Beyond TAP and ACAP – The Civilian Side of the Equation
The transition assistance programs provided by the military are a good idea. On the other hand, they are not consistent in the material and not always realistic. A lot of what you need to know has to do with effective communication. Here are some tips that go beyond what many TAP classes offer.
1. Coming home -
After you’re discharged, your first thought might be “PARTY!” If that’s the case, talk someone into being a designated driver. That first DUI not only costs you money – it significantly reduces the pool of employers whose insurance companies will allow them to hire you. For some of the homeless Veterans, that DUI was the first step into a downward spiral. Don’t go there!
2. Fitting back in -
Your family was waiting for the person who left to come back. You’ve changed. You’re stronger, a much more developed human being with characteristics they haven’t seen before. You have quiet moments that they don’t understand. You have moments when you wonder who they are and what they’ve done with the family and friends you had. It takes work. Talk!
3. Getting through the grieving -
You’ve been separated from people you’ve been closer to than anyone in your life – past, present, and probably future. It might not seem like a big deal. Of course, everyone looks forward to coming home but the people who really know you as you are now aren’t here. They’re still over there. There are others here going through it, too. Connect!
4. Getting real -
If your TAP or ACAP instructor told you that companies will be lucky to get you, they’re absolutely right. You’re the best of the best. If they gave you the impression that the companies know that, they were only partly right. Many companies have no idea how to relate to you and don’t know your value. They need educating. You have to do part of that. Learn how!
5. Getting virtually social -
On the social networks, look for people you know. Each of them has a list of groups that they belong to or follow. Some of them are likely to be related to your branch of the service. Others will be related to the industry you’re interested in. If it’s the same industry that interests you, check out the group. Join groups that fit your goal. Participate!
6. Getting really social -
Look at professional organizations that interest you. Sign up for a class at a Junior College, College, or University that has an active Veterans organization. While you’re at it, talk to the advisor and find out how many credits you can get for your military experience. Get involved in activities that engage you whether it’s chess at your local library or Rugby. Join in!
7. Translating your value -
There are sites that can help you translate your military terms. You probably have that information from your TAP or ACAP classes. Go a step beyond that and do recon. Look at the online job postings and other ads for jobs you know you can and want to do. Determine the keywords that describe what you already know how to do. Learn!
Conclusion:
Your career transition will be smoother with relevant, clear, concise communication with family, with potential employers, with other Veterans, and with people who share your interests.
Transitioning Veterans and LinkedIn
Veterans, whether you’re Enlisted, NCOs, or Officers, you can use LinkedIn as an effective career development tool. Here are some of the ways LinkedIn can help you.
1. Dealing with the disconnect -
After you’re discharged, it can feel like you’re alone in a world that doesn’t understand you, a world that isn’t the same as it used to seem to you. That disconnect is unsettling. Social networks like LinkedIn provide an opportunity to connect in ways that are mutually beneficial. The same team ethic that kept you alive can be recreated on LinkedIn.
2. Making connections -
People who know what you’re capable of are already on LinkedIn. You can find them and begin to build a network of people who know and respect you. Some of them are already working for a Veteran-friendly company. Some of them are the same people who said great things about you in your military file. Why wouldn‘t you want to reach out and help each other?
3. Sharing recommendations -
Recruiters pay attention to a profile with meaningful recommendations. Connecting with people who know the quality of your work and your character gives you an opportunity to have people speak for you. Ask for recommendations from people who can speak for you and let them know what you want them to emphasize. Give meaningful recommendations.
4. Building your profile -
Consider your accomplishments – in the military, in civilian jobs before and after the military, in school, and in volunteer efforts. Determine where you think you will best fit. Focus your profile on the skills and accomplishments that best fit your goal. Know the search terms that recruiters will use to find someone for the positions you know you will do well.
5. Joining groups -
Look at profiles of people you know. Each of them has a list of groups that they belong to near the bottom of their profile. Some of them are likely to be related to your branch of the service. Others will be related to the industry your contact is interested in. If it’s the same industry that interests you, check out the group. Join groups that fit your goal.
