Leaving the military? You’ll get two types of career advice: One’s all fluff and feelings (“follow your passion”), the other’s a rigid checklist that doesn’t match real life.
Neither works.
The truth? Finding the right civilian career isn’t just about ticking boxes or chasing the highest salary. It’s about spotting where your skills, interests, and what the world actually needs all meet. That’s where IKIGAI comes in. Not a buzzword. A proper tool to help you cut through the noise.
What Is IKIGAI?
IKIGAI is a Japanese concept that translates to “reason for being.” It’s the combination of four critical questions:
- What are you good at?
- What do you love?
- What does the world need?
- What can you be paid for?
The sweet spot in the middle? That’s your IKIGAI, the place where your purpose, passion, and a proper paycheck all come together.
Sound like a lofty concept? Maybe. But for veterans, it’s actually a brilliantly practical framework for mapping out a meaningful civilian career.
Applying IKIGAI to Your Military Experience
Here’s the trick: you already have answers to these questions, you just might not see them yet. Let’s walk through how your military experience translates into IKIGAI.
1. What Are You Good At?
Think about the hard-earned skills you gained in service.
- Leadership under pressure
- Operational planning and strategy
- Team-building and people management
- Communication that cuts through noise
It’s not about buzzwords. It’s about clear, tangible skills that most civilians never get the chance to hone in such high-stakes environments.
2. What Do You Love?
This is the personal bit. What parts of military life did you thrive in?
- Working with a close-knit team?
- Solving complex logistical challenges?
- Delivering results on a tight deadline?
Take those elements, and identify where you feel most “in your flow”, when work doesn’t feel like work at all.
3. What Does the World Need?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Employers are desperate for people who can:
- Drive teams forward in uncertain situations
- Coordinate projects, people, and resources
- Problem-solve calmly and effectively
Roles in operations, project management, logistics, and leadership are crying out for people with your experience.
4. What Can You Be Paid For?
At the end of the day, you want a job that values your skills financially. High-demand roles include:
- Project Manager: Overseeing timelines, budgets, and teams.
- Operations Leader: Streamlining processes and making things run like clockwork.
- Logistics Specialist: Planning, organising, and delivering results under pressure.
- Chief of Staff: Acting as the right hand to senior leadership and driving strategy.
These roles align what you’ve already mastered with what employers will pay properly for.
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IKIGAI in Action: An Example
Here’s what IKIGAI might look like when you map it out:
What You Love: Working with people, solving challenges, building teams.
What You’re Good At: Leadership, operational planning, and clear communication under pressure.
What the World Needs: People who can coordinate and deliver results, think operations, project management, logistics.
What You Can Be Paid For: Roles like project manager, operations leader, or chief of staff.
Result? A tailored career pathway that feels purposeful and uses your best skills without wasting a single ounce of experience.
How to Get Started
- Write It Down: Map out your answers to the four IKIGAI questions. Be specific—vague answers won’t help you here.
- Ask Around: Talk to other veterans who’ve already found their civilian sweet spot. What clicked for them?
- Test the Waters: Use tools like Redeployable’s career pathways (or our new personal coach feature) to explore industries that align with your IKIGAI.
Your Career Sweet Spot Is Waiting
IKIGAI isn’t a gimmick. It’s a way to focus on what matters: building a career that feels both rewarding and sustainable. You’ve already done the hard part, serving with dedication and mastering skills most people dream of. Now it’s about aligning those strengths with work that excites you and pays you what you deserve.
Stop settling for “good enough.” Start aiming for your reason for being.
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