Judy Navarrete, SPHR, an accomplished HR manager, contacted me at Military Resumes to express her interest in sharing her vast human resources and operations management experience and insight into the business world with military job seekers.  Her observations are food for thought as you reflect on your own military experience (and how it applies to corporate America) when preparing your military resume or for an interview.  She draws on her conversations with a poised and well-respected Marine Corps Staff Sergeant to craft informative lessons of her own.  To see all of Judy’s acclaimed articles, keyword search MilitarytoCivilian.com for “Judy”.

The Portable Employee

“Everyone is replaceable” is a common business saying.  Despite the truth to that statement, it does not always make economical or common sense to dispose of or swap out talent.  Each individual is just that – an individual, endowed with his or her own personality, attributes, and talents.  When an organization loses an individual, it loses their unique experience and imprint on the business, not to mention the investment in time and money required to source, hire, and train them. 

As a person begins their career, they strive to increase their marketability, responsibility, and experience to affect their imprint and increase their financial return.  Leading business books will tell you how to be an invaluable employee and earn clout.  These books will tell you to plug into the industry, know the trends, gain knowledge and ability, and commit to being the best at what you do.  They will advise you to take on additional tasks and accept challenging, high-profile assignments.  Acting upon this advice will surely land you a great position and career.

However, what happens then?  In today’s day and age, middle managers are often eliminated as companies aggressively streamline and restructure to become more efficient and cut costs.  Perhaps we shouldn’t look to a particular company to define our success, but rather look inward.  The straight and narrow career path of yesteryear has evolved.  One must take ownership of his or her development by honing and diversifying skills…  by sharpening the knife so to speak.  Staying current with technology and industry trends ensures mobility and flexibility, enabling outward movement toward career-building opportunities.  Advancement is not always vertical; it is also outward.  Building bench-strength and diversifying your experience makes you an indispensable, portable employee.

A portable employee is one who can rebound quickly from a layoff or, better, one who sees the writing on the wall and uses their network to secure their next opportunity.  The old saying, “don’t keep your eggs in one basket,” can and should be applied to one’s livelihood.  So who are these portable people and how does one become portable?

 Portable employees absorb information and experience.  They take on projects, especially high- risk and high-profile ones.  They love their work and immerse themselves in it.  They do not forward to the weekend and R&R.  Rather, they use their down-time wisely, on productive things that add value to their experience and benefit others.  To be portable, one needs to be willing to take risks, make mistakes, and take ownership and accountability.  Portable employees are equipped to start their own business.  They are forward thinkers.  Portable employees make it their business to be a business. 

The military creates extreme portable employees.  Each service-member is his or her own machine; his or her own tool.  They are trained to care for their machine mentally and physically.  Should they be cut off from communications with the overall organization, they are equipped to survive and accomplish their mission.  Military leaders are cross-trained and counted on to perform multiple roles simultaneously.  Every Marine logistician, for example, is also a warrior.  Every Submariner has a multitude of collateral duties due submarine space constraints.  Every Sailor is a damage control specialist.  Every Air Force Pilot manages an administrative program.  The list goes on and on for all branches of service.  Whether in a foreign land or close to home, military members have what it takes to be their own business.

In today’s world of mergers, restructuring, layoffs, closures, and outsourcing, it is to one’s benefit to be a portable employee.  Once one realizes the importance of portability, the uphill struggles the business world will likely present will become a little less arduous.  To a portable employee, life would not be challenging or exciting if it were any other way.

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Judy Navarrete, SPHR, is an accomplished HR Strategist and Career Mentor.  Her articles and insight into the business world are helpful in understanding how military training and experience prepares talent for business professions.  Her articles are inspired by her deep respect for a Marine Corps Staff Sergeant, who is currently deployed in Afghanistan.  Fortunately, his skill and experience as a Marine for over 14 years has well prepared him to be portable abroad.  Judy’s articles and blogs can also be seen on portablementor.com.  She can be reached at judy@aorsolutions.com.

I was recently alerted to the most comprehensive article on the pitfalls of social media sites (such as Twitter and Facebook) when it comes to a job search I have yet to read. The article, entitled “The 10 Worst Social Media Mistakes That Will Prevent You From Landing a Job,” is an in-depth look at common social media mistakes many military job seekers are making through the eyes of potential employers. It even comes complete with external links, resources, and examples. Here are some things you can expect to learn about:

• The dangers of sharing too much information.
• How to customize backgrounds and graphics to make you standout from the crowd.
• Why having too many friends isn’t necessarily a good thing.
• How to create separate social and business accounts and why you should do so.
• When and what to (or what not to) ”update”.
• Why spam, spelling mistakes, and other commonly overlooked issues could hold you back.

