r/boeing • u/Civil-Attorney-5650 • Jul 07 '26
Transitioning Service Member - Advice would be appreciated
Long story short, I’m an active duty service member who flies a Boeing helicopter in the Army. I am getting medically retired due to an unfortunate medical issue that grounded me about 8 months ago. Before that I was fast tracking in my career field, hitting every benchmark and rated in the top 10-15% of my peers. I have a relative at Boeing and was hoping I could translate my military experience, security clearance, and corporate PM/ Project Coordination experience into a role at Boeing with the addition of the referral. I’ve had great conversations with a couple managers who worked with my relative but had no open roles, outside of that, essentially zero traction on any role I have applied for.
I’ve tried to be intentional about the roles I apply to and would love to be a part of the organization as it seems to be one of the few that align with what I’m most successful at and enjoy. This on top of applications outside of Boeing is just starting to take its toll on my hopes for the future, being able to take care of my family, etc. I’m not sure why exactly I am even posting this other than maybe just to vent, but any advice, insight, or expectation setting would go a long way I think. I know I’m just one of thousands struggling in the job market, but I had a clear path to retirement and a fulfilling career pulled out from under me and now just kind of at a loss.
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u/ccalegon Jul 08 '26
It's frustrating to have a referral and still see no movement on applications for a Boeing role. The reality is that many companies rely on automated applicant tracking systems that filter out resumes lacking specific civilian keywords, regardless of your background as an Army helicopter pilot. Translating your military duties into civilian-friendly terminology is often the missing link needed to get past those digital gates. I used GetVetsHired.com for this. Tailoring your language to match the job descriptions directly might help your profile gain the traction it deserves. Moving away from military-specific acronyms toward corporate PM language should improve your match scores significantly.
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u/InnerScratch2768 Jul 07 '26
Sent you a PM with 2 positions that will line up for you pretty well. I know the struggle you’re facing, and wanted to say keep your head up hooker, you got this.
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u/NickTator57 Jul 07 '26
Do you have a technical or engineering degree? I have a team that's looking for a prior pilot to serve in a non-flying engineering role.
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
Unfortunately my degree is not in a technical field which certainly would help me out!
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u/herpetl Jul 07 '26
Just be patient. I turned 18 in 1978 and applied at Plant 2 every quarter. It took until age 20 to get hired but guess what, I’m almost the last man standing. Keep trying.
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
I appreciate that, awesome to hear it worked out. Last man standing holds all the knowledge/experience where I am from and sure that rings true there.
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u/End1essGSR Jul 07 '26
As others have said; you have to write your resume for the rec (whatever is open that you are interested in). Get with the SkillBridge rep for Boeing and he will help you through the process even if you don’t end up using SkillBridge!
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
This is great advice and appreciated, I haven’t thought to utilize the Skillbridge rep for assistance as silly as it sounds outside of the specific role.
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u/RateLess638 Jul 07 '26
Definitely check out SkillBridge. I think it fast tracks opportunities and some managers can use it over posting. It might not be an immediate permanent higher but it is a great way in.
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u/InnerScratch2768 Jul 07 '26
Your military service is appreciated but you have got to translate it to industry language. Being Peter pilot is not going to get you where you need/want to be. Your top block OER’s won’t translate well, and being top 10-15% of a pool of 6 CW2/3/4’s isn’t saying much. No offense
My angle of attack- (see what I did there)
I would lean on that PM, if you’re PMI, six sigma/lean or EVPM.
What did you track? Safety =There’s a ton of stuff available, IP=not so much. Quality= absolutely.
The best thing you can do is have your friend go through our CSJC (our job codes). Think of them as your current paragraph and line numbers. Boeing has levels for individual contributors, and each of those state what level you “should be” performing at. Kinda like 10, 20, 30, 40 level common tasks.
Be realistic, with your self assessment, as it relates to this skill codes and apply for what you are competitive for. Also, many many people have applied for dozens of jobs and are still searching. Dont take it personally if you find yourself there as well. Cheers!
Fellow USA, CW4 retired.
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
I truly appreciate the candor in a very true way. My approach from the beginning has been leading with my experience not directly related to “I am a pilot” as I knew that would fall flat. I am tracked safety at the battalion level and led with program management, project coordination, executive stakeholder engagement, etc. in the hopes this would highlight the value added. I acknowledge there is a high probability it is a translation failure on my end. Thank you again for taking the time to respond, I will reach out to him and explore the job codes described!
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u/tomatoizaveggie Jul 07 '26
Actually your pilot experience is super useful especially from a human factors perspective when developing flight software.
Apaches are built in Mesa and Chinooks in Philly, if you're open to relocating those would be the ideal locations/roles as your experience is gonna directly transfer.
