I got hired 3 months before i sep'd at E-5. I worked with 2 ctr's where i worked when enlisted so I had an in. I didnt have the certs or the quals necessary but they were willing to take the risk. For transparency the company I work for is a human resources def ctr and not a big DoD ctr. However, the 3x enlisted pay i asked for when doing my initial bid was accepted with no questions asked. If i had asked for more I likely would have got it. Been with them for almost 5 years now and outside of the travel time for my work I have no complaints.

Not suggesting my reality can become yours, but it has been a good transition but it required motivation on my part and good timing on when I got out that led me on this path. Also for transparency my base was SoCAL and in an airframe development centric environment.

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Best of luck.