Transitioning from the Military to Civilian Workforce

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Transitioning from theMilitary to Civilian
Workforce

• A Web Conference
• November 14, 2007

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Your Presenters

• Jack Bailey
• Ed Hallenbeck
• Luke Schmonsky

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Program Agenda

• Effects of Transitions
• Self-Assessment
• Career Exploration
• Decision-Making
• Resumes
• Cover Letters
• Interviewing Techniques
• Job Search Strategies
• Career Resources Services

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Effects of Transitions

• The Negatives
• A loss of identity its disorienting
• Stressful and anxiety-producing
• The Positives
• Exciting new challenges await you
• Opportunities for growth are plentiful

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Effects of Transitions

• With any loss there can be a grieving process
• The stages of the grieving process
• Denial This is not happening to me
• Anger Directed at yourself and others
• Depression A sense of helplessness
• Acceptance The turning point in the process
• Resolution Return to a normal state

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Effects of Transitions

• Methods for coping during this transition
• Put your situation in perspective youve proven
  before you can adjust to change
• Take inventory of your skills and have
  confidence in them (and you)
• Approach your transition like a job or military
  assignment with structure and diligence
• Maintain your sense of humor throughout
• Use family and friends as a support network

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Career Development Process
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Career Development Process
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Self-Assessment Gaining Self-Knowledge and
Insight
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Informal Assessments

• Interests
• What kinds of activities motivate you?
• What drives you?
• What have you done in your military or other
  professional life that youve enjoyed doing?
• Time passes quickly when you are doing ?

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Informal Assessments

• Values
• In what direction do you lean?
• Autonomy or Direction?
• Physical Challenge or Mental Challenge?
• Working Alone or Working in Teams?
• Structure or Spontaneity?
• Deadlines or Relaxed Situations?

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Informal Assessments

• Personality
• What is your primary orientation?
• Introversion (inner world) or Extroversion (outer
  world)?
• Sensing (physical reality) or Intuition
  (abstractions)?
• Thinking (logic) or Feeling (people)?
• Judging (planned, orderly, settled) or Perceiving
  (flexible, spontaneous)?

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Informal Assessments

• Skills
• What comes easy to you?
• What do you believe you do well?
• What do others say you do well?
• What are your motivated skills vs. your
  unmotivated skills?

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Formal Assessments

• Available through career counselors and online
• A tool for self-discovery
• Do not provide magic answers or solutions
• Take several different assessments for added
  insight and a reliability check

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Formal Assessments

• Be open to anything new that presents itself
  but ultimately trust your gut
• Save the results and look for trends and patterns
  Is a profile emerging?
• Talk with a professional career counselor for
  interpretation of the results and more in-depth
  assessment and counseling

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Career Development Process
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Military to Civilian Career Converters

• Career One-Stop
• http//www.acinet.org/acinet/moc/
• Credentialing Opportunities Online
• https//www.cool.army.mil/index.htm
• https//www.cool.navy.mil/search.htm
• Military.com
• http//www.military.com/Careers/Content?fileskil
  ls_leader.htmareaContent

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Career Development Process
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Career Decision-Making

• What profile emerged from your self-assessment?
• What careers matched this profile based on your
  exploration and research?
• Are the careers you identified in demand and
  provide opportunities for growth?
• Will the salary and benefits meet your basic and
  desired needs?

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Career Development Process
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Job Search Plan
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The Challenge of Transition

• Military applicants need to almost re-invent
  themselves when entering the civilian workforce
• Consider the transition you went through when you
  entered the military from the civilian world

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Military vs. Civilian Resumes

• Why do recruiters or hiring managers overlook
  well-qualified military applicants?
• The military resume sometimes reads like a
  technical manual due to military language,
  jargon, and buzz words
• The military resume is too heavy on details and
  factual information
• Your skills based on what the employer needs
  may be hidden in the details

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Military vs. Civilian Resumes

• Military resumes tend to be long and not
  customized to the specific position
• Military resumes tend to be presented in a
  chronological vs. functional format

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Basic Overview of Resumes

• The purpose of a resume is not to get you a job
  its to get you a job interview
• It is one of your primary marketing tools in your
  job search
• It should express your unique and specific
  qualifications as they directly relate to the
  position youre seeking

