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The Stars and Stripes Transition Guide is a compilation of articles - on financial matters, education, resume-writing, career fairs and more — specifically designed to help active servicemembers and veterans navigate into their next stages of life. Each edition of this semi-annual publication provides practical guidance and resources for maneuvering through their next objective, whether it is enrolling in college, finding a job or getting their finances in order.

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Quick Tip: Using the STAR method when answering behavioral interview questions

By Rachael McDermott — reprinted with permission ©
civilianchick.tumblr.com

Many employers ask interview questions that reveal how strong a candidate is in a certain behavior or competency. Sometimes these are situational questions that present a candidate with a scenario they might encounter on the job so the candidate can show how they would handle the situation. Other questions are behavioral and ask candidates to describe a time when they demonstrated a particular competency or performed a similar task they would encounter at their new job. For example, a sample question could be "tell me about a time when you had to manage a project with many moving parts and deadlines" or "give me an example of a time when you had to persuade reluctant people or teams to adopt a new idea or practice."

A good structure for answering these questions is the STAR approach. S stands for Situation or Scenario — set the context for your example. T stands for Task — what was required of you. A stands for Action — tell what you actually did to achieve your task. R stands for Result — what was the outcome of your actions?

For example, if I was asked about a time when I had to improve upon a process, I might answer like this:

S-We have many employers that recruit our students and organize recruiting events. However, often times these events were not well attended and employers were growing frustrated. Students are very busy and have many priorities and commitments so often these events get lost in the shuffle.

T-I really needed to restructure our recruiting process and think of ways to increase student attendance and visibility for employers on campus.

A-I decided to condense all recruiting activities into two dedicated weeks per semester so we could market the whole period as a major event. Starting with new student orientation in August, we could advertise this period to students so they knew this was the time to meet employers and could mark it on their calendars. I also conducted proactive outreach to employers to tell them about the recruiting period so they could plan their events for this time. Finally, I organized a career fair during the period which would draw many more students than an organization’s individual recruiting event.

R-As a result, there was more visibility for the recruiting period and events among students and in many cases, attendance at recruiting events was double what it was in the past. Also, the career fair drew over 100 students, which is a much higher number than any employers ever saw at individual recruiting events. Employers saw many students and were satisfied with their recruiting experience.

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New Grads: These 10 Job Search Mistakes Cost You Time and Money

© Copyright, 2014, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.

Your first "real" (as in, now-I-must-be-self-supporting) job search is a learning experience like no other. So many options; so little time! You do NOT want to make mistakes, but you may not be clear on exactly what to do next and what is appropriate.

The 10 mistakes that new grads (and many others) make that postpone that first paycheck:

1. Don't apply too slowly.

According to a 2011 study of 6,600 hires in 10 industries by StartWire.com:

"Of those hired, 27% applied within the first two days after a job was posted. Nearly 50% of the hires were applicants who applied within the 1st week; approximately 75% of all hired candidates applied within three weeks."

2. Don't apply too quickly.

This is the flip side of not applying quickly enough — many job seekers seem to apply too quickly. They don't appear to take the time to read more than the job title of the posting. So they waste time and energy applying for jobs that are not appropriate, and they look dumb while doing it.

If you don't meet at least 80% of the job's "requirements" move on.

3. Leverage the mutual benefits of employee referrals.

According to the annual CareerXRoads' "Sources of Hire" survey, the number one source of "external" hires is referral by an employee. Year after year, referrals are # 1! (An "external hire" is someone who is not an employee.)

Many employers have "employee referral programs" which reward employees if someone they recommend is hired. Connecting with people who work for your target employers or in your target industry is a great foot-in-the-door move on your way to being referred in to an employer. Everybody wins with this approach!

4. Be skeptical of websites, employers, and job postings.

Human predators are as plentiful on the Internet as in real life, perhaps more plentiful because through the Internet they can reach you from all over the world. These predators target job seekers because job seekers are willing to share information that most people are not (location and other contact information, education details). So, verify before you trust with your resume and other personal information.

Be wary of employers you've never heard of, and verify the ones you find. A job posting by Google (or any other genuine employer) could be a fake. Even though Google is real, a scammer could be using Google's name to attract victims. Look for a published business phone number in the location where they claim to have a job ready for you to compare with the contact information included in the job posting. Superpages.com is a good source.

