Nobody does recruitment drives like the military. You’ve all seen the countless adverts on TV that paint military careers as the best thing ever. They tell you you’ll travel the world, make loads of new friends, and develop many skills. It’s painted as the perfect career path where nothing can go wrong!
The military loves advertising its various careers to young people who are about to start their career path or individuals looking to change their careers. It’s always promoted as a fantastic choice full of benefits – but are military careers all they’re made out to be? A quick look at the biggest pros and cons will tell you all you need to know…
The Pros Of A Military Career
We can’t deny there are some advantages of military careers. If you embark on this journey, you may benefit from:
- Great Retirement Benefits – A military retirement is very favorable and you’ll be eligible to retire with full benefits after 20 years of service. If you join when you’re 20 you could be retired by 40 – far younger than most people retire.
- Develop Loads Of Transferable Skills – Another thing we’ll say about military careers is that they help you develop loads of transferable skills. You can gain experience in specialist areas too, like engineering, mechanics, or even food tech.
- Room To Grow – Unlike some careers, a military career is built with a ladder giving you room to grow. You can make your way through the ranks and take on new responsibilities, earning better pay and benefits at the same time.
- Great Job Security – It’s very hard to be fired from the military and it will never have job cuts. This means your career is secure, as long as you abide by the rules. It can give you peace of mind knowing you’re in a secure career.
The Cons Of A Military Career
On the other side of things, we can’t ignore the glaring downsides to a career in the military:
- A Toxic Work Environment – By far the biggest con of a military career is the toxic work environment. This is no secret; there are horror stories of people being mistreated all the time. It’s why there’s a huge push right now for military sexual assault prevention. There’s a lot of toxic masculinity in this industry so don’t expect it to be the nicest work environment.
- Physically & Mentally Demanding – Unlike other careers, you’re forced to have a level of physical fitness and endurance in the military. It takes a toll on your body, not to mention the effects on your mind. This career is very high-stress, even during peaceful times.
- A High Risk Of Being In Conflict – When serving your country, you never know when you might be shipped out or who you may have to fight. There’s a chance you’ll do things you can’t live with – plus the risk of death if there is conflict.
- Demotion Is Possible – While the military provides promotion opportunities, it also does something most careers don’t; it demotes people. If you underperform you can be demoted down the ranks and receive worse pay and benefits. Aside from this, you also deal with humiliation in front of your peers.
So, are military careers all they’re made out to be? The simple answer is no. These careers are far from the wonderful things army recruitment drives make them out to be. You have to be very committed to serving your country and must be ready for the physical and mental challenges. Unless you want to be a soldier, there’s very little need to join the military as most of the other careers are available in different industries with better pay and less toxic work environments.