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Chronological

• The traditional, default format for military
  resumes and resumes in general
• Lists your experience and education in reverse
  chronological order
• Its a good choice if
• Your experience has been in one field, and you
  plan to stay in that field
• You have no noticeable employment gaps

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Functional

• Lists experience in skill clusters or groupings
• Its a good choice if
• Youre changing careers
• You have a limited or checkered job history
• Frowned on by recruiters - they want to see your
  job history
• A combination Functional/Chronological resume is
  a good alternative

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Functional/Chronological Resumes

• Highlights transferable skills in specific
  clusters or groupings vs. chronological
  achievements by job title and rank
• Allows you to tie together the pieces of your
  experience into a complete story that comes
  across clearly and immediately

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Components of a Chronological-Functional Resume

• Contact Information Name, Address, Phone
  Numbers, E-Mail Address
• Career Objective
• Summary of Skills/Qualifications Your
  Transferable Skill Clusters or Groupings
• Professional/Military Work Experience Related
  and Other
• Education and Training

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Components of a Chronological-Functional Resume

• Honors and Awards
• Professional Associations and Affiliations
• Volunteer Experience
• Other Relevant Information that Specifically
  Enhances your Qualifications for the Position

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Transferable Skills

• Skills you have acquired during any
• activity in your life including the military
• that are transferable and applicable to what
• you want to do in your next job.

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Transferable Skill Sets or Clusters Areas of
Expertise

• Communication
• Research and Planning
• Critical Thinking/Analytical/Problem-Solving
• Human Resources and Relations
• Operations and Management
• Organization

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Transferable Skill Sets or Clusters Some
Examples

• Leadership and Supervision
• Teaming
• Technology
• Entrepreneurial
• Work Ethic and Survival

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What Are Your Transferable Skills?

• An important step is to understand your talents,
  skills, and abilities and how they relate to
  the position and company
• Military personnel develop positive traits
  because they are held to high standards of
  performance and excellence

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What Are Your Transferable Skills?

• Recruiters polled agreed that military personnel
  make excellent leaders - they said they are
• Well trained
• Disciplined
• Decisive
• Resourceful
• Tremendous team players
• High pressure performers
• These are skills that most employers need

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What Are Your Transferable Skills?

• Three sets of functional skills
• Practical functional skills used in your military
  jobs from your core military job description
• Consider using your personal DD Form 2586
  Verification of Military Experience and
  Training
• Collateral functional skills used in your
  military job not spelled out in your job
  description
• Skills you learned prior to the military

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Transferable Skill Assessment Tool

• Transferable Skill Survey
• http//www.d.umn.edu/kmc/career_transfer_survey.ht
  ml

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Challenge and Opportunity

• The challenge is correlating skills learned in
  the military to skills needed in the civilian
  workforce
• The opportunity is that seemingly different skill
  sets come together as a related set of skills you
  can market

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Providing Evidence of Skills SAR Statements

• How can you prove you have a skill in a specific
  area and thus have the qualifications for the
  job in question?
• Situation encountered
• Action taken
• Result of action

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A Sample SAR Statement

• Improved office management procedures, through
  the development of a computerized management
  system, resulting in a 32 increase in efficiency
  over the last year
• Reviewed equipment purchasing procedures, through
  an analysis of best practices, resulting in a 27
  decrease in annual costs

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SAR Statements

• Be descriptive yet concise
• Start each statement with an action word
• Convert job tasks into end results
• Transform a fact-laden military resume into a
  meaningful reading experience
• Employers predict future performance through past
  experience

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Sample Resumes

• 1.) Larry Michaels
• Source
• http//www.military.com/Careers/Content1?fileEnel
  ow_110205.htmareaReference
• (modified)
• 2.) Mary Smith

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Resume Tips to Remember

• Tailor your resume to the specific job
• Be sensitive to design and format make it
  visually appealing
• Keep it concise 1 to 2 pages in length
• Prioritize your information put your most
  important information upfront
• Use keywords in your resume
• If you cant explain it or back it up dont
  put it on your resume

