Beating the Inside Candidate

One of the important considerations we discussed during the Veterans Transition & Leadership Conference was how to brand yourself & create a positioning strategy?

When you think branding, think: Brawny or Bounty Paper Towels.

But when you think positioning, think: the quicker picker upper vs. the more absorbent paper towel.

One reason for this consideration is that, as a military veteran who will transition from active duty to the private sector, you may be viewed, comparably, as an outside candidate vs an inside candidate, that is, someone who had been working in the particular industry you are actively seeking to enter. Whether you like it or not, you occupy the position of the outside candidate.

So, how can you leverage your KASE (knowledge, abilities, skills, and experience) against the internal candidate?

There are distinct disadvantages being the internal candidate:

1. They may not actually bring anything new to the table

2. Their situational awareness is biased and hampered

3. Their flaws & bias are widely known

4. They'll have to hire for two positions, including the one they'll need to fill after.

5. Depending on the company culture, overfamiliarity may present more problems than it solves.

Yet, there are distinct advantages the military veteran brings to the table:

1. Your broad & diverse experiences bring needed perspectives

2. The unique skill of quickly building a team that is oriented on a unified sense of purpose means that you can develop the synergy needed to bring projects in on-time & under-budget.

3. Your proven ability to handle high stress is clearly demonstrated.

4. Your proven ability to adapt to the unknown means you can take the new company to places they've never been before.

5. You have the same degrees, but your experiences are battle-tested

In a space where reliability & dependability is sorely lacking, your steadfast loyalty brings something truly unique to the table. While your competitors are used to job-flipping, you've been with the same employer for 10, 20, or even 30 years.

So, as you build out your source pool of potential corporations to work with, consider these factors:

1. Is this a company in transition? Are they about to take on new or unproven projects?

2. What is employee turnover like in this company? How do you add value to that?

3. Who works there already, are they potential candidates, how do you differentiate from them? (What is your USP?)

4. What kind of reach back to military contracts or connections does this company have? Do you know someone already on the inside? An Advocate? Can you meet someone there and make a friend? An advocate?

In these cases, it really helps to know your brand and position yourself for immediate success.

#VTLC2024

US Patriot Chamber of Commerce