Military to Space Industry Career Advice Needed

[Jason1234567]

Everyone, this post is going on multiple forums/subreddits so I can get diverse feedback. Pardon the spam if you see it elsewhere:

I am retiring from the military in three years from a non-technical specialty. I have a bachelors in management. I will be 45 when I depart. I will have a security clearance.

I very much want to get into the space industry in some role. The field fascinates me, and after weighing lots of options I am fairly confident in the general direction I want to go. I am going to spend the next year getting my math and science skills from school (long ago) brushed up, and start knocking out preliminary course work in math through Differential Equations and a full Physics series.

I am interested in the technical aspects of the industry, but have no background in them. I have lots of management experience of diverse technical workers, but I am not sure how to leverage this. I am willing to go back to school, but I am not getting any younger and I would lose my clearance as it timed out… I figure that may help get a foot in the door, somewhere. I’ve looked at various online programs that I could get into after getting my math/science coursework done, but without a technical bachelors or hands on experience I am not sure if that will help or hurt. I’ve looked at FIT’s MS in Space Systems with interest.

I’m really on the beginning of the path here, but I’m looking for general feedback and advice from anyone in the industry and would love your thoughts as I try to figure out the way forward.

Thanks in advance!

 

[miningman]

Well not that I know very much about the space industry , but if I were you I would get my PMP creditation, abandon maths and physics and build on my management skills. Boeing is likely going to need lots of experienced personnel from outside the organization to get out of their present predicament.

 

[NutAce]

Coming from the Military I would guess you already have some advantages in applying at NASA.
Don't they have any programs which are suitable for you?

Ronald van den Broek
Senior Application Engineer
Winterthur Gas & Diesel Ltd
NX9 / TC10.1.2

Building new PLM environment from Scratch using NX12 / TC11

 

[swertel]

Look up any company that hires veterans. Most defense contractors look to veterans first.
Boeing
Raytheon
Honeywell
Northrup Grumman
Lockheed Martin
Nammo Defense Systems

Where do you want to work/live?

--Scott

 

[swertel]

I guess I should clarify my point.

Start looking for jobs within the companies located in areas around the country/world that you want to live.
Look at the education and experience requirements on those job postings and go from there.

--Scott

 

[CWB1]

If you're set on the private sector then my recommendation would be to either look for a company needing a govt/security liaison or one that's hiring for the civilian equivalent of your MOS. To private business there's simply no replacement for experience in that niche and there's been enough stereotypes and misconceptions about veterans, military, and training (specifically lack thereof) that many companies today are leery of hiring us despite the outwardly patriotic claims. I also would not discount working directly for the govt however as the value of a pension is rather difficult to rival with individual investments and many govt positions anymore are paying more with better benefits than their private sector equivalent.

 

[Jason1234567]

Somewhat delayed, but I wanted to thank everyone for replying to this post. I'm still weighing the technical vs management paths and your feedback helps with that.

CWB1 - thanks for your take as a fellow servicemember, you naturally understand all the baggage we carry when moving over to new careers.

NutAce - NASA has programs for students / recent graduates, aligned with science/engineer grads. Veterans preference greatly helps in getting a foot in the door, but you have to meet the other reqs up front before that matters (at least that's what I'm gathering as I keep researching)

Thanks again everyone.