Hades
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[VE-NAVY] Petty Officer 2nd Class
Post Number: 209
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Career Options
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June 13, 2012
7:32:44 AM
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I figured that I'd seek the opinion of people on here as much as I will my friends and family IRL - I need some advice guys. Not a blatant 'yes' or 'no', but opinions.. well set out opinions.
Right now I'm at a turning point in my life. I've always considered the armed forces an options (since I was wee lad) but right now it's becoming a much harder choice. As of last month, the Australian government canned the 'gap year' program - a year of training and working in the service of your choosing (Army, Navy, Air Force) with the option to get out at the end or continue..
What that means is that the only appealing job in the armed forces that would be a single year commitment would be a Red Cap - military police - which I don't really want to do.. My other main, preferred option, is the Navy. More specifically, as a NEO (New Entry Officer) which would mean I'd go into the navy and train as a Maritime Warfare Officer with the specification of my choosing. The downside is the minimum period of service is 6 years.
On the other hand, I have the choice to go to university. While I haven't applied yet, I'm thinking of International Relations, Law, Security, or possibly even history.
Really I have several options -
-Enter the armed forces as an Officer (a degree is only needed to get past -Captain in the army or equiv. in the navy.)
-Get a degree, then enter as an officer with higher pay
-Do a degree whilst doing my officer training
-Enter as enlisted and work my way up or
-University and civilian jobs
A few of the reasons I'm considering the armed forces in a nutshell:
-Job security
-Great Experience
-Great pay (better than a civilian job straight out of yr 12 anyway)
-Always wanted to do it..
-Very patriotic and such..
It should also be noted that, if I choose to do a university degree, my parents will fund the first three years of said higher education, incl. cost of living.
What does everybody think? I really appreciate any opinion and I wasn't really sure where else to post this..   Petty Officer 2nd Class Demetrius "Hades" Aita, Tuk'ata SquadronFM | PO2 "Hades" | B-3 | S:26 "Tuk'ata" | W:58 "Javelin" | mSSD Atrus | TF:A | 1Flt | SC | VEN | VE [MC1] [CBV] (=SWC=) [CAR] [BWC]{INTER} {SfrM} {XenMA} {AFM} {HypM} {0Gee} {INFL} "Life is warfare." ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca     |
Serpent
ComNet Member
Imperial Baronet
[VE-NAVY] Master Chief Petty Officer
Post Number: 356
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Joined: Jul 2011
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RE: Career Options
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June 13, 2012
7:57:42 AM
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Hades, I know exactly what you are going through. I spent a lot of time thinking long and hard about a military, specifically Navy, life. In the end I didn't do it, and though I have no regrets about my life (living in Japan these past 4 years has been awesome!) I do often wonder what life as an officer in the Royal Navy would have been like. If your parents are going to fund University, I would say go for that. Hold off on your military dream for a while and do a 3 year course. Uni is not the be-all of life after school, but for some people it can be good. At the end of it, if the idea of a Return of Service of 6 years sounds acceptable, you can go right in for officer training. If you don't think you can commit to it, then you have a degree with which to do something else. So yeah, I'd say uni first, officer later. [SoA][MC2][LoM][NAR][E][HNS][SWC][CBV][VC:S][SoV][MiD][=*Eng*=]
"If the crew doesn't hate the XO, then he's not doing his job." - Colonel Saul Tigh
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Havock
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RE: Career Options
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June 13, 2012
8:13:56 AM
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Well Hades, Like Serpent, I can only offer you my experience for you to read and hopefully it will help you. With the choices you have, I don't think any of them are "wrong", just offer you different paths.
I also always wanted to join the military but college was more important (to me) so I had a recruiter that already had my paperwork filled out while I waited for scholarships. I got them so I went to Uni but either path would have been fine for me. Still kinda wonder what life would be like right now if I'd gone into the military (I'm sure I wouldn't be a teacher lol).
You've done your research, which is perfect. What I used to do is make a pro/con list and go with the one that I like the best when I'm done. XO | MAJ Ayme ' Havock' Katash | VEA | VE SM | KPT Ayme ' Havock' Katash | Lion Sect | Lopen | VEDJ | VE PRT | CPT Havock | Broken Bitch | Eyesore | Osk [EW1] [RoT] [RoM] [CRoM] [CoH] [RCoD] [PoC]{ HoTC} { KAD} { GC} { GS} { RES} { MRT} (RAWR) (ESC09) (AoT) (DoH-P) (AS-3) (A13) (A5) (1.1) (1.2) (KC2) |
Trykon
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RE: Career Options
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June 13, 2012
5:38:23 PM
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I would echo the sentiments of others: you should look closely at your own list of pros and cons, A, and B, you may want to attend university first, and then revisit the notion of military service. The reasons already cited are apt. Whichever path you choose, I suspect you'll excel, but signing a 6 year contract is never something to take lightly. Good luck making your decision! SCAP /LTJG Wyl Trykon/SMC Surprise/TF:B /1Flt /FC /VEN /VE CNT /LTJG Wyl "Trick" Trykon /PLF Cappadocious/VENA /VEN /VE [SoA][SoV][BWC][NSM][E][NAR][HNS][DSM][SWC][1NS][VC:B][LoM][VC:S][NC][GWC]/(=*AE* =)(=*SAE* =)(=*TG* =)(=*SCFE* =)TRN/AD Trykon/DJO/VEDJ |
Bloodhound
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RE: Career Options
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June 13, 2012
6:22:57 PM
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I'm active duty. I say get a real job.Never mind, I'm US Army, your military sounds way more fun. A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein.
[This message has been edited by
Traveler
(edited June 13, 2012
6:23:50 PM)]
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Jager
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RE: Career Options
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June 14, 2012
10:41:17 PM
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The ADF is quite a difficult thing to get in to. You need to be fairly top-shit inorder to impress them, especially out of high school. Lots of applicants, not too many jobs.
Especially officer positions. You sort of have to be an officer before they will train you as one, from my impression at least.
In saying that, an interview (joes day/whatever they call the day after joes day) only costs you a couple of hours and setting one up is a fairly straight foward affair. |
Raziel
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RE: Career Options
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June 15, 2012
12:21:01 AM
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Do any of the universities you're looking at have good officer cadet programs? If you're going to become an officer, get a degree. It lifts the lid on your career there as well as opening up options if you decide to go back to being a civvie later on.
We have two ex colonels working here and they're paid well enough to tempt them away from final salary pensions, so it must be a fair wack.  LTC/Raziel/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/(WoS1)(VP1)(VP2)(SC) [BoA][EW1][CDS][IH][GC][RoT][IG][SoS][GroM][PoC][CoH][SCP] ARC Commander: Alpha, Beta Squads HM/DJC Raziel/Lion 1-5/Neutral/VEDJ/VE (SC) (WoS1) (VP1) (VP2) |
Bloodhound
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RE: Career Options
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June 15, 2012
4:34:41 PM
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Not sure outside of the US, but here a degree is required to be an officer and, again in the US, you probably won't finish working on further degrees while you're in. Also, again from my experience in the US military, ex-military tend to be able to get jobs most civilians can't and some of those jobs pay lots and lots of money. (For example a low level mechanic like me could, if I so wished, get on with a government contractor and make well over 50k a year doing the same thing I do now. More if it's a job that deploys along side the military.) A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein.
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