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Resume Tips to Remember

• Do not include personal information, reasons for
  leaving, salary, or references
• Dont abbreviate or use acronyms, buzz words, or
  military language
• Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
• Create it in a Microsoft Word format and give
  it a professional name (i.e. Smith, John Resume)

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Cover Letter

• Opening Paragraph
• State why you are writing name the specific
  position
• State how you heard of the opening through what
  source
• Get the employers attention with a statement
  (from your research) about them and/or the
  position

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Cover Letter

• Middle Paragraphs
• Describe your skills as they specifically
  relate to the position
• Use examples and/or mention one or two recent
  accomplishments that illustrate your proficiency
  (SAR statements)
• Refer the reader to your enclosed resume

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Cover Letter

• Closing Paragraph
• Restate your strong interest in the position and
  organization and your desire for an interview
• State the action you will take regarding a date
  and time for an interview
• Express your appreciation for their time and
  consideration

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Sample Cover Letter

• Jorge Nedvins
• Source
• http//www.quintcareers.com/sample_military_transi
  tion_letter.html
• (modified)

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Cover Letter Tips to Remember

• Keep it concise and professional
• Address your letter to a specific person
  preferably the hiring manager
• Your cover letter is a writing sample write
  clearly, simply and correctly
• Tailor it to the position and organization

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Cover Letter Tips to Remember

• Focus on what you can do for the reader not on
  what the reader can do for you
• Do not rehash your entire resume in the cover
  letter
• Address both job qualifications and
  organizational fit
• Proofread your cover letter and have someone
  else proofread it as well

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Resume and Cover Letter Resource

• Job Star Resumes and Cover Letters
• http//jobstar.org/tools/resume/index.php

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The Interview

• All interview questions come back to three basic
  questions
• Why this position? (interest goals)
• Why here? (organizational fit)
• Why you? (unique qualifications)

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Interviewing Tips To Remember

• Research the company and the position
• Bring multiple copies of your resume
• Dress appropriately and professionally
• Formulate a list of questions to ask
• Arrive 15 minutes prior
• Treat everyone in the company as if they are the
  interviewer

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Interviewing Tips To Remember

• Be extremely familiar with your resume
• Be ready to provide examples/evidence of your
  skills SAR statements
• Non-verbal cues may speak louder than words
• Listen intently dont talk too much
• Be confident not cocky

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Interviewing Tips To Remember

• Dont ask questions about salary and benefits
  let the interviewer raise this
• Have a list of 3-5 professional references ready
  to present if requested
• Get the interviewers business card send a
  thank you letter that same day
• Follow up as needed

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The Hidden Job Market
Source United States Department of Labor
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Your Network
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Your Network

• Also consider
• Joining professional associations in your field
  of interest (http//www.ipl.org/div/aon/)
• Attending conventions, trade shows, conferences,
  workshops, and seminars in your field of interest
• Conducting informational interviews

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Your Network

• Also consider
• Volunteering your time with a local organization
• Using the internet
• Internet Networking Tutorial
• http//www.quintcareers.com/Internet_Networking/

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How To Approach Your Network

• Introduce yourself and indicate who referred
  you to them
• Ask for assistance Im looking for employment
  and thought you might be able to offer some
  advice and suggestions
• Specify what kind of career youre pursuing

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How To Approach Your Network

• Provide them with a 30 second elevator speech,
  and provide them with your resume
• Ask if they know of any job openings
• If so, ask if they can open a door for you
• If not, ask them to keep you in mind
• Ask if there is someone else you should be
  talking to

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How To Approach Your Network

• Thank them express gratitude for their help
• Send them a thank you note that same day if
  possible
• Follow up with them periodically to check in
  and to help keep you in their line of sight

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Networking Tips to Remember

• Show an interest in your contacts develop and
  maintain relationships
• Always carry copies of your resume and/or
  business card
• Follow up on every contact and conversation you
  never know who could be part of your network
• Use a tracking system to organize the listing
  of your contacts
• Continue to add to and maintain your network
  even after finding a job

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Resources To Download

• Military-To-Civilian
• Career Transition Resources
• And Much More!

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Dont worry about what the world needs. Ask
what makes you come alive and do that. Because
what the world needs are people who have come
alive. - Howard Thurman
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Thank You and Best Wishes!