Oh, I'm not sure I agree with all of the responses here, but I also think this is a matter of experience.
I also think this thread should be moved to LIVE AFTER THE MILITARY…. I think it will get more responses than just in ROTC.
First, it depends…. it depends on your level of experience, your time in, the contact you've made and the projects you've worked on, and it depends on the time your considering transitioning.
1. Your level of experience:
If you're a "five and dive" officer you have SOME experience. And while we constantly like to talk about how great your leadership experience is, the simple fact is, there are many people in the private sector who have leadership qualities too, BUT also have some direct, honed experience in the field you're trying to jump to.
If you're an O-3 when you get out, you probably have some good experiences. When I got out I had two years of ship experience, leading divisions with 14 people. I had national response experience as a public affairs officer. I attended the Defense Information School to become a more qualified public affairs officer, and I was on my way to a masters degree in public relations.
I think those experiences made my grad school time much more enjoyable. I was far more qualified than my juniors in communications, but my military public affairs experience wasn't a HUGE bonus. It was good, but it wasn't worth much more than someone who had had consistent public relations experience for five straight years.
2. Your time in:
The longer you're in, the more you see. That said, it's not always great. As I was transitioned from the military after five years, I was nervous. But to look at O-5s or O-6s in the same spot, considering what they future would look like? Well, that was some fear.
See, the military is "comfortable." After five years you get it. After 20 years, it's second nature. But going out into the real world can be scary. And yes, the real world works differently. And not every job will give you that "I'm making a difference" feel.
In my opinion, the longer you stay in, the more you narrow down what you CAN do (or at least what you're comfortable doing) once you get out.
I know junior officers who leave and find jobs in some very interesting places. But the more senior officers get, the more I see them finding a job in a "comfortable" setting…. at a defense contractor or, really, any contractor. They can't "get away" which is pretty understandable when it's been most of your life.
3. Your connections and your projects:
Your connections will help. So will your projects.
I had a classmate passed over for O-2. She was going to have to leave the Coast Guard as an officer after five years, but she had done a great job in her latest billet. Impressing her higher-ups, she was hired as a civilian employee as a GS-13/14. Now she's a GS-14 making more money than her classmates who were just selected for O-4. She had the right contacts and right experiences at the right time.
Your connections in the military will only help so much (actually I don't think they help much at all). If you're considering transitioning, connections on the outside are FAR more helpful. Often these connections will be military folks who transitioned before you.
Your projects may open some doors. If you work on something fairly specific, and there's a need for that "something" on the outside, that can set you up nicely.
4. Time you're considering transitioning:
It's better to transition now than it was in 2010, when government contracts were put on hold, companies were holding or downsizing, and many people were put on the streets looking for jobs. But if you think now is the best time, also consider who you're competing with. In addition to the many people already in the private sector who have much more experience in their fields, you're also competing with a growing number of veterans.
Many veterans will get five to ten point preference for federal jobs. That doesn't mean federal agencies WANT veterans more, it means they have to look at veterans more. In fact, many federal employers (and employees) hate veterans preference because, at least initially, they have to ignore some pretty good candidates to focus on veterans who, while qualified, may not be the BEST qualified.
Here's my experience. I was set to leave the Coast Guard in 2011. I started looking for positions at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011. At that point I didn't know how much veterans preference I had. I knew I at least had five points, but until the VA looked at my records, I couldn't be sure if it was hire (eventually it was determined to be 10 points).
At the time I had about five years of active duty time, I was working on a master's degree. I had advanced public affairs training. I had leadership experience and experiences with responses at a national level. And I had a top secret clearance.
I was told I would have no problem getting a job….
Unfortunately, my timing wasn't great. First, there were so many 10 point veterans than five points didn't get you much of a look (when applying for federal jobs). Second, five years of service time wasn't anything to write home about. I had not yet completed my master's so that didn't add anything to my application. Finally, for positions that required a TS clearance, it was often TS/SCI…. which I didn't have.
I applied to some federal jobs. I applied to some contractors. I kept going to grad school. Federal jobs didn't come through. Contractors did (Booz Allen specifically) but it took them a long time, and frankly, Booz didn't leave a great taste in my mouth.
But connections help….. a classmate in grad school hooked me up with her boss at a small PR firm in Washington, D.C. He was a Coast Guard Academy grad too. The contract I was going to work on was with the Department of Homeland Security. I already had experience with DHS, and had a connection with the firm now, so it worked out.
Connections continue to help…… I was later recruited away by one of my old grad school professors to work in a communications position at a financial regulator.
So now, after almost five years away from the Coast Guard, my resume is pretty strong, and that strength comes from experience, well timed moves with the help of valuable connections.
I don't think we do members of the military a disservice when we tell them how much people want veterans (it's a mixed bag) or how easy the transition will be (it isn't always) or that the road to riches is on the outside (it isn't always that way).
Some people will have some natural transitions…. a guy in intel might find some intel-related field on the outside, a military pilot may continue to fly on the outside, an engineer may find an engineering job.
But it's also important to understand that while you were in the military, doing different cool things, there were people in the private sector gaining experience in the fields you hope to one day join, and they have the same claim to those future positions. In some fields, you may even take a step back just to get a foot in the door.