I’m inquiring for a young male/25yrs old, no college ed, and in army reserves for 5+ years… he wants to relocate to TX but not sure what his best employment options might be. Someone suggested he enroll in fire dept, but that process can be 8months. Is it possible that time served can make for an easier entry into some types of professions? If yes, what types?
thx!
Depends entirely on what his job (“MOS”) was in the army. An infantryman has different employment options than a computer network setter-upper or a cook or a truck mechanic.
In general, the only jobs that will have a formal hiring preference for vets are federal government jobs. Some states may have passed preference rules for their state employees; no clue if TX is one.
Give us some more info to work woth and and you’ll get better answers. I hate to say it, but the ethnicity of the young man may matter. Not to put too fine a point on it, but a lot of non-urban Texas is very gung ho towards vets until they discover the vet’s not white.
I know he did a tour in Iraq (mechanical support), and he’s White (Irish descent). I hope Texas doesn’t have a prejudice against Chicago southside-blue-collar accents, this kid’s got a heavy one! 
Does he intend to stay in the Army Reserve?, or are you asking what his experience is worth?
He might try state or local civil service jobs, also USPS, these would tend to be more forgiving of ongoing reserve requirements.
I believe he does intend to stay in the reserves, and also asking what his experience might be worth. I’ll let him know about the civil svc possibility.
If he has an active security clearance, that can be a definite pimping asset in a job search. Working on government contracts, for example, often requires a national security clearance; if he’s got one, most contractors will automatically put him among the top applicants.
It sounds as though this fella’, though, probably doesn’t. I infer that he’s enlisted rather than an officer. If he works on aircraft, though, that usually requires at least a Secret clearance.
In the U.K. a security clearance is worth quite a bit of money.
And since I recently watched the film, has he considered the U.S. Marshals service?
What you’re looking for is informed opinions, rather than a specific answer to a specific question.
Let’s move this to IMHO.
samclem GQ moderator
I’ll let him know about this possibility, and in general, gov employment.