Preparation

Preparing to Transition:

I. Getting Started: 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 and to assess the current job market.

1. Finding a Job, Is a Job: Treat your job search like a job. Set weekly and monthly goals for yourself (eg. make 3 calls each week and research 4 new institutions) and set aside specific time to work on your transition.

2. Ruehlin Seminar: Find a way to attend the Ruehlin Seminar about 1 year before you transition.

http://www.ruehlinassociates.com/default.aspx

This is a great primer on the entire career transition process. Many of us have never had job interviews, never written a resume or negotiated our salaries. These are skills you can learn and improve on.

3. Build Your Network. Start accumulating contact information of contacts in higher ed and the engineering profession. Tell them about your career transition plans and ask for their help in identifying opportunities. Many good jobs are not advertised, but are found by word of mouth or selective searches.

4. Do Informational Interviews. Ask for ½ to 1 hour interviews with current Facility Managers in Higher Ed or with the hiring managers of the positions you seek. Tell them you are NOT seeking a job from them, but rather want to learn about their industry (higher ed) and their job. Ask things like: what are the best and worst parts of your job; what the salary range is; what advice do you have for someone like me; ask them for two more contacts at other institutions (build that network!) This also affords you the opportunity to practice interviewing in a lower stress environment.

II. 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. Higher Ed jobs tend to pay less than other engineering jobs, but have other significant benefits such as tuition remission, generous holidays, and minimal time away from home. Like the CEC, higher ed facility managers form a supportive, collaborative community.

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 Management web sites at the schools you are interested in to understand the following:

How is the Facilities Management organization structured?
How large is the organization?
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?
Get an informational interview at all of your target institutions.

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 conduct an Informational Interview. See the "Colleagues" menu item for a listing of former CEC officers in higher education. Ask them to let you know of any openings they become aware of.

III. 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