Transition Insight

Leaving the Military? It’s Never Too Soon to Plan Your Next Career!

By Barbara Adams, CPRW, CEIP, CMRC, CFRW
www.militaryresumewriters.com and www.careerproplus.com

Whether you've been in the military for 4 years or 20, the approaching final day of your service will no doubt cause a variety of mixed emotions: excitement, relief, fear, hope, or maybe even dread. Even those who look forward to retirement face the great unknown of what lies beyond with a sense of caution and trepidation, especially in an economy where the unemployment rate is hovering around 10%. The good news is, as a military veteran, you have great skills that are in high demand in the private sector, and there may even be positions with the federal government performing the same duties for much higher pay. The key to success, as in all endeavors, is planning.

It's really never too early to begin to plan. You'll probably want to take a week or two off when you finally take that first step wearing civilian clothes. If you plan ahead, you may be able to do that, but with an average job search time of six months and thousands of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for more than a year, you really have to get ahead of the curve and hit the ground running. You should begin this process at around six months prior to your expected separation date.

Here's what you need to do for your own peace of mind and employment success:

1. GATHER YOUR DOCUMENTS: Build a folder with all your education and training transcripts, awards, certificates, letters of commendation, annual performance evaluations (fit reps, NCOERs. OERs, etc.) and of course your DD-214 and discharge papers. Read through everything to remind yourself of all the things you've done, so you know what you have to offer in the way of knowledge, experience and accomplishments.
2. ORGANIZE YOUR INFORMATION: Compile a list with the name and date received for each of your training courses, awards, licenses, certifications and other information. You should have copies of any certificates to present in an interview but you'll need a simple list of them to build into a resume, including the title and date received for each. Related documents should be grouped in their own folder or separated by tabs in a binder. The goal is for you to be able to find any document quickly in case you need more information, like number of training hours for a given class or certificate.
3. CHART YOUR COURSE: Decide on area(s) where you would like to live and start searching those areas for jobs while you are still in the military. Even if you have six months to go, you can see what salaries are paid in various locations and what types of positions are in demand. You don't want to buy a new house or move into an area only to find the jobs you want to apply for are in a different state. You don't want to return home and waste months looking for a non-existent job when you had a chance to move someplace else. Check out online corporate websites for jobs, use TAOnline.com, and government application websites like USAJOBS.gov.
4. PLAN YOUR ATTACK: Do you want a government job, a corporate position, or will either work for you? What field and what level of responsibility? Do you want to pursue a new career path that requires more training? If you want a federal government job, positions often take months to fill and private sector jobs may not have many openings throughout the year, so you might want to start applying three to four months prior to separation with a cover letter explaining your future date of separation. You'll want to develop you resume (or different resume versions) for submission by email or in person. Note that government resumes tend to be five pages or longer, while corporate resumes only want one or two pages. Unless you are seeking a military related job, change all military terms to civilian ("middle management" instead of "NCO", "personnel" instead of "soldier" or "sailor," "Director" instead of "Commander", etc.).
5. SUBMIT WITH A VENGEANCE! Don't rely on one resume to one job, no matter how much of a dream job it may be. Not only are the odds against you (there may be hundreds of other applicants), but it puts you in a position of strength if you get a job offer. It's to your benefit if you can honestly say, "I have two other companies interested in me, but I'm more interested in this position with your company." You can negotiate a higher salary and better benefits this way, and employers respect the fact that you are in demand.

Your branch of service will undoubtedly provide you with out-briefing. Unfortunately, these come very close to the end of your time in service. You might even want to seek the advise of professional career services. If you plan ahead and apply in advance, you may be able to have a job waiting for you when you separate. That's certainly not a bad situation to be in!

Remember, in a crowded field, your military experience stands you tall and places you above the crowd. Employers recognize that nothing can match the experience for real-world experience in leadership, competence, teamwork, reliability, technical ability, and strength under pressure, even in critical situations. You have a proven track record of quickly learning new skills and adapting to changing environments. As simple as this may sound, you also have the ability to show up on time and work with a diverse group of people. So plan and implement your new mission with confidence and get started looking for that next career!

Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global (CPG), the parent company of www.careerproplus.com and www.militaryresumewriters.com, has been a member of the careers community for the past 20 years. Ms. Adams holds four prestigious industry certifications. CareerPro Global is the only ISO 9001-2008 Certified Career Service in the industry, as well as one of the fastest-growing Military, Federal, and Civilian Resume-Writing and Careers-Coaching companies. The team of Certified Professional Federal and Military Resume Writers at CPG assist thousands of clients in applying for and gaining employment each year. We can help you land your military to civilian job.

Cisco, AT&T, JPMorgan, Verizon in Veteran Hiring Initiative

Cisco, AT&T, JPMorgan and Verizon are among a group of eleven American companies which are pledging to hire up to 100,000 veteran and other military personal leaving active duty by the end of 2020.

Over the short term, the companies have a hiring goal of 20,000 jobs for vets by the end of 2012.

The companies aren't stopping there though, as the "100,000 Jobs Mission" is working on recruiting more companies to participate and boost the number of jobs to hire veterans into.

