Choose the Army COOL Credentials for Your Job and Your Life

Army COOL, or Credentialing Opportunities Online, is one of the most useful career resources available to soldiers today. It shows what you can do with your Army skill set and lists the civilian credentials that you can use to take your next steps. It even tells you how much training you'll need to get from where you are to where you want to go.

You can use Army COOL to advance within your Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) or to prepare for a civilian career post-Army. There’s a lot of information there, even within an individual specialty. So, how do you choose the right credential and get your career on the right track?

1. Choose a Career Path

What are your career goals? Are you looking for a credential that will help you achieve a higher rank in the Army, or are you looking ahead to your transition into civilian work? Or both?

Army COOL will show you the many civilian jobs you can get with your current skill set. It also shows you what you need to learn before you can qualify for one of those jobs.

Looking at all of the options can be intimidating, but don’t feel like you have to go it alone. MedCerts has a variety of career assessments and skills inventories available, as well as statistics on job outlook and earning potential, so you can choose your next steps with confidence.

2. Decide What You Want in a Job

When you’re used to the defined hierarchy of the military, the civilian job market can seem almost limitless. To start narrowing it down, ask yourself what careers are:

• In high demand
• Geographically portable
• Compatible with the skills and values of service members

Healthcare is one field that checks off all of these boxes. It has been the number one source of jobs in the US for multiple years running, and there is not a single region in the country where jobs in the field are not in high demand.

Healthcare is also the most highly recommended career field for people who have recently left military service, according to the Navy Federal Credit Union and Hire Heroes USA.

IT ranks number four on that list, just behind defense contracting and public administration. The field is extremely lucrative, with the median wage for computer jobs totaling approximately $86,320—more than double the median for all jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This field is also growing at a higher-than-average rate, set to add 546,200 new jobs by 2028.

Both fields have plenty of representation on Army COOL. IT, in particular, is gaining ground, offering more and more career paths to those with military experience.

3. Find Programs Approved for Army Credentialing Assistance

Not all training programs can accept Army credentialing assistance (CA), but luckily MedCerts is proud to be on the list of approved schools. They take pride in providing its military students with help in achieving their career goals.

MedCerts accepts scholarship funds from the Army Credentialing Assistance Program—up to $4,000 per student in each fiscal year. With the help of MedCerts’s career advisors, you can make the most of the funds available to you. In some cases, you can even have your entire certification process funded.

Get Career Guidance Today

MedCerts is committed to helping service members build rewarding careers, both in and out of the Army. Fill out the form below to speak with a certification expert and start earning your Army COOL credentials.

Note: The Army, Department of Defense and Department of the Army are not affiliated with MedCerts and do not endorse our services.