For many of you making the move from a military career to the civilian sector, full-time employment isn’t a viable option.
Perhaps you’ll be attending school part time, or your family needs require you to have a more flexible work schedule, or perhaps your immediate goals don’t align with full-time employment.
If that’s the case, you’re in luck! Studies show that we’re in a “gig economy,” and many veterans (and civilians) are benefiting from this less traditional workstyle.
A gig economy refers to a workforce situation comprised of more short-term, flexible or part-time positions, rather than working one, 40-plus-hour a week job. Gigs or gig jobs may be contracts, short term-employment or part-time positions. They can offer tremendous value to the worker, depending on the arrangement.
Examples of gig jobs include:
Some of the benefits of gig work include:
Working gig jobs for long periods of time can create challenges from a resume standpoint: Future employers might question why you worked short-term jobs; they may not see the continuity in your career growth or path and may question your ability to stick with one thing. For these reasons, consider long-term impact from long-term gig work and think about your narrative before you start — how will you explain the work you’ve been doing, as it tells the story of your career progression?
For example, if you worked several gig jobs for a few years, while your family transitioned into your new (civilian) life, you might tell a prospective (full-time) employer that you made a conscious decision to focus on establishing your family’s roots in the community before committing to a permanent job.
And, because you’d been deployed multiple times, the flexible work schedule permitted you to spend time with your young children, who are now well-integrated into their new life and home.
Then, your decision to work this way will make sense to an employer.
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