Learn more about online scams and how to avoid them in Job-Hunt's Guide to Avoiding Scams and Scammers.

5. Understand that most job seekers are "selling," not "buying."

It's too easy to approach a job search from a WIIFM (What's In It For Me) perspective. However, when you are corresponding with an employer, a focus on WIIFT (What's In It For THEM) is a more successful approach!

The example, below, is a WIIFM-style "cover letter/email," a very bad approach -

"I saw your job posting on Indeed, and I want to apply for the job. I think that your company would be an interesting place to work. I think it offers me a great future, and I would like to live in Phoenix where you are located. I have attached my resume for your consideration."

NNothing in that paragraph offers a benefit to the employer! Nice as the employer reading that paragraph might be, he or she doesn't really care what you want. They care what you can do for them. So, look at the opportunity from the employer's perspective, and sell your qualifications for their job. First, make it clear the job you are applying for so they won't need to figure it out, and then connect your qualifications with their job's requirements.

6. Don't spend too much time networking online.

While LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook can be very helpful for job search, the best networking is done face-to-face.

Networking can happen any time at least 2 people are in the same place. I saw 3 people connect with good jobs at a colleague's wake! So, go to those association meetings, attend those seminars, talk to people in line at the grocery store, etc. You never know who knows about job opportunities that might be right for you.

7. Don't ignore your online reputation.

LLike everyone else, employers use search engines for research, but they are researching job applicants. And if they find something bad, even if it is by or about someone else with the same or a similar name, you are done. So establish a "clean" name, use it in all your job search documents, and practice Defensive Googling regularly, even after you have found a job.

BTW, LinkedIn and Google Plus are very effective for claiming your name and establishing your online reputation. You control what both show employers about you, and both rank high in Google search results, so they are very powerful and effective for online reputation management. Read Job-Hunt's Guide to LinkedIn for Job Search and Guide to Google Plus for Job Search.

88. Don't passively wait for the job offer.

Find a way to network in, if you haven't already. See if you know anyone who works there, or anyone who knows anyone who works there. Someone else from the same school? Or someone from the same town? Do they know the hiring manager? Can you get your resume to that internal person to hand to the hiring manager or the HR manager or the Decision-Maker with a big smile and a personal recommendation?

9. Don't stop looking too soon.

SSo many job seekers stop their job search when they have what feels like a "hot lead." They wait for that job offer to come through. They stop looking for opportunities, and they spend a lot of time wondering what is taking so long.

However, you don't have an offer until you have a starting date and a starting salary. So, keep networking, and keep looking!

10. Act like a grown-up.

That means not applying for inappropriate jobs and not using texting language and slang in resumes or other business communications.

That also means being prepared for job interviews — dressing appropriately, knowing the job and the employer, using good grammar and language, having good questions to ask (NOT about the salary and vacation!), not bringing in food or drink, and not answering your cellphone during the interview (turn it OFF!).

Bottom Line

YYes, you will find a job. You will make mistakes (part of being human), but you will hopefully learn from them and not make the same mistakes twice. And, BTW, new grads are not the only job seekers making these mistakes.

About the Author… Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 2011, NETability purchased WorkCoachCafe.com, and Susan has been editor and publisher of WorkCoach since then. Susan also edits and publishes Job-Hunt.org, is a Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a columnist on HuffingtonPost. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Google+

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Veterans look to succeed as entrepreneurs

By Stephanie Snyder - Ventura County Star, Calif.
Used with permission from Stars and Stripes © 2014 Stars and Stripes
www.stripes.com

VENTURA, Calif. — Making a transition out of the military can be challenging for service members as they look to translate their military skill set into civilian work.

But as increasing resources become available, prospective veterans are more easily connecting leadership and task-oriented characteristics they have as military members with the mindset of an entrepreneur.

A joint collaboration between the Defense Department and the Small Business Association produced a new course, Boots to Business, to give military members the tools they need to become entrepreneurs.

An estimated 1,000 people transition out of the military through Naval Base Ventura County annually, said Kirstin Davy, a transition coordinator for Naval Base Ventura County.

Boots to Business is one of three optional workshops on easing veterans into civilian life, whether it is entrepreneurship, vocational training or higher education.

