With a Foreword by the Hon. Susan M. Gordon, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

Where do the spies, diplomats, soldiers and FBI agents go when their formal service ends? For most of us, full retirement is not an immediate reality. The decision to leave or retire from government is hard! Deciding what to do next is even harder.

Author and Career Coach Alison P. Bouwmeester served for 28 years as a senior leader in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations. After retiring from the CIA, she spent nearly a decade as a senior business executive in the defense contracting industry, rising to Vice President of Business Development. In 2018, Alison became a Certified Professional Career Coach and founded Futurity to coach others through successful career transitions as someone who has “walked the walk”.

In this book, dozens of former intelligence, diplomatic, military and national security professionals provide candid comments, valuable tips and sage advice. These careerists represent those who chose full retirement in warm, sunny climates to play golf, and others who aspired to high-powered second careers in industry, sought part-time work or chose to be self-employed, and still others opted to continue with the government in some capacity. In this guide, these Interview Subjects talk about their own decisions to leave, their biggest fears, and the many positives (and few negatives) that came out of leaving government. This guide also addresses key questions facing many “govies” who consider leaving, such as:

- Making the decision to go: how/when/why

- Potential paths to consider (from full retirement to full time employment, and all the options in-between)

- The mechanics of leaving, as well as job hunting tips, job search strategies, self-assessment, resumes, networking, LinkedIn, interviewing, and the dreaded contract negotiation.

Considering a change? This is the guide for you.

(Purchasers will be charged $3.75 for shipping plus VA sales tax of 6%.)