I have hung up my boots? Now what?

I am often surprised by this type of query from friends.

My response is "Good morning to you too!"

(Here my focus will be the external considerations, not the internal processes associated with retirement.I must confess that since I retired prematurely I have no clue about the whole gamut of service related post-retirement considerations starting with pensionary, medical and insurance benefits, PF, leave encashment, reserve liability and whatever! Each of these require careful analysis, planning and follow-up actions on your part. And don't make any assumptions on the competency of your unit/formation clerks to know the procedure well enough to execute it without errors.)

Actually the timeline of preparatory actions should have begun from the time you joined service as your date of leaving is preordained the moment you join. Service conditions and your own circumstances are unpredictable and it is best to be prepared early. If things work out for you beyond the age of 50 - great! Viewing that as a bonus attributable to chance will keep you in good health.

I would even go to the extent of recommending a services-industry tie-up for officers to intern with them for 2-months each year, right from the first year of service, so that they can familiarize and pick up industry specific skills (which incidentally will be useful even while in service). However, practically, you will need at least a full two to three years prior to retirement to get it right.

What I am suggesting is that you need to have a gameplan that starts at least good two to three years before you retire. Reducing this to a year or even six months, may expose you to unnecessary risk and uncertainty depending on your specific circumstances. Even if you thrive in uncertainty, your family may not have the same opinion. And the moment you get your retirement date, you should be in "outbound mode".

The first step is to list out your considerations. This includes place of residence post retirement, financial health and committments, insurance cover, spouse work attributes/location, schools/colleges for children, parents health considerations, proximity to siblings, etc. Determine the importance of each of these considerations.

Some considerations will be absolutely vital, others just optional or good-to-haves. It is useful to mark each consideration as vital, essential or just desirable! Do this BEFORE you determine your post-retirement work interests. The reason is simple. While in service, the service came first. Now YOU and the immediate family come first. Adapt your work around your conveniences not the other way around. Believe me, it is a huge learning curve!

Companies that are interested in you will respect your boundaries and hire you if they can accomodate these constraints. Conversely, if you don't layout these boundaries, you may well find yourself being shipped off to Timbuctoo as an advance guard of one, with little or no facilitation. A large company that I was providing consulting services to decided to close their Delhi offices and move all project resources to project locations. Non project resources had to move to their head office location in Mumbai. Many stalled for time, delaying their move to the extent possible, the sensible ones left the organization as the conditions no longer suited them. One of them, a GM, with whom I was working on a regular basis and who agreed to move was killed in a Naxal ambush in Jharkhand. He was just in his early 40's and had two young school going children.

I agree, that this is a risk that officers live with all through their service career, so what is the difference, you may ask? The difference is that the company doesn't give a damn. It will be considered as a distraction that has to be managed and disposed off as quickly as possible, put behind and forgotten. If the company doesn't give a damn, why the hell should you?

A lot of officers are too comfortable with the idea of a relocation at the drop of a hat. That is perfectly okay while in service. In civvy street, you should relocate only because there is something in it for YOU. Remember, "YOU come first", and with all due respect, screw Chetwode! I know of officers being happily shipped off to manage coal mining operations in Chattisgarh, leaving the family in Delhi. What you get in the field may be a lot of peace and quiet that you didn't bargain for and a motley bunch of drunks as co-inhabitants whose idea of a great evening is to sit around in groups in one of their rooms with a glass of IMFL in steel tumblers, with raw onion rings and green chillies as snacks and gossip about local politics! (If you were expecting to see an officers mess, you have been warned!)

Once you have been able to list out your set of considerations, begin to list out your qualifications, experience and interests. Use this as a basis to do a job search on common job portals. Depending on your experience, search for titles such as VP/GM/Head or even plain old "manager". Read through the job descriptions and associated titles. Check out the variations across industries. Then begin to identify and shortlist jobs that appear aligned with your interests. Discuss this with someone who may be working in that industry to refine your understanding of the requirements. Map your qualifications and experience to the job requirements. Identify and list the major gaps in your profile, if any.

Now, for each gap, determine whether there are programs offered by colleges and other educational institutions. A lot of the time, the problem will be that the programs are targeted at students seeking post-degree or early career qualifications, whereas what you will require is a re-orientation program. Luckily a number of B-schools have picked up the gauntlet and there are numerous programs being offered through the DGR. These are for six-month residential programs leading to a diploma/certificate.

Does pedigree matter? Yes, pedigree matters, but this has to be balanced with convenience. Sometimes, a program at a school located at your selected place of post-retirement residence would be more useful, as the school will have local industry links that will come in handy during placements.

The next step is to pull out your list of contacts. They are at the edge of a network to which you need access. Ninety-five percent of the time, opportunities arrive only through a network. The remaining 5 percent is just plain old bloody luck. The network is really that critical. And your network could be your school mates to officers who have preceded you into civvy street. Start getting back in touch with everybody. State that you are on the market for a new assignment and specify the date. Ask them whether you can send them your resume (and preparing this is a whole new exercise). Request an initial feedback on your resume along with their recommendations on structure and job possibilities. Ninety percent of them wont respond, but ask anyway. Re-iterate as often as possible without becoming a pain in the neck. You will be surprised as to how often people just simply forget, so reminders are necessary. And do everything possible to increase your network and get your resume out to as many of your acquaintances as possible.

Is there any point in sending your resume to recruiters? Nope. Unless they have got in touch with you and requested you for an updated resume, don't even waste your time. Its a black hole and you will not even get the courtesy of an acknowledgement. Of course, there are many categories of recruiters. Some, like Egon Zehnder for example, are a class apart. It will be worth your while to even engage in a discussion with any contact there.

Lastly, determine the time required to accomplish each of your preparatory objectives. Then plot all this information onto your timeline. Here is what a timeline looks like with high level milestones:

Once completed, your timeline will, of course, look a lot more cluttered. It will also evolve and undergo multiple revisions as your planning progresses and you work out the details. Review this plan with your family on a monthly basis. Keep them in the loop, since the transition is as relevant to them, as it is to you.

And for god's sake, be prepared to shell out some money for service providers for they don't run a charity. These may be those that provide resume writing services, an educational consultancy, a paid industry event or whatever form or shape it may take. Besides, if you want quality services, they invariably come at a price!