Chief Growth Officer | 3x LinkedIn Top Voice | Forbes Contributor | Adjunct Professor | Army Veteran
Don't tell me what your job was or what you were "responsible for," tell me what you did while in that position. I want to see IMPACT! Listing your positions with the number of people you led and the millions of dollars worth of equipment you were responsible for has limited value in your career transition. Don't get me wrong - you need a short statement that talks about the scope of your responsibility, but it needs to be brief. I don't want to see your job description copied onto your profile. Because while you were "responsible for" something, that statement tells me nothing about how well you did in the position. You could have sucked at that job for all I know. I want to see HOW YOU IMPROVED the project, team or organization while you were in the position. That IMPACT you had is where I learn how much of a contributor you can be. Do you "lead up?" Meaning, are you a strategic performer that is always looking for ways to improve the organization at levels about yourself? How did you improve individual or team performance? Do you have the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to excel at the position for which I am considering you? The crazy part about this? We teach people to do this on military performance evaluations. #militarytransition #veterans #military
Tell it like it is! I definitely need to revamp my profile!!
Michael Quinn and 90% of the time you still have to kick those evals back for rework and rewording. This is a huge issue for folks who are not used to “selling themselves”. Thanks for your efforts and continuing teaching valuable skills to those in and prepping to take off the uniform.
This only reminds me of the sad state of affairs of my LinkedIn profile. Did a lot of NCOER and company eval copying to build it up over the years and it's definitely in need of an overhaul. What I've found is that some civilian employers have no idea how to properly translate that into actual skills, while any former military managers or recruiters might see it as just fluff. Conversely, I don't need a resume for a squad leader or a platoon sergeant when I'm trying to interview someone for a security analyst position.
Always sage advice and counsel...:thanks!
It took me years to almost reach maximum impact based on my skill set...and still working on it. My best advice is to always tell the truth about your past, but never hang your future opportunities on your past. Compile your experiences into an elevator pitch, but don’t let that half-a-minute synopsis define you. The best thing that’s happened to me in my post-AF career was running across like minded veterans who have a vision beyond what we’re all looking for. Consider that your time is more valuable to you than it is to someone else. Find that business process to disrupt, and drop value just like you dropped security in the service. Press on, and NEVER be put into a silo. Pigeon holes are not for veterans. Step forward on the way out of service and lead folks, because you aren’t going to find much leadership in your roles once you get out. Don’t just look for jobs...create them if you can.
Need to work on doing this.
Career Transition Coach | Best Selling Author | Executive Director, Veteran Career Journey | Coach & Faculty Member, The Honor Foundation | Strategic Talent Management Advisor | TEDx Speaker | 4X LinkedIn Top Voice
6 年Spot on. All great insights. I’ll also add that it is critical to cite your results in terms the hiring manager/organization will understand. You must “speak their language”. With such a small percentage of the population having served in the military this can be especially important for veterans ... very few people understand the military experience / language / etc. Furthermore many simply don’t care. They have a job to do, in their organization and culture. They need the best possible talent for results and fit. They have very little time and many applicants. If you and your resume are not speaking their language, you will not be considered. A good preparation approach is to use the “ask-answer” technique. Layout the job posting on the left. (This is the ask). Then for each ask, note your answer on the right. Update your resume and interview prep to use their language at every point. If you are not sure how to translate your experience to their ask, seek help. Bottom line is that people hire those that 1) have done what they need done recently and 2) they like. If they can’t understand your language they won’t see either in you.