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Preparation

Preparing to Transition:

You should start your transition to a career in higher education a year or two before you plan to retire from the Navy.   You should use this preparatory time to research facilities management careers in higher education and to assess the current job market.

 

Researching Facilities Management Careers:  Before you make the leap into the higher education facilities management world, you need to make sure that this career field is right for you.   Suggested activities you can do to assist you in making this determination include: 

 

1.  Determine What You Financial Goals Are:   Like the Navy, you will be well compensated and can live a comfortable life from a financial standpoint in a career in higher education, but it is not lucrative.   However, if you want to be rich and make a lot of money, a career in higher education is not for you.  

 

2.  Determine Where You Want to Live:  Where you want live after you retire may constrain your job opportunities, particularly in higher education.   If you want to live in a specific city, it is likely that there are relatively few universities or colleges in that city, and for those few institutions, the top facilities jobs may only come open once every decade or more.  As such, the odds of you successfully pursuing a career in higher education may be low.   On the contrary, if you are flexible, and can take a more regional or national approach, your odds of success will be high.    

 

3.  Research Institutions In the Area You Want to Live:  Identify and research the institutions in the area you want to live.  Review the Facilities Managment web sites at the schools you are interested in to understand the following:

 

  • How is the Facilties Management organization structured?

  • How large is the organzation?

  • Do they have separate Vice Presidents for Planning, Design/Construction, and Facility Operations/Maintenance or are they all combined in a single organization under a single Vice President?

  • What are the senior positions in the organization?

  • Who are the incumbents?

 

4.  Talk to Retired CEC Officers in Higher Education:   The CEC network is a very supportive one.  Call officers you might have known in the past who are now in higher education careers and get their advice on your job search.    See the "Colleagues" menu item for a listing of former CEC officers in higher education.

 

Finding Positions

 

There are several web sites you can monitor to find open facilities management positions within higher education.  These web sites include:  

 

APPA:  Association of Physical Plant Administrators: 

 

http://www.appa.org/JobExpress/positions.cfm

 

The Chronicle of Higher Education: 

 

https://chroniclevitae.com/job_search/new?cid=chena

 

HigherEdJobs.com

 

https://www.higheredjobs.com/executive/search.cfm?JobCat=164

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