The following is an excerpt from the article:

While making one or more of the 10 worst social media mistakes can keep you from landing a job, there are also positive ways to socialize. Because many of us find jobs through friends, a simple “anyone hiring a blank?” update can actually be worth the five seconds it takes to post it. In addition, if there is a company you would really like to work for, be their friend on social media. Not only can you get hiring updates, but it also offers an insight to what excites them, what they are up to, and much more.

You can count on a compelling, professionally written military resume to spark employers’ interest in your value offered. But you can also count on their interest in your social media activities. So before you apply for that dream job, make social media work for and not against you.

Get with the times. Know where the jobs are. Network.

It’s time to face the facts. Nearly everyone is using social networking web sites these days. I recently read an article that stated at last count, LinkedIn had over 60 million users. In contrast, job boards only contain about 3.5% of available jobs. This is common knowledge in the career industry, but it seems to be a little known fact within the community of military job seekers. Military job seekers spend an inordinate amount of time on job boards relative to the likelihood of actually finding a job on them. Why is this? Because it feels safer and it’s what they know. LinkedIn and similar sites, which are all about networking and socializing in an unfamiliar environment, can be intimidating. Make it your New Year’s resolution to get with the times and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. And don’t overlook companies like Bradley-Morris, Inc. and CivilianJobs.com. These leaders in placing military-experienced job seekers into the Fortune 1000 and emerging company sectors have done and will continue to do a substantial amount of corporate networking on behalf of military talent.

Understand your audience. Develop your brand.

Gone are the days of the monotonous objective statement – hallelujah! Objective statements are out; personal branding is in. Looking for a job is a sales situation. You are your product. To effectively brand your product, you must know your audience. Got your eye on that dream job with a stable company? Resolve to do some research. What are their two biggest needs right now that you could potentially fill? At Military Resumes, a professional military resume writer can align the “who you are” with the “what they need” in your most important marketing tool – your military resume. Let’s say that you are a career military recruiter looking to join an exciting start-up company. Your brand might be: “Seasoned Recruiter and Marketing Guru… Offering to drive growth by generating qualified leads, penetrating territories, and closing the toughest sales, consistently!”. Now carry your brand forward in your social networking profiles.

Treat your job search like a game.

Treat your job search like a game and plan to win. Set a goal for 2010. Maybe your goal is to get a job before you retire in March. Set up a strategy where you must do X number of things per day. Keep running totals, complete with which actions scored better results than others. For example, if setting up a meeting over coffee with just one individual lands more contacts and job referrals than sending out 30 e-mails, adjust your strategy accordingly. Everyone has a game-playing style that works for them. Find out which job search actions work best for you and focus on using them to get you to the winner’s circle.

“Hello Joe.  I am getting out of the military soon… Are you hiring?”

The only thing more awkward than answering this question is having to reply “no” to it.  So consider asking for a reference instead:

“Hello Joe.  I am preparing for a post-military career change and would love to use you as a reference.”

With any luck, Joe would be honored to have been selected as a reference and happy to do a good deed.  Because he now has an invested interest in your military transition,  he might even ask you for a copy of your military resume and begin to actively look for job opportunities on your behalf.

We advise our clients at MilitaryResumes.com that networking should be a main component of an effective military job search strategy.  Networking is a highly effective method of getting military resumes noticed and uncovering the “hidden” job market.  But use your network wisely by asking for references, not jobs.  And remember that a reference should know you well, be trustworthy, and have a copy of your military resume to refer to if called upon.

Consider the benefits:

• Volunteering looks great on a military resume. It compensates for gaps in your work history while you are transitioning from the military into a civilian career. It shows potential employers passion for work without regards to reward and diversifies and expands your experience beyond the military. It also shows initiative in that you have not been idle during the military job search process.
• Volunteering increases networking contacts. It allows you to put in face time with community leaders – people who have the contacts you are seeking and who may be willing to recommend you or have the power to employ you themselves.
• Volunteering is excellent for self-esteem. The military to civilian job search can be emotionally and mentally taxing. Volunteering makes you feel connected and appreciated. Military job seekers with high self-esteem tend to market themselves more effectively and interview well.
• Volunteering can also help you determine if you’re seeking employment in the right field. Many transitioning military job seekers have a difficult time finding their niche outside of the armed services. Volunteering can give you enough exposure to a line of work to help you make the right career decisions.

Select volunteer activities you’ll enjoy. www.volunteermatch.org is a great website that allows you to search for volunteer opportunities by keyword (e.g. mentoring, veterans, environment, etc.) or location. Think outside of the box! Offer to assist non-profits with projects such as designing brochures, organizing fundraisers, or building a website. List this experience on your military resume in a creative way. (For professional military resume writing services, visit www.MilitaryResumes.com.) Then at your next interview, show off samples of your work being used in the real-world.

