Skip Navigation
Part of the Easterseals National Network
Participants get ready at the starting line of Walk With Me 2024
It's Time to Walk With Me!
Join us on October 18 for Walk With Me 2025! In addition to the 1- and 3-mile walking course, we'll have refreshments, entertainment, and lots of fun for your whole family. This fully accessible event welcomes wheelchairs, strollers and dogs (leashed). Sign up today!
Event Details
Find Your Easterseals
Search
Easterseals
Donate
Donate
Learn workplace norms.
Video

Navigating the Civilian Work Culture

Learn what works at your office to build solid professional relationships.

Look, working a civilian job after the military can move at a different pace than you’re used to. In the service, things either moved really fast or really slow sometimes for what seemed like weeks at a time. Out here, it can change throughout the day.

You’ll also see that roles aren’t as locked in as they were in the military. People might jump between departments or take on tasks that don’t exactly match their title. That’s just how things tend to work.

And then there’s communication. In uniform, we’re trained to get straight to the point: clear, direct, no extra fluff. That’s valuable but in civilian jobs, there’s more weight put on relationships and diplomacy. Sometimes how you say it matters just as much as what you say.

So how do you figure out what’s “normal” at your job? Simple: observe. Pay attention to the pace people work at. Notice how they talk to each other, and what kind of personalities are in the room. Once you get a feel for everything, you’ll be better at making those solid professional relationships that, trust me, will pay off down the line.

If you’re a veteran in a civilian job, work culture may feel different from what you’re used to. You’re probably used to a detail that moves either very fast or very slow. In a civilian job, the pace may vary throughout the day.

You also might notice that roles can shift or cross into other departments. That’s normal, but it’s a change from the military’s defined hierarchy.

Lastly, you’ve likely been trained to speak directly to the point. That’s not always the case in the civilian workplace, where relationships and diplomacy are highly valued.

So how do you learn what’s normal at your job? Observe. Watch the pace at which people work. Watch how they interact and get a sense of their personalities. Once you learn what works (and what doesn’t), you’ll build solid professional relationships at the office.