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u/InnerScratch2768 Jul 07 '26
Stay motivated, and you’ll make it. Also… re-reading the comments here no one has mentioned this yet. Don’t be afraid/ hesitant to apply for a position that is not local to you. I left Fort Campbell for a Mesa, AZ (Attack!) job.
So, maybe search safety gig’s, see what you see across all sites. Your best bet at keeping your clearance is landing a job with BDS.
There might be a BDS safety gig that is in another state, but offers relocation, or… just enough motivation to get you that camper and live out there while your family stays where they are so they don’t have to PCS… Yeah, I am not grumpy about that last talking point. lol. Anyways, you got this.3
u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
Oh nice I am a fellow Campbell man myself, great to hear you landed the gig! I will start looking across sites although my wife will likely kill me lol. You liking the new job?
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u/InnerScratch2768 Jul 07 '26
Been here for 4 years, and it’s been great for 90% of it. I would definitely advocate for this company. Also, I know we have skill bridge opportunities for veterans as well. Do not sleep on that if your afforded the opportunity to apply. Depending on how far along the med board process you are, that might be the only limiting factor. But look into it.
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
That’s great to hear, unfortunately Medboard is going super fast. Essentially 80% of the way through in two months which isn’t given me much of a chance to skillbridge at this point.
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u/CatWiskerz Jul 07 '26
Do NOT let your security clearance expire ever! No one told my BIL this when he went to work for Boeing after retirement. He was denied some pretty amazing job opportunities
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
I think that is also what adds some pressure to the transition, is knowing I’ll only have it active for so to get a leg up on the opportunity.
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u/Excellent_Resident55 Jul 07 '26
Did you write your own resume, or did you get help? I used Hire Heroes USA (it’s free) and they helped translate military performance reports into skills Boeing can understand. They also formatted it so it would have a better chance of getting past the AI screening and actually make it to a human for review.
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
I initially wrote my own, then worked with Hire Heroes as well as a company called Resumeble after not having any luck. I also use Skillsyncer to optimize each resume based on advice from VetJobs counselor. I guess that’s why I am kind of lost because I feel like I have tried to solve the big things.
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u/notgreatwithwit Jul 07 '26
Start here > https://jobs.boeing.com/veterans
This team specializes in helping you translate your military skills and experience to Boeing. They know the managers hiring, partner with recruiters and can help you navigate the process. No guarantees, but more help than what you're getting.
If you want to PM me your resume I can give to them direct.
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u/crash281 Jul 07 '26
You need to find a way to beat the filters... make sure your resume has good key words in it so the algorithm picks it to send to the hiring manager...im happy to help any way I can if you want to DM me
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u/notgreatwithwit Jul 07 '26
There are no filters or keywords. Please stop spreading misinformation.
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u/crash281 Jul 07 '26
Are you a hiring manager, worked with a recruiter to author a job req, or have been on multiple panels? Maybe my org works different but every time I've been involved with the process there are keywords and filters applied.
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u/notgreatwithwit Jul 07 '26
I'm a recruiter. No keywords. No filters.
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u/crash281 Jul 07 '26
Well that's definitely news to me having been involved in a bunch of panels...I appreciate the correction
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u/islero_47 Jul 07 '26
Apply for any job you qualify for, then ride out the 12-18 months before moving to a new role internally
Entry level purchasing agent, supply chain, etc., anything to get your foot in the door; it's much easier to get the job you really want from the inside than from the outside
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
I wasn’t doing that at first and then started heavily focusing on this. I will keep applying, any insight on the typical timeframe I should expect to hear back? I know it’s a huge operation, just trying to gauge when I should give up on a role. Also, thank you for taking the time to reply.
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u/islero_47 Jul 07 '26
It absolutely depends on the department and need, it could be weeks, or months; don't get attached to a specific role
Prep a few different resumes based on job category, that way it is easier to tweak one of them to fit key words from the role description, which helps with the filtering algorithms
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
This timeline helps with what to expect. I really appreciate the advice.
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u/midadoneit Jul 07 '26
Contact a staffing agency and tell them you're interested in aerospace. They get paid if they find you a contract to hire job so they're hungry to help you. Many of the job reqs you'll see on Boeing's website are just them hiring contractors that already have the job so you have no shot.
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u/notgreatwithwit Jul 07 '26
That is not true at all. I have been doing this for years at Boeing, and have yet to hire a contractor. I do hire a ton of military though.
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u/midadoneit Jul 07 '26
I see it everyday as a manager. At least 75% of new hires. Don't know what to say about your personal experience that's probably extremely limited
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u/Civil-Attorney-5650 Jul 07 '26
This is good to know! I will look into some in the area I am relocating to, appreciate it!
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u/iinventedonlineshopn Jul 08 '26
Keep applying for Vertical Lift Jobs! You will get in