercial employers.
• Build a USAJOBS profile, save searches for your target roles, and turn on email alerts.
• Confirm which veterans' preference category and special appointing authorities you qualify for (VRA, VEOA, 30% or More Disabled, Schedule A).
• Use USAspending.gov to find the contractors supporting the agency or command you worked with.
• Begin outreach: aim for two informational conversations a month, not twenty.
• Apply for SkillBridge if you are using it — applications take months to process.
• Start any certification that takes more than three months.
• Attend a TAP employment workshop and at least one veteran career event.
• Start your VA disability claim paperwork (BDD filing is available 180–90 days before separation).

6–3 months out

6 to 3 months before separation

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• File your Benefits Delivery at Discharge claim if eligible — this is the 180-to-90-day window and missing it means waiting much longer for a decision.
• Finalize your resume and run the six-second scan critique on it.
• Build your STAR story bank — 10 to 12 stories.
• Start applying. Not "getting ready to apply." Applying.
• Set your weekly targets: applications, outreach messages, conversations.
• Begin tracking every application in a spreadsheet from the first one.
• Confirm your security clearance status and its reinstatement window in writing.
• Get a professional headshot. Use it on LinkedIn.
• Schedule your separation physical and complete your medical record review.
• Build a civilian budget: what you need monthly without BAH, BAS, or commissary.
• Understand your healthcare bridge — TRICARE transition options, VA enrollment, or an employer plan.

3 months to separation

Final 3 months

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• Increase application volume and run mock interviews weekly.
• Follow up on every outstanding application and conversation.
• Get your DD-214 and store multiple copies — digital and physical, in more than one place. You will need Member Copy 4 for federal applications.
• Prepare the federal application packet: DD-214 Member Copy 4, SF-15 if claiming 10-point preference, VA rating letter, and transcripts.
• Complete your final out-processing checklist and confirm your terminal leave dates.
• Confirm your VA claim status and that your exams are scheduled.
• Enroll in VA healthcare if you intend to use it.
• Update every account and record to your personal email and civilian address.
• Set up your civilian financial basics: direct deposit, budget, emergency fund target.
• Know your numbers before any offer arrives — benchmark your salary.
• Write down your non-negotiables and put them somewhere you will see them.

After separation

Actively searching

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Reset

• Treat the search as a job: set hours, weekly targets, and a review ritual.
• Track your funnel — applications, responses, interviews, offers — and diagnose where it breaks.
• Keep networking even in weeks when you have interviews scheduled. Momentum is hard to restart.
• Register with your state workforce agency and ask for the veteran employment representative.
• Apply for unemployment compensation (UCX) if you are eligible — it exists for this.
• Attend at least one veteran hiring event per month.
• Re-run the stalled search diagnostic every month.
• Keep learning in parallel with applying, never instead of it.
• Protect your routine, your sleep, and your relationships. This takes longer than people expect.

First 90 days on the job

After you land

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Reset

• Build a 30/60/90 day plan in week one.
• Meet everyone your manager suggests, and ask each of them the same three questions.
• Start a weekly accomplishment log on day one and never stop.
• Ask your manager directly what "good" looks like at 90 days.
• Resist changing anything in the first 30 days. Learn why it is the way it is first.
• Find one early, visible win by day 60.
• Join the veterans employee resource group if there is one.
• If you joined federal civil service: ask HR about military service credit (buying back your time toward FERS) and about creditable service for leave accrual. Do this in your first weeks — the deposit gets more expensive once interest starts accruing.
• If you joined a contractor: find out your contract's period of performance and recompete date, and note it in your calendar.
• Stay in touch with the people who helped you — send the follow-up telling them how it turned out.
• Update LinkedIn, and thank the people who referred or advised you publicly if that is appropriate.