The more you volunteer, the more people you’ll bring into your networking circle. Just be sure to do enough quality work for each organization so they get to know you, and that you are gaining knowledge from the experience. Solicit feedback from the organization you’re volunteering with about your job-search process. And let people at all levels within the organization know you’re looking for full-time work. You never know who will have the contact you need to land a job.

Use volunteering to establish credentials, gain real-world experience, and broaden your circle of contacts. Studies have shown that volunteering can be a direct route to employment, so add this profitable tool to your military to civilian job search strategy kit.

“If you are a member of the U.S. military, your post-service job search will be much different than any civilian’s.

Even within the military, you have varying circumstances that may face you. Perhaps you’ve spent most of your adult life serving your country and an obligatory retirement looms on the horizon. Or, as a member of the National Guard, you return to the United States after a year-long overseas deployment only to find that your job no longer exists. Or, you hold the title of Navy Surface Warfare Officer and find that you’d like to try something other than piloting ships for the remainder of your career.

In each of these scenarios, one question universally applies: “Now what?” I recommend the following steps to transitioning military job seekers looking to make the most of their career searches…”

Networking is the foundation of a solid military job search. JibberJobberUSA is an online personal relationship manager that allows you to manage your military job search and optimize your network relationships. To say thank you to transitioning veterans, JibberJobberUSA is giving 12 months of premium service to deployed and recently returned service members for free. Take advantage of this terrific offer if you can!

A special thank you to Jason Alba and JibberJobberUSA.

The most popular job search strategy consists of throwing a resume together and “winging it.” According to Block, the average job seeker spends less than 11 hours per week “winging it”. While I highly recommend consulting a professional (such as MilitaryResumes.com) to ensure that your military resume adequately markets and conveys the value in your unique military experience, the best resume in the world won’t get you anywhere if you don’t have an effectual plan for its distribution – just as a great plan is wasted on a dismal resume.

Block outlines 10 primary job search strategies appropriate for tough economic times:

• Networking and new contact development
• Target marketing (identifying companies you want to work for)
• Internet searches / postings
• Federal jobs
• Search firms and employment agencies
• Newspaper and trade journal classified advertisements
• Job fairs
• College placement offices and alumni associations
• Workforce system / one stops (Department of Labor)
• Creative self marketing

Customize a plan for yourself that incorporates four to six strategies. If you are still in the military or currently employed elsewhere, committing 10 hours a week to a campaign is not asking too much.

If you are between jobs, you should be dedicating at least 50 hours per week to your job search. For a 50 hour week, you may spend 30% on networking, 30% on federal jobs, 20% on job fairs, 10% on search firms, and 10% on Internet searches and target marketing. These percentages may breakdown as follows:

• 15 hours spent on networking (10 new contacts referred by your network and made on your own, communicating through sites such as LinkedIn, volunteerism, etc.)
• 15 hours spent on federal jobs (determining your special hiring privileges, constructing a federal resume, researching agencies and postings, targeting your resume with the keywords appropriate to each job announcement applied for, following up, etc.)
• 10 hours spent on job fairs (researching companies in attendance and preparing your elevator speech accordingly, copying your resume, traveling, etc. (for instance, see CivilianJobs.com for a schedule of regional, military jobs fairs).
• 5 hours spent on search firms (for instance, see Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI)).
• 5 hours spent on Internet searches and target marketing (25 resumes submitted online, 15 unsolicited resumes submitted, follow-up calls/letters from the previous week, etc.)

For maximum results, break each weekly total into a day-by-day action plan. As Block points out, winging it is a strategy – just not an effective one.

What would you do if you were asked, “What is your service connected disability?” or “Which religion do you practice?” After the initial shock wears of, you might wonder why it matters. Should you answer for amicability’s sake or refuse to answer based on legality? According to Military.com, if you find yourself in this scenario, here are three ways to handle this situation:

1. Answer – If you choose to answer, be succinct and clear.
2. Refuse to Answer – Explain that you don’t feel comfortable answering the question. Avoid using the word “illegal” as it might escalate the friction.
3. Tactfully Sidestep –
   • Personal life, you might respond with, “I prefer to keep personal and business matters separate.”
   • Children, you might want to ask, “Are you concerned that I won’t be able to travel or work overtime?”
   • Disability, your response should be, “If you are concerned that I won’t be able to perform the duties of this job, I’m sure I can.”
   • Country of origin, you should say, “If you are going to ask next whether or not I’m authorized to work in the States, I am.”

View the entire military.com article here.