6. Finding additional contacts -
Each of your connections has other connections. Some of them are people you know. If your connection lets you look at their connections, browse them for people you know and see if you share a group or if they provide their email address so you can invite them to connect. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to build your network and provide mutual support.
7. Adding value -
Under the “More” tab near the top of the screen, you’ll see “Answers.” Why it’s called answers is a mystery because it’s really questions that people are asking. Down the right side of the page are categories. Look at the questions people have in the categories that will help you with your career search and answer those where you can add value. You’ll meet more people.
Conclusion:
Your career transition could depend, to a degree, on relevant, clear, concise communication in your LinkedIn profile.
7 Resume Building Tips for Transitioning Veterans
Note: Names have been changed to protect the identities of the brave and humble. This is a way to turn your job search into a marketing campaign, a process to sell you to your next employer.
1. Start with quick stories that make you proud
These are the kinds of things that you want to tell people about. They’re the things that hunters painted on cave walls. When they’re translated into civilian terms, they’re the things decision makers value for their team. They may have happened in the military, on a job, in a volunteer position, or as part of a school project. Getting an interview is not about sending someone a history of part of your life; it’s about letting decision makers see everything you have to offer them. This is where you start to develop the material that lets the decision makers see who you really are and how you are going to contribute to their success. Enter these in a master file under the heading “Selected Accomplishments.”
Example: Dan was able to get the air conditioning going when it broke down. In Iraq, there are times when that’s a pretty important thing. He didn’t have the right tools or the right parts but he got it going. When he started looking for a civilian job, his first thought was, “What am I going to tell them? Do they want to hear that I know how to blow things up?” His aptitude for repairing things when it seemed impossible and the fact that he was an NCO landed him a job as a supervisor in a facilities management department. Once he understood his value, he went from couch-surfing and a part time job in a gun range to a good paying job.
2. If you get stuck, drag out your documentation
Your superiors told the military world what they valued about you. Use it! Veterans tend to believe that they didn’t do anything exceptional. Veterans usually say, “I just did my job.” It’s hard to see that you’re doing exceptional things when everyone around you is doing exceptional things. Sometimes, you need someone else’s take on your value. Grab every good thing they said about you and add it to your master file under the heading, “Selected Accomplishments.” You’ll translate it for civilians later. Just get it in your master file as soon as you see it.
Example: Ann was an officer. Just hearing the word resume almost made her ill. She was underemployed in her first civilian job and reporting to a boss whose disrespect was a daily reminder that she needed to be looking for another job. Being battered by negativity every day wears you down, diminishes your self esteem. She resisted getting started on a resume for nine months. Taking the first step seemed insurmountable. She doubted that she could do any better. When she dragged out her documentation and started entering her accomplishments in her master file, she called to say, “I forgot how good I am!” She’s moved on.
3. Mine those stories for transferable skills
Use your imagination. When you think about your stories, what characteristics made the story a success? What plain language can express the acronyms you know so well that just do not translate to terms that decision makers can understand? If you were explaining what you did to your grandmother, how would you explain it? When you hit on a plain language term while you’re thinking about how you’d explain it to your grandmother, enter it in the master file under the heading, “Skills.”.
Example: Ben was an Admin. He got out and started looking for jobs as an Administrative Assistant not knowing that, in the civilian world, that’s a clerical position and often a very low level clerical position. His interviews were puzzling to both him and the interviewers until he worked his stories for the plain language version of what he did for the Base Commander. Once he saw that the part of the work he did that he most enjoyed had an exact civilian equivalent, he started looking at event planning as his objective and is taking classes to make that happen. His GI Bill will keep him going until he is ready to look for that job.
4. Troll the internet for job postings that sound like a fit
Look at job postings in the industries that interest you. Consider the fact that clean energy and biotech are areas that are growing. Consider how you might fit into one of those industries and look at job postings. Imagine how what you did in the military might fit into civilian industry. What industry would make you wake up happy to go to work every morning? What industry would make you proud? There’s no reason to look for a job that will leave you unsatisfied. Enter the job title and industry into your master file under the heading “Objective.” In a resume, the objective is not about you or what you want out of life, it’s the decision maker’s objective – someone to do a specific job with an interest in their industry.
