March 2016 |
Transition-e-news Volume 3 Issue 116 |
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USA Today Veterans Affairs - Special Edition Magazine
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The Other Side of the Fence© Tom Wolfe, author; all rights reserved; excerpts from Out of Uniform: Your Guide to a Successful Military-to-Civilian Career Transition; used with the permission of the author and publisher, www.potomacbooksinc.com. With all of the uncertainty that surrounds the transition from a military to a civilian career, one thing that is certain is the likelihood that you must continue to work. Career transition is a stressful time for most people and that is particularly true for those in transition from the military to civilian status. Although the job search can be difficult for civilians, they at least know the terminology and the titles. Military-to-civilian job seekers on the other hand not only have to deal with the stress of the search but also the lack of knowledge about career options and job titles. How about you? Are you wrestling with that uncertainty and wondering what to do next? That is perfectly normal. Take some comfort in knowing that thousands of veterans have dealt with that stress successfully and help is available. Prior to the interviewing phase of your search, I encourage you to research possible civilian job and career options. The following information will help you get started. What jobs are available? The good news is there are hundreds of companies hiring thousands of people like you into jobs with hundreds of possible job titles. The bad news is that there are far too many of them to cover here. I can however discuss the three general categories of jobs available and in so doing perhaps give you some insight into which category is best for you. Every one of those jobs can be categorized in one of three ways: Individual Contributor, Team Member, and Team Leader. Furthermore, every job you have held in the military can be similarly categorized and a comparative analysis will do much to point you in the right direction. An Individual Contributor is one whose contribution to the mission comes directly from that individual. The work product is his or hers alone. He or she is not directing the efforts of others. The blood, sweat and tears are those of the individual. Do not however confuse individual contributors with loners. Individual contributors can have much interaction with others, both internal and external to the organization—e.g., co-workers, vendors, clients, suppliers, and managers. They enjoy autonomy. They do not have to supervise others to be fulfilled. They prefer to see a direct link between their individual effort, their work product, and, perhaps, their compensation. Examples of individual contributors include tradesmen, tech reps, accountants, analysts, consultants, sales reps, designers, engineers, field service representatives, and recruiters. Sometimes a group of individual contributors band together, either formally or informally, and form a team. This leads us to the second category—Team Member. There are many situations where no one single person can handle all the responsibilities of a project or tasking. It often makes sense to put together a group of individuals to form a team. Although levels of expertise are often similar, each member has a different area of expertise and is responsible for his or her own contribution to the team as a whole. Whether or not there is a designated team leader, often an informal leader will emerge. Regardless, it is the combined, collective effort of the entire team that constitutes the contribution to the goals of the organization. An excellent analogy is the athletic team—individuals playing different positions on the team, with the goal of winning the contest. You can find examples of the team member role in matrix organizations, companies that use self-directed work teams, product development, and brand management. The final category, Team Leader, is the one that probably requires the least explanation. The team leader is assigned personnel, material, financial resources, and a task. The areas and levels of expertise among the team members vary. The team leader builds the team, trains the team, motivates the team, and provides a safe working environment. The collective efforts of the entire team under the direction and control of the team leader become the contribution to the mission. Sound familiar? Most military personnel spend the majority of their time in team leader roles. Many civilian organizations are aware of this experience and focus on hiring veterans because of it. Some typical team leader roles include operations manager, crew leader, production team leader, and manufacturing supervisor. Which category is best for you? To answer that question, review your time in the military. You have probably held jobs in all three categories. In which ones were you the most effective? Satisfied? Happiest? Answering those questions will give you some clues. By knowing in which one you tend to thrive, you will be on your way to finding the best category for you. Although you will not necessarily be any closer to articulating exactly which job you want, you will at least be able to focus on jobs in the category or categories that are best for you. Thanks for your service and good hunting! © 2016; Tom Wolfe, is an author, columnist, career coach, veteran, and an expert in the field of military-to-civilian career transition. During his career he assisted thousands of service members in their searches for employment, placing more than 3000 in their new jobs. Prior to civilian life, he graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy and served as a surface warfare officer. He teaches transition courses, gives seminars on career and job change, writes about the career transition process, and continues to counsel current and former military personnel. His book, Out of Uniform: Your Guide to a Successful Military-to-Civilian Career Transition, was published by Potomac Books in 2011. Tom lives on the North Carolina coast with his wife, Julie, and their Chesapeake Bay retriever, Maggie. |
Military Spouses Face Major Employment Challenges