Illegal interview questions are illegal for a reason. Answers regarding religion, race, etc. could pin you to an unjust stereotype and lead the interviewer to make a biased decision on something that should have no effect on your ability to do the job. For these same reasons, I advise military job seekers and clients of MilitaryResumes.com to drop any and all personal information from their military resumes, including underlying sources such as volunteerism within a church and age descriptive statements such as “retired military veteran with over 25 years of experience”.

Because personal information has a way of sneaking its way into a resume, consider assistance from military resume writers. A little forethought, a planned response to illegal interviewing and a review of your military resume will ensure that your military transition does you the justice that you deserve.

“I ended up paying more than $400 to help find me a job and to no avail. I was now out $400 and no job. So I continued to look on my own… I received a call stating that [a company] had seen my resume on a job board and would like to come in for an interview. Well this would be the answer to my prayers… Now I love my job, I get to help people by finding them jobs after they transition and the best part of it is that the people that I find jobs do not have to end up like I did and fork out an arm and a leg to find nothing. Check out veteran job boards, you have nothing to lose.” Submitted by Mrs. Sharleene Davidson. View the entire entry.

Veteran job boards are a safe and effective job search avenue, especially in a tough economy. But be weary of anyone who is willing to take your money in exchange for the promise of finding you a job. Any reputable transition assistance resources (recruiters and job boards) are free to transitioning military job seekers.

CivilianJobs.com is a company dedicated to helping introduce military-experienced job seekers to employers specifically seeking military-experienced talent. Sign up for their services and your resume will be posted on a veteran job board routinely searched by companies already sold on the value of military experience. CivilianJobs.com also hosts military job fairs in cities across the country, allowing you to sell yourself to potential employers in person. Best of all, these services won’t cost you anything.

While job boards (such as the one hosted by CivilianJobs.com) and the services of a reputable recruiting firm (such as Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI)) are free, your resume is one tool in your arsenal that may be worth investing in. My company, MilitaryResumes.com, offers professional resume writing services specifically tailored to the unique needs of military job seekers. Your resume can make or break a first impression… and you only get one chance to make a great first impression as it is impossible to apply for most jobs twice.  A great resume will also get you a greater rate of return on job board searches.

These are the top three reasons that MilitaryResumes.com customers point to as to why they think it was beneficial to have their resume professionally written:

1. Modesty can be a roadblock to adequately playing up one’s knowledge, skills, ability, and accomplishments.  Professional resume writers who specialize in military resume writing have the know-how to make military-experience shine.
2. Portraying military experience to a civilian audience in a meaningful, attention-grabbing way is daunting for many military-experienced job seekers.  The MilitaryResumes.com team not only consists of professional resume writers with years of specialized military resume writing experience under their belts, but is managed by a team with decades of military-to-civilian placement experience.
3. The job market is more competitive than ever. There is a glut of resumes crossing hiring managers’ desks and filling their inboxes. Our customers realize that they only have one chance to make a first impression and aren’t willing to risk that perfect opportunity by presenting a less than perfect resume.

The offer letter is especially important to those ex-military who are already employed in the civilian world. That is because you will need to serve notice (typically a two week notice via a resignation letter) at your current company when you choose to accept a job elsewhere. In the civilian arena, you should never serve notice at your current company until you have an official offer letter from your new company.

The offer letter should contain the terms of employment (full-time vs. part-time or independent contractor, exempt vs. hourly, job title, name of the reporting official (your boss), etc.). Next, the letter should cover compensation. Details pertaining to bonuses and commissions should be spelled out meticulously to avoid any confusion. Additional compensation such as benefits, vacation, company vehicle, severance, etc. are typically included in a separate attachment. The letter may also contain conditions of employment (more on that below) and rules such as normal work hours.

Beware that letters of offer, or large portions of them, are often canned documents. Read the letter thoroughly as there may be a discrepancy between what you were promised in an interview and what appears in the letter. This usually stems from an administrative oversight. Resolve the issue by contacting the authority listed in the letter (usually a Human Resources title) and ask for another letter with a slightly extended deadline. Be sure to submit your signed letter of acceptance before the deadline as most letters have an expiration date.

While smaller companies may be unfamiliar with letters of offer, no reputable company should refuse to give you one. Once a verbal offer has been made, reply, “That sounds great – when may I expect the offer letter?” If you are told not to expect one, offer to draft one yourself, but also be wary and ask why.

Also note that in some cases, offer letters will outline conditions of employment. That is, it will say that the offer is contingent on the candidate successfully passing certain screening procedures such as background checks for a criminal record, driving offenses (in cases where you will be driving a company vehicle as part of your job), financial / credit history and / or a drug screening. Unfortunately for the candidate, due to the expense of this type of screening it not typically done until after you have accepted the offer.

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