Example: Ed was a Jet Mechanic in the Air Force Reserve. Home was in an area where there are no nearby airports. Neither he nor his family wanted to leave the country and move to the city. His career coach headed him toward wind power, where the turbines are not that different from what all of his valuable training in the military prepared him for. Wind energy is a new industry. There aren’t that many people who already have experience in the field and transferable skills can be a life saver for a company just trying to get started. Some of the most remote areas in our country have wind farms. His objective could be “Maintenance technician in the wind industry.”
5. Mine those postings for transferable skills
Beef up the skills section of your master file as you go. While you’re looking at the job postings in the industries you’d be proud to support, look for those civilian terms for the work you already know how to do. As soon as you see a term you can use, add it to the master file under the heading, “Skills.”
Example: Bill was in the Army Reserve. He got out of the service with a disability. The truck he was driving hit an IED in Iraq and he suffered permanent damage to his shoulder. His job at home was driving a truck. He kept at it because he knew the job market was tough but it meant 24/7 pain for him. He knew he needed to find another line of work. His career coach pointed him toward a school that would certify him as a construction estimator when construction was nearly dead. When he completed the class, his was one resume in a pile of resumes for inexperienced estimators. Bill had extensive HazMat training in the military and it gave him the edge. He got a job with a small construction company right away.
6. Enroll in an accredited school with an active veterans group
Miss being part of a military unit? Feel alone? Don’t have the education decision makers want for the job you want? Enrolling in an accredited junior college or university will get you on track for the education you need and you’ll find a group of other Veterans going through the same transition. The Veterans counselor can probably help you get additional school credit for your military experience. You may be closer to that Associates or Bachelors degree than you thought. Add your education to your master file under the heading “Education” and put the anticipated completion year at the end of the line.
Example: A nearby junior college has one of the most active veterans groups in the area. Veterans who are taking classes there have access to employers, VSOs, and the local patriot community who are ready to help with fund-raising events and barbecues. There is a spirit of camaraderie that the Veterans were missing when they first came back and felt disconnected from family and friends. The military changes you and sometimes the people in your life don’t know how to reconnect with the new you. They were waiting for the old you to come back. Having a unit with common goals can make the transition and the reconnect more comfortable.
7. Now the history needs to be included
Enter your work experience in your master file as one-liners, starting with your title because you are the product that you’re marketing and this is a marketing campaign. The job you did, who you did it for, and when you did it are all that’s needed here. If you have never been out of work for more than a month or two, month and year are good enough. If you have gaps that lasted more than a few months, year to year dates will avoid concern. Enter these one-liners under the heading, “Experience.”
Examples:
Infantry, United States Army 2005 – 2010
Electronics Technician, United States Navy 11/2003 – 04/2009
Truck Driver, XYZ Freight Company, Denver, CO 2001 – 2005
Project Manager, High Tech, San Diego, CA 05/2004 – 01/2011
Facilities Manager, Big Convention Center, Washington, D.C. 2008 – 2010
Conclusion
Once you have a master file started, keep one copy of it on your computer and another copy on a backup device. Never remove anything from your master file. Always add to it and save any additions to the backup copy as you add accomplishments and skills, education, and work experience. Polish the accomplishment statements to make sure they are in plain language. When you need to send a resume, save a copy of the master file with a meaningful name so you know who you sent it to and when. For example, EmployerName-2011-01-15.doc would be a good way to recall the resume when you get a call for the interview. From that new copy of the master file, which will be way too many pages for anyone else to ever see, delete everything that does not fit that job and sequence the skills and accomplishments as that employer has shown their priorities. You’ll have a resume that’s an obvious fit for the position that decision maker is trying to fill and you’ll make it past the gatekeeper and onto the decision maker’s desk or screen. The interview is up to you. Dazzle them with your exemplary character and qualities.
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