Frank Bisignano, JPMorgan Chase chief administrative officer, said, "We have spent a lot of time speaking with military officials and veterans lately, and over and over they say the biggest issue facing men and women from the armed services is finding good jobs when they leave active duty. Not only is this the right thing to do for veterans, but all of the companies in the 100,000 Jobs Mission recognize it's a great thing to do for our businesses. Our nation's military and veterans represent the best this country has to offer. They are disciplined, principled and highly skilled. They will make outstanding employees." To access career opportunities at JPMorgan Chase, click here

Other companies participating at this time are Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., Cushman & Wakefield Inc., EMC Corp., Iron Mountain Inc., Modis, NCR Corp. and Universal Health Services Inc..

IAVA rolls out new plan to help vets find jobs

By Rick Maze

With a new jobs report showing that young veterans continue to have difficulty finding work in a tough economy, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has unveiled a comprehensive plan for helping vets find post-service jobs.

The March U.S. Labor Department jobs report finds the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans dropped from 15.2 percent in January to 12.5 percent in February, but it is still higher than the 11.5 percent average for 2010 and much higher than the national unemployment rate of 8.9 percent in February, the first time the national rate has dipped below 9 percent in almost two years.

For all veterans, the February unemployment rate was 9.2 percent, down from 9.8 percent in January.

IAVA, an advocacy group formed in 2004, is concerned that the job market doesn’t seem to be improving for veterans. Already, an estimated 278,000 returning combat veterans are hunting for jobs and not finding them in a continued sluggish economy, with signs that things are not going to get better soon without dramatic action.

"We are not doing enough," said Tim Embree, a Marine veteran and IAVA legislative associate.

Embree said his group's plan will seek to create jobs for veterans through a combination of teaching new job-seeking skills, providing better education benefits, defending against job discrimination and working with community and corporate leaders to help create a climate in which companies want to hire veterans.

IAVA also wants a presidential summit on veterans' hiring to get the attention of corporate leaders and nonprofit groups and wants a national jobs data base specifically for veterans who are looking for work.

"There is no silver bullet, no one thing that is going to solve this," Embree said.

Many current programs are aimed at helping veterans find work, but Embree said they don't seem to be working that well. That is the reason why IAVA is seeking a review every three years of the military's Transition Assistance Program, which is supposed to help separating and retiring service members learn job-hunting skills. Embree said the program, known as TAP, needs to be audited every three years, at a minimum, to verify that people actually get jobs as a result of the workshops and lectures.

IAVA also wants the government to expand tax credits for businesses that hire veterans, require federal contractors to publicly report the number of veterans they higher and ensure federally financed construction projects are made available to veteran-owned businesses.

Guard commander puts the focus on jobs after deployment

By Staff Sgt. Pat Caldwell - 3rd Sustainment Brigade

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (3/7/11) — When the Citizen-Soldiers of eastern Oregon's 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), return home after their tour of duty here they will collide with an array of programs to help reintegrate them into a civilian way of life.

But there is one challenge that may be more difficult for them to overcome: finding jobs.

While plenty of attention is focused on helping Soldiers deal with Post Traumatic Stress and other factors associated with overseas duty, lack of employment is one of those problems often recognized, but has more difficulty being solved.

In December, Oregon's jobless rate hovered at 10.4 percent while the unemployment rate in several eastern Oregon counties ran the gamut between from 10-16%.

The commander of the 3rd Battalion, Army Lt. Col. Phil Appleton, said the unemployment outlook may appear daunting, especially for men and women absent from the workforce for more than a year.

That is why Appleton and the 3rd Battalion's senior enlisted advisor, Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bill Wyllie, are already molding a plan to help Soldiers find jobs when they return home.

Appleton said often the picture of a Soldier is one-dimensional. He said, though, that each Guardmember functions and succeeds based on three critical pillars.

"There are three legs that support a Guardsman: The Guard, his employer and his family," Appleton said.

A key piece of Appleton and Wyllie's plan revolves around preparing now, for work in the autumn even as 3rd Battalion Guardsmen conduct convoy escort missions in central Iraq.

"We have to sit down and question Soldiers about their long-term employment plan. Are they going to school? If so, are they aware of their GI bill benefits? Are they underemployed? Is the job they are working in lacking in longevity?" Appleton said.

Appleton said Wyllie will spearhead an effort during the next few months to talk with Guardmembers who will most likely be unemployed when they return home later this year. They will be asked to put together a resume. When a Soldier finishes with the resume, a group of officers and senior noncommissioned officers in the 3rd Battalion will go through each document to polish it.

"I'm also talking about job interviews with Soldiers while they are here, over the phone," he said. "Going on unemployment is not something we are going to discuss. Unemployment is only an emergency fall back if we are unsuccessful in finding employment for the Soldier," he said.

Appleton said the ambitious job outline he and Wyllie are preparing actually comes back to taking care of Soldiers. "The sergeant major and I care about our Soldiers. I'm willing to accept losing Soldiers so they can gain employment. If they get a job in another state, that is just something I have to accept," he said.