About 45 local active military members and veterans have participated in Boots to Business since it launched at Naval Base Ventura County in September.

The quarterly two-day workshops are led by Patrick Rodriguez, a Los Angeles-based economic development specialist for the Small Business Administration.

Rodriguez, who served in the Army for eight years, started the recent workshop at the base's Fleet and Family Support Center in Port Hueneme by telling the class of 10 that moving from being enlisted in the military to being a business owner is not a long leap.

"The majority of folks who are coming out of the service have a lot of discipline, motivation. They're very task-oriented," Rodriguez said. "They have a lot of the same skill sets that entrepreneurs have so they're not really having to climb that hill. They're at the top of that hill. Now they just kind of have to get over and get their idea in place and get their business plan in place."

Veterans make up 6 percent of the U.S. population and nearly 14 percent of the country's small-business owners, Rodriguez said.

"Just being a veteran in that network is tremendous. It's a really great starting point," Rodriguez said. "They know that they don't want to work for anybody else. They're tired of taking orders from anybody so they have that mentality of doing it themselves, working for themselves."

The course uses a curriculum developed by the Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families and offers an introduction to business development, ownership and planning; the economics of small businesses and startups; an understanding of markets and competitive space; the selection of the correct legal entity; and the use of resources.

Boots to Business participants include active-duty and retired military members, Rodriguez said. Some come in not knowing what they want to do after leaving the military, while others are ready to develop a business plan, he added.

"It's always a challenge to hit that right note for those folks who are already kind of more sophisticated and know more about business," Rodriguez said.

Hector Calderon, 40, spent the past 20 years in the Navy, serving two tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. For the past three years, he worked as a construction facilities manager at the Port Hueneme base.

But the Oxnard father of three said starting a business has been on his mind for the past decade. Through the Navy, he received his bachelor's degree in business administration, and he's one class away from finishing his master's in business administration.

Calderon, who attended the Boots to Business workshop, said he hopes to launch a security company after he completely separates from the military at the end of July.

"There are so many resources in this country that we can take advantage of," said Calderon, who moved to the U.S. from Colombia at age 18. "I want to accomplish something that I built, that I constructed."

Calderon said he chose a security guard business because of the skills he learned in the military and after researching its market growth. But he said he has concerns about obtaining the money to get the business up and running.

"The hardest thing is to get the financial help that you require," he said. "Not a lot of banks or companies loan on a new business."

Typically about half of the Boots to Business lessons are led by members of the Ventura County chapter of Score, most of whom have owned or run a business and offer a variety of expertise.

Along with Score, the Small Business Association has a national resource partnership with the Small Business Development Center Network and the Women's Business Center.

Larry Willett, chairman of the local chapter of Score, said the nonprofit's involvement in Boots to Business is going well and that he hopes to establish more ongoing opportunities with the base to connect with military members as they continue to build their business.

"The service people that are taking that Boots to Business program at the base are basically personnel looking to be mustered out in the future and thinking about going into business, so, to me, that's kind of a limited opportunity," Willett said.

Willett said it would be effective to connect interested military members with regular seminars hosted by the nonprofit that are more in-depth than Boots to Business. Score also provides free business counseling with any of its 63 members, Willett added.

"If they contact us for counseling, that's really the best way to start," he said. "Then it's according to their schedule. ... We work out a time and place to meet, and at that point we're working one-on-one."

Some local veterans are taking advantage of Score resources, including a recent all-day small-business seminar in Camarillo.

Ventura resident J.P. Budd retired from the Marine Corps in 2005 after nearly six years of service as a communications officer that included tours in Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Budd is one of 120 franchise owners of Unishippers, a national freight-shipping company that focuses on small to midsize businesses.

"I like the franchise model because it's a proven business model and you have a support network. You're not reinventing the wheel," he said. "Within shipping, even in a down economy, companies are still going to need to ship, and so there's always going to be a need for it. It's just when things are slow, they might not be shipping as much."

Budd said he worried about finding a way to translate his military skills to a civilian job but quickly realized the intangibles he gained from the Marines were invaluable to becoming an entrepreneur.

"There's a lot of grind to running your business," he said. "If you have the discipline to get up and do what you need to do on a daily basis and work toward a goal and work with people — whether it's your vendors, customers or employees — you'll be successful. A lot of that stuff is kind of driven into you in the military."

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