Making the transition from your military to your civilian career, or changing jobs once you land in the civilian sector, is an intricate process that affects you and every member of your family. In addition to finding the right niche for your professional life, you must consider whether you are willing to relocate, disrupt your spouse’s career and your children’s schooling, and weigh the balance between quality-of-life opportunities with the overall compensation the position may offer.

Understanding who you are and what you would like to accomplish in your professional life requires much introspection, but it is only half of the equation. You also should be researching companies and potential employers to find the best possible fit for you and your unique circumstances. Consider questions such as:

• Do the company’s values align with my own?
• What’s the organizational culture?
• What’s the leadership style?

Answers to these questions can help you understand whether you’ll feel satisfied, challenged, and content with your new role, and whether you’ll align with the organization’s mission, values, and strategic goals. Recently, MOAA partnered with Indeed on a new job board experience to provide you with access to over 1 million jobs and Indeed’s Veteran Resource Center hub. This exclusive portal provides you with veteran-specific career guidance and tools to get started on your job search, and offers résumé-building support on how to translate your skills and articulate your value to prospective employers. 

[RELATED: 5 Reasons to Visit MOAA’s New Job Board]

To further assist job seekers, Indeed developed a new feature on Company Pages to identify and rate the happiness and job satisfaction factors associated with employers from across various industries and sectors. The Work Happiness Score digs deeper than traditional employee reviews and provides context beyond compensation, benefits, and perks to offer you quantifiable data about how employees genuinely feel about working for their company (and why). Find more on how you can employ this new feature in your job search at this link.

While it always feels tempting to take an offer based solely on salary and benefits considerations, MOAA’s team of career consultants cautions you to avoid making a dollar-driven decision. Rather, finding the right opportunity with the best organizational fit based upon your personal priorities and career goals may offer a better chance of long-term job satisfaction.

Need more guidance? MOAA’s Transition and Career Center includes advice on career fairs of all types, along with countless additional resources for your transition and job-search needs. Premium and Life Members can access even more materials, including archived webinars, personal career counseling sessions, and much more.