“Maybe it’s getting the resume ready, maybe it’s engaging in the job search, or building your network, or looking at where your next home is going to be,” says Lee Kelley, principal director, Office of Military Community and Family Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense.

WorkingNation sat down with Kelley at the NASWA Veterans Conference in Washington, D.C.

Kelley says help is available. She relates her own experience finding the right job after leaving military service. “It took me four jobs in five years before I found it,” she says. “I hadn’t really tapped into a network when I got out of the service, which I think is so integral for every transitioning veteran.”

She adds, “My message to veterans today is that support is out there and you are part of a team in the military and you deserve a team when you’re transitioning out.”

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Defense.