by By Barrie Barber Alex Masick lives in Virginia but was in the Dayton area Thursday hunting for job leads. The future military spouse plans to marry his Air Force fiancee, a second lieutenant assigned to the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson, and wants to move here with a job in hand to be with her. “It’s very challenging to communicate remotely with an employer because you don’t want to mess up your first impression,” said Masick, 32, of Falls Church, Va., and who has experience in sales and training. “I spent hours agonizing over the phrasing of an introduction email to make sure someone just doesn’t click delete within the first couple of seconds.” Military spouses often face not only higher rates of unemployment but underemployment, one study found, as they search for a job when their husband or wife in uniform is transferred to a new and different base every few years. “They quite often will come to somewhere that the job opportunities are quite limited and companies find it difficult to see the value of somebody who’s only going to be here for a couple of years,” said Gillian Russell, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation associate with the Hiring Our Heroes program, which connects employers with military job seekers and their spouses. In a 2013 review, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University found 90 percent of female spouses of active-duty service members reported they were underemployed, or had more education and experience than the jobs they had required. “That was the biggest finding and probably gave a broader picture of the employment situation of a military spouse,” said Rosalinda Maury, IVMF director of applied research and analytics. “It’s not just unemployment, it’s underemployment.” The analysis, conducted with the Military Officers Association of America, cited 2012 American Community Survey data that showed military spouses earned 38 percent less on average and were 30 percent more likely to be unemployed compared to their civilian counterparts. Courtney R. Taylor, 26, who is married to an Air Force staff sergeant at Wright-Patterson, knows the difficulty of a civilian job search in a new community. She’s searched for weeks, hoping to find a job in financial management that would coincide with her studies at Wright State University. “It’s very, very difficult,” she said. “… I haven’t been able to find a job. I’m just trying to get my foot in the door somewhere and it’s a little difficult to find that opportunity.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes initiative held a job fair Thursday at Wright-Patt. Some 50 companies and agencies were represented — from Starbucks to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. The goal is to show employers the skills spouses can bring to the workplace, Russell said. “They might not be working, they might have flaws in their resume, but what they are doing is they are volunteering, they are helping to run the bases, they’re helping to make sure that families are looked after while service members are away, and all of these skills make them absolutely fantastic employees. “We work with our national sponsors and local partners to make sure that those military spouses are being recognized and they’re getting meaningful jobs,” she said. Chris Phillips, a PNC Bank diversity specialist who recruits military spouses, said they have organizational and leadership skills useful to employers. “It’s not just the veteran, it’s the spouse,” she said. “They’re the caregiver, they’re the ones that manage the household so they’ve very loyal to an employer and it makes good business sense to us.” Explaining gaps in work history to employers and finding a job in their career field are the most common complaints from military spouses, said Shonte Gonzalez, an Airmen and Family Readiness Center community readiness specialist who counsels job-hunting spouses at Wright-Patterson. The center offers tips on resumes and preps spouses with mock job interviews. “Their gaps in employment are probably one of the biggest things that are stressful to them,” Gonzalez said. Many Dayton area employers understand the work history gaps that may accompany military life as a spouse, Gonzalez said. Unemployed spouses can boost their resume by stressing their volunteer work, she said. “It’s not paid, but it’s a job,” Gonzalez said. “People like to see that people are busy. “We encourage them to volunteer,” she added. “We try to get them out in the market because the only way you’re going to meet people is to network.” Kendra Mustain, a recruiting coordinator at Comfort Keepers, a business that offers home care to the elderly, said she’s a former military spouse who understands the challenge of moving frequently. “I personally think that military spouses would make excellent caregivers because they are by nature supportive people,” she said. ——— ©2016 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. |
Successful Job Search - Know the Enemy© Copyright, 2016, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved. For many job seekers, a successful job search means winning the war for employment. “Know the enemy” is one of the foundation elements in winning a war. This idea was first expressed by Chinese general (and philosopher) Sun Tzu many, many centuries ago. In business, we apply that principle to many aspects of what we do. We translate it to “know the competition” and “know the other side” in a business negotiation. Successful job search requires the same approach! Successful Job Search >> Know the Employer(s)In a job search, ”Know the Enemy” morphs into ”Know the Employer.” Employers are not really your enemy in a job search, although it may feel that way some times. In a job search, “know the enemy” means collecting and analyzing information about potential employers to:
Ideally, this enables you to focus your job search on the NOT a fingers-crossed, please-let-this-work-out decision! 3 Important Sources of Information for Job Search SuccessIn a job search, your goal is to learn as much as you can about your target employers. Then, you can approach them most effectively. Start with these sources and expand and modify as appropriate for you, the job you want, and your target employers. 1. The employer’s websiteVisit the employer’s website, and learn as much as possible from it. For a successful job search (and job interview), learn as much as you can from the employer’s website:
