Let’s begin with the more professional application - LinkedIn. Many of you may be familiar with this website, but are you taking advantage of all the tools it provides? One of the most important things to remember when using this site is to build a completed profile, which means you need to fill in ALL the information fields. Keep paragraphs brief while highlighting key accomplishments. Remember to try and limit any unnecessary military jargon. Many recruiters use LinkedIn to search for potential candidates, so make sure that you include current contact information to make it easy for them to get in touch with you. LinkedIn also provides various subscription plans that offer added features including the ability to send e-mails, see who’s viewed your profile, as well as other useful bonus capabilities for a modest price.

I strongly recommend joining reputable groups that are related to your field. Not only does this offer you the ability to network and connect with industry professionals, but many of them generate thoughtful discussions. LinkedIn also offers a feature that will generate groups you may like based on your activity. Many companies use this website to post jobs, so you can also use this to conduct job searches and apply for positions. Finally, get recommendations from peers, clients and superiors who can endorse your work. References are a great way to market yourself, so make sure you only connect with reputable professionals.

Facebook has gained a lot of negative attention in the media lately. To avoid harmful consequences, steer clear of posting inappropriate pictures and disparaging remarks. If you are a job seeker, it’s important for you to recognize there are many mistakes that can occur on this site which could prove to be quite costly. Many employers conduct social media searches on potential employees to “dig up dirt on you.” According to a study conducted by OPP, “65% of employers said they were likely to look at a potential employee’s online presence prior to interviewing them.” Don’t give them a reason to deny you an offer because of what could be considered questionable judgment on Facebook! First thing to nail down: know how to manage your account to set up privacy precautions. It’s important for you to control how you connect with people, as well as how you and your friends share information. A good rule of thumb to follow: if you wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing something with your family, don’t post it online where the world can see.

Twitter limits the number of characters you can “tweet,” but don’t let that scare you away from trying it out. It may not produce many leads for job seekers, but it doesn’t hurt to familiarize yourself with the overall gist of the website since many companies use this to promote their services.

With technology becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s global business practices, it’s imperative that you showcase that you are savvy with social media tools, regardless of your industry. Keep in mind that despite the wonderful opportunities these sites can create, they can also wreak havoc if not used properly. A little common sense and precautionary judgment goes a long way.

The announcement of this year’s Most Valuable Employer (MVE) for Military® award finalists will spur scores of savvy military experienced job seekers to apply to military-friendly companies, and rightfully so. However, military experience is not a guaranteed foot in the door. So if you are among this group, you may be wondering how to better your chances of landing a coveted MVE career. The following steps will lead you in the right direction:

Step 1. Get inside their heads.

What motivates MVE and other companies to consistently dip into the military talent pool? Why do military-experienced employees mesh well into these organizations? According to Eric Salzman, Executive Consultant at Bradley-Morris, Inc., the nation’s largest placement firm focused solely on military-experienced talent, “documented leadership experience” sparks a company’s initial interest in military-experienced candidates. “Military leaders have been pushed and tried earlier and harder than most of their civilian counterparts and they are not easily overwhelmed,” he said. When asked what keeps his clients coming back to Bradley-Morris, Inc. for their hiring needs, Salzman replied, “Because hiring military works… companies see a return on their investment.” Understanding what drives companies can go a long way in helping you to sell yourself.

Often, a company-specific answer can be uncovered through a little networking and research. Before applying, research the company of interest online. Pinpoint defining core values by analyzing the company’s history, reputation, products and services, and vision statement. Without asking for a job outright, connect to military-experienced employees through professional networking sites. Seek to understand what they bring to the table as individuals and as a group, gain insight into the company’s corporate culture and hiring needs, and discover your potential value-add.

Coming up empty-handed? Many military-to-civilian executives attribute their corporate success to leadership traits acquired unequivocally through military service, including excellent communication skills, a deeply rooted sense of ethics, the ability to calmly make sound decisions under pressure, defining a goal and motivating others to achieve it, organizational skills such as strategic planning and the effective use of limited resources, and adaptability. I think it’s safe to say most companies value these traits and most military leaders possess them.

Step 2. Target your sales pitch.

Through research and networking, let’s say you’ve uncovered a company’s penchant for loyal workers who work well as a part of a team, inspire healthy competition and goal attainment, and can maximize resources/manpower and minimize waste/downtime. Simply stating your ability to minimize waste, for instance, in your military resume or in an interview is not enough. You must prove it. Always backup something intrinsic, i.e. “cost-conscious”, with something extrinsic, i.e. “…saved $30k quarterly by developing and managing a first-of-its-kind parts reclamation program…” According to Salzman, “Companies want to see quantifiable data attached to experience such as number of people led, total value of a project or budget, and cost avoidance… that’s a big one.”

Step 3. Don’t make a you-know-what out of you and me.

Just because a company has a track record of hiring military experienced job seekers, don’t assume a military jargon-laden resume copied straight from your performance evaluations is going to do the trick. Salzman warns, “Your résumé should be easily understood by everyone from the HR specialist to the CEO.” As the former director of MilitaryResumes.com and a current recruiter at Bradley-Morris, Inc., I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of military resumes. However, I have yet to master the meaning of every acronym or understand the purpose of every command, program, system, or specialty for every branch of service.

Briefly describe your command (mission, services, “customers”, etc.), the technical makeup and capability of military-specific systems/equipment (if applicable), and the scope of your duties to establish due context, no matter the target company. Focus not on your formal, DoD-approved job descriptions, but on the skills derived from each job with respect to the company and job opportunity at hand instead. Finally, add plenty of individual accomplishments to make you stand out as a top-notch performer worthy of corporate recruitment.

Pappas stresses that the hiring process is just that – a sequential process. There are many players involved and wickets to get through. While the process has a whole cast of supporting characters (mainly HR and recruiters), the hiring manger owns it, and getting to him or her should be the military job seeker’s ultimate goal. With regards to this, Pappas states:

…One of the most fundamental principles of marketing is understanding the needs of your customer. This is the *buyer* of the product you are selling – You. In the job hiring process the ultimate *buyer* is the hiring manager. It is the person who will be your future manager – the person you will be reporting to, as we say in the military. He or she will make the final decision if you are the right fit for the open position. But they usually don’t make this decision alone. And they are usually helped in the hiring process by several individuals…

So realize you must impress the hiring team, but it is the hiring manager’s opinion that ultimately matters. It’s a well-known fact that most jobs are landed via networking. Why? Because networking will often get you a direct line to the hiring manger. Military placement specialists, like the team at Bradley-Morris, Inc. – the nation’s leader in sourcing and placing military talent, are a great resource. They advocate for and network on behalf of military job seekers everyday, lining up interviews for eligible candidates with these elusive yet powerful decision-makers.

Before scouring your network for job opportunities and preparing or investing in a professional military résumé, take a step back and understand why it’s important to do so. Then sell yourself I terms of the knowledge, skills, and abilities the buyer is looking for.

For more information on professional military resume writing services, please visit http://www.militaryresumes.com

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.

—————————————————————-

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.