Would a stint in the navy after graduation be career suicide?

Question

Hi!

I've recently been seriously considering joining the Canadian forces (please spare the jokes) as a naval engineering officer once I finish my bachelor's. The minimum contract term for such a position is six years. I could personally keep up to date alright, I'm pretty sure, but am nervous about any prospects of a career in software dev afterwards. If you were hiring and you saw a CV with only a bit of co-op experience as an undergrad and then a six-year gap, would you immediately bin it?

I know lots of companies consider the teamwork / leadership skills etc. etc. from military service as an officer a plus, but worry being technically irrelevant would outweigh any positives.

The navy job might or might not involve any actual coding. (A shortage of the cool crypto positions the Americans have, up here)

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Edit: Well, I guess this is closed now. Thanks for the answers. I don't really see how asking about something's implications on a programming career, under the career development section, is inappropriate, but the people have spoken.

Answer 1

I honestly don't see how it could hurt you. The best case is that you do get coding experience in the Navy and it helps you significantly. The worst case is that you don't gain any professional coding experience there, but get to spend some time honing your skills on the side. In the end, I don't think that would be any worse than going in with no experience, since you would be able to easily explain the time away from your career.

Answer 2

Doubt it. Most Canadians (speaking as one) are proud of the armed forces and there's plenty of long-term career opportunities within the services - intelligence, signals, etc. - in addition to the soft skills of team-work and discipline.

The only concern would be how much time you spend not actually doing any programming. If you aren't actively coding you'll be a promising entry level coder later, but not necessarily more.

Edit: although personally I have a hard time understanding why people see the services as something they do before a career and not the career itself.

Answer 3

When I'm looking at candidates for software development positions, I definitely place value on the ones with military service, especially those who were NCOs or officers, and even moreso if the candidate attended a service academy.

Of course, I work in government, so there ya go.