To add onto k2rider, my DH served proudly, and my DS is now serving, both went/are AF.
I don't know which branch you are looking at, but here are somethings that I would say to her.
1. Lockheed, Boeing, GE, Pratt & Whitney, Booz Allen, SAIC, L3Comm, FBI, CIA, DoD all love to hire military over anyone right out of college!
~ Military members will have a security clearance which costs thousands of dollars to them if you don't have one.
~ Military members know how to speak military jargon. IE the F35 is now operational. Hard to work for Lockheed as an engineer if you don't know what a 4V4 triple turn means. A Navy, Marine or AF officer, pilot or maintainer knows exactly what that means.
2. Networking
~ The military is HUGE, but once you get your career field, you will find it is very small!
~~ DH was offered a job 16 months before retirement, because a previous commander then working for L3Comm called him up and said you have a job as soon as you leave.
~~ DS is a pilot. The minute he winged, our closest friend (SWA pilot) said to him, you have a job in 10 yrs (pilot commitment)
~~ I work retail (men's clothing). I notice what is called a ring knocker (VT, TAMU, VMI, etc) all wear their rings, regardless of their age. I immediately say where is your ring knocker from?
3. Grad school
~ You can get 75% of it paid for if you sign on for a couple more years.
~ Stay long enough like kinnem stated and you have a GI Bill
~~ Our cousin is now an attorney for the IRS. Want to guess how he paid for law school? GI Bill! Want to take a guess how he got an edge for his job...military also gives you points for the hiring purpose in some areas when it comes to federal job besides the networking aspect
4. Training around the world
~ How many 26/27 year olds can say during an interview with a multi-national, global company that they understand the unique differences between life in Germany, Korea, Saudi Arabia compared to the US?
~~ As a military member there is a chance you will be stationed there for as little as a few weeks to a few years....see above regarding point #1 why they like military.
My final point.
Ask her to think back only a decade ago. Our economy went into the tank very quickly, nobody in 2006 saw it coming, but those 2010 grads were up the creek with no job opportunities. Unemployment skyrocketed to the point unemployment insurance/paychecks were increased to 1 or 2 yrs (don't remember, because....oh yeah we were military with a guaranteed paycheck). Nobody saw that one coming! Military is a guaranteed 4 yr job in a managerial position as an officer.
No offense to your Mom, but I did chuckle at
Another argument she makes to persuade me not to join is that the military is highly bureaucratic.
I work for a national company, and OMG in some ways they are worse than the military! They are just as bloated, they have just as many regulations on what we can wear or what we can do. They offer a MUCH WORSE health insurance plan. A MUCH WORSE leave (vacation) plan. Their 401K is equivalent to the military, and if you do 20, it is worse. The only difference is they do not force us to move every couple of years.
She also thinks that serving is a joke
Next time she says that to you, just tell her from me...the reason she can say serving is a joke is because someone like my DS is right now defending this country so she can say that! That is the beauty of our country, we have the right to say that, and unfortunately, impho sometimes people forget that there is a wife and a child, or a parent separated from their loved one so she can have the right to look down on them!
I am a proud retired AF wife, and a proud AF mother. My DS's siblings do not serve, but as AF brats that attended no less than 9 schools during their school years (K-12) they now embrace the life they lead. How many of your friends can say they were born overseas? Camped in Denali National Park or Portage Glacier? Saw the Northern Lights? Was at the starting line for the Iditarod every year for several years? Saw the Cherry Blossoms every year? Went to the beaches in NJ, VA, NC or FL just because they were an hour or so away?
That is what they get to now say at a ripe old age of 23,25 and 27.
~ My 27 is the ADAF pilot. He also now can say he has been to Canada, Germany, Africa, Ireland and many other places as an ADAF officer.
~~ Oh and if you want to hit her from a financial aspect. He bought his 1st home at 24 with no help from us, but he did use his VA loan, and he did not have to put down 10-20%, heck not even 5%, basically he paid 1%. He is now making money on owning, and getting a nice tax cut because he owns a home.
~~~ He also gets great car/home insurance rates (USAA), free AMEX platinum card, 10% off at places like Lowes, American Eagle, DSW...all because he is military!
~~~~ He also has his paycheck different than corporate world. He has base pay, and that is taxable, but his housing pay is an allowance, and that is NOT taxable. IE. You make 30K in base pay, but you live in NJ and for an O1 they deem housing would cost 24K a yr. Your tax for the IRS is not 54K, but 30K.