You won’t find all of those answers on the employer’s website, but hopefully you will find most of them. Make note of the information you find. Your notes will help you prepare for the “So, what do you know about us?” job interview question. Hopefully, you will be able to effectively leverage the ERP program (which greatly increases your probability of being hired). 2. LinkedInLinkedIn is an excellent source of information on employers and the people who work for them. Leveraging this resource will help you have a successful job search. LinkedIn Search. Search on the company name in the LinkedIn search bar. In addition to the Company Profile (next, below), look for employees (current and former) you are connected to, related LinkedIn Groups (like “alumni” of the company), SlideShare presentations about the employer (and their products or services), and related job postings for the company. Company Profile. Check for a Company Profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn shows – number of employees on LinkedIn (including how many you are “connected” with), “Updates” shared with LinkedIn, job postings (maybe), and more information on the “Careers” tab. If you are interested in the employer, click the “Follow” button to hear more about the company on LinkedIn. They often note who follows them. Employee Profiles. If you are connected with any employees, check their LinkedIn Profiles to see their education, experiences, and other things they seem to have in common. See what LinkedIn Groups they belong to so you can join those Groups. You may pick up interesting information from those observations, and you may also be able to ask questions to elicit responses directly from employees of your target (or possible target) employers. If you are connected with any current employees and know them well enough to contact them about the employer, reach out and perhaps connect with a referral or get good advice on the hiring process and how to approach the employer most successfully. Also check out the former employees using LinkedIn to see where they went next, and what you may have in common with them. If you are connected, ask them about their experience working there — the organization, the “culture” and the hiring process. 3. GoogleResearch on Google will show you what “the world” has to say about the employer, perhaps contradicting what the employer’s website and LinkedIn Company Profile show. Look for signs of prosperity or decline. New or pending contracts, product roll outs, and/or locations could mean new hires. A contract loss or closure of a location could mean the opposite. What’s in the news section of the website and in Google’s news search?
If the employer is a publicly-traded company, Google Finance is a treasure trove of information about the company. Most of it is aimed at investors, but that information is very helpful for job seekers as well. Profits going down – maybe a cutback (with layoffs) is pending? Sales skyrocketing – maybe a big increase in staff is pending? Look at the stock performance. If the stock price is jumping much higher than competitors, the market is expecting some good news. But, be careful – good news to the stock market may not be good news for your job search. The news could be a hot new product or service being introduced, OR it could mean the company is being sold and investors expect to make a killing. See what the stock analysts think. Applying the IntelligenceA successful job search that lands you with an unsuccessful employer is not a good outcome. Once you have gathered and analyzed the information, apply it for your job search:
Once you have collected the information, you will find more ways than I can describe to use that information for your job search. Just take the time to collect the information, analyze it, and consider how to apply it. 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+ |
Top 10 interview mistakesReprinted with permission - HRNasty.com The lists of job interview mistakes are a con and a false sense of security. This weeks post is HRNasty’s list of interview mistakes and I have a different attitude on this topic. The normal Google search for “Top 10 Interview Mistakes Made in an Interview”, are for those with the manners of a cave man and I am probably insulting the cave dweller. If a candidate needs to be reminded about what is typically recommended, they are going to:
The following tips are given by your typical HR / recruiter blog posts. The candidate hears this advice and then feels confident about landing the job because they won’t make the below mistakes. The candidate is set up for failure. In my opinion, the usual lists don’t provide any real help to a candidate new to the interview process. Interview mistakes are made and opportunities lost.  The usual suspects (I mean interview mistakes) Below are the usual suspects provided by your usual not so helpful HR experts:
OK, so I don’t know how to count to ten and I only provided 8. Remember, I am not in finance and after reading the common themes over and over, I got so disgusted with the exercise I couldn’t take anymore and quit. Here is the problem with this advice. It really doesn’t help anyone get through an interview. This advice would help us get through LIFE but it shouldn’t give you any confidence when it comes to the interview. What this advice says to the reader is the following: “If I don’t check my phone, if I show up on time, and I don’t badmouth my prior manager, I have a shot at landing the job”. I call bullsh@#. The above is just common courtesy and if we need to be reminded about this stuff then we should have been Darwinized out of the system of LIFE. Every single one of the above, points to common courtesy. If you went on a first date and encountered any one or two of the above – Mrs. Right will turn into Mrs. Wrong, and Mr. Right just became your future ex. Regular readers know I like to compare the interview process to the dating scene so lets compare and contrast the numbered bullets above with the numbered wreckage below. Interview mistakes in dating parlance:
So, the below are a few pieces of advice that I believe WILL make you more successful in an interview situation and will help you avoid the uncovered interview mistakes.
Hopefully the above give you more insight into the interview process and interview mistakes that can be avoided. If you picked up a nugget or two, I have plenty more where this came from. (Mainly from watching interview mistakes made that got candidates declined) Just click on any one of the “HRNasty” categories on the left hand pane. See you at the after party, HRNasty |
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