Come prepared to the transition process, the gap between the civilian workforce and the military is YOURS to navigate.

by Jerry Welsh

Project & Logistics Manager | Marketing & Public Relations | Talent Acquisition | Human Resources Training & Development | Operations Manager

Imagine setting off on an overseas deployment without an operational plan, or simpler yet planning a cross country trek without a rough agenda or basic itinerary. The above LinkedIn TAG line from a senior transitioning military member represents that non-planned deployment or non-agenda trip. While the service member feels they are providing a great representation of their career potential, civilian recruiters see a cluster of non-related careers. Without a transition plan and a career focus many service members become frustrated with no responses to their LinkedIn profile or no activity on their job applications.

I have worked with over 2,000 service members in a variety of stages of transitioning, unfortunately many are so geared to pulling together a resume to start their job search; the career path is unsettled. Unfortunately the military reinforces this process by requiring resumes in the separation/retirement sign off list. I have reviewed thousands of resumes and LinkedIn profiles and the above format is more the norm. Many are confident their multiple and broad leadership skills and listing the number of people managed (lead) and the dollar amount “responsible for” will fit many types civilian roles. The lengthy LI profiles outlining every position description and resumes outlining similar summaries will fall out of many application tracking systems, without civilian key word matches. Civilians do not want or need on half the minutia of an USA Jobs application.

Many service members’ network into meaningful careers without spending much time on the job search process. This is accomplished by networking with social, family and work relationships prior to separation. Statistics show that 90%+ of jobs are gained by internal and external networking where literally positions never make it to a job board. The ability to articulate what field/career you are interested in and a brief overview of your value are the major components required in networking. Some may have of heard of this as an elevator pitch. Transitioning service members need to start getting the word out months in advance of their separation and also prepare a number elevator pitches. The elevator pitch for a social individual at your daughter’s volleyball game and one in a hiring fair to a recruiter will be different. You need to focus on your audience; the volleyball contact for instance just knows you are/were in the military. A brief overview of the fact you have worked in IT for a number years may be enough to open the door to “I have a friend who works for XYZ Inc. and they are looking for an IT manager”! Depending upon your career, many times contractors are an excellent source. The bottom line, no matter what form transition comes in, an early decision on your career of choice is invaluable. Networking towards a single career, will prove more fruitful whether networking or preparing your job search.  

Making a career decision is the foundation in preparing to transition. Like any major process/project requires planning, research and specifically an understanding of the key metrics and language surrounding the civilian version of your career. Career One Stop @ careeronestop.org or Glassdoor.com, or viewing job postings on Indeed.com will provide solid basic career information. Other sources include professional associations and professional groups/networks on Facebook and LinkedIn. For instance human resource positions may require a professional certification, and knowing this in advance, obtaining that certificate early on provides a leg up in the search. Many professions have similar certifications or even licensing. Many professional associations have local meetings and/or on line forums to begin networking with civilian professionals. Learning their language, key metrics for their career measurements and networking will become essential. Do not forget to look at actual postings of job openings in your selected career. These will provide an idea of what level you will be eligible to enter the career. Civilian titles will vary by company and size. It is important to learn what SKA’s are required and how to locate them in a job posting. Networking into a position skips the infamous applicant tracking system; where your application and resume will be scored on matching keywords, especially skills, knowledge and abilities. Learning what civilian SKA’s are needed is crucial knowledge for any application. A program called jobscan.co (yes co not com) provides you with the opportunity to run your resume or even your LinkedIn profile downloaded alongside a job posting, jobscan.co provides you with a percentage matched keywords. I once heard a transitioning service member, who after months of researching into his new career state“if you do not learn the importance of keywords there is no use writing a profile or a resume!” 

Once some basics are in place, Informational Interviews will provide valuable benefits.  Actually speaking with and learning about the career field from people working in it proves invaluable in the understanding the information surrounding the career and how your past experience fits into the civilian equivalent. Communicating with civilians and asking knowledgeable questions concerning the career will provide valuable career knowledge for future interactions, i.e. networking, learning keywords/terms and even preparing for interviews in the civilian sector. Informational Interviews combined with involvement in the professional associations, either via direct meetings or online versions. Posting comments concerning articles, sharing items that you find beneficial are all types of ways to gain recognition and knowledge. The more actual face to face meetings you attend is similar to participation in on line groups it improves your networking. Introduce yourself; maybe a short elevator pitch about some of your past experiences will take you a long way in meeting people and gaining some valuable contacts.

The following is a LinkedIn post by former US Army CSM, Michael Quinn who posts often about his transition into Ernst and Young. The following is typical of how military experiences do not always translate into civilian careers. It is imperative that as a job seeker you provide value, in the form of facts and number. Similar statements he is using can be found throughout LinkedIn profiles resumes. The lack of career language, keywords and finally the metrics leave a gap between your experiences and civilian requirements.

“Numbers mean sooo much when it comes to qualifications.

Yet this is EXACTLY where many transitioning service members & veterans get it WRONG. We just start tossing evaluation numbers into resumes/profiles and it just looks...STRANGE.

Think about it:

Responsible for $2.8M worth of equipment

- who cares

Led 2,000 Soldiers in....

- nobody leads 2k people in the private sector

- maybe we have 3-5 direct reports

Managed a $330M annual budget

- did you really? or was it resource management? is this even required for the job?

Over 20 years of experience doing...((nope))

- you've got 20+ years of "defense industry" experience

- nobody outside of the gov't does the same job for 20 years

- sounds stale or "over-experienced"

Managed the operations for 17k people in 45 countries

- how does that apply to the job you want?

- better explain how (like I did)

- it still never got me a job

- I just had to keep explaining how the heck that is possible

At the end of the day, your NUMBERS are required...but they must align with the requirements of the roles you seek.

We need numbers to ensure you meet labor category requirements, so recruiters see you as qualified & you are considered for the position.

BUT MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER.

Align it to the role.”

Again, thanks to Michael for the above snap shot of accomplishments which are not relatable to the civilian market place. You own your transition, but you do not need face this alone. There are great organizations out there; American Corporate Partners (mentors), Hire Heroes USA (resume and interview assistance), USO Pathfinders (transition seminars on a variety of services), Hiremilitary (job board for veterans along with access to internships) Top 100 Military Friendly Companies (a list of organizations that “pay” to be vetted, BUT must maintain increasing military hires to remain on list) US Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring our Heroes. Important note, if someone wants to charge you for assistance, the ones above and so many more are FREE!!

If you reached this point, thank you for hanging in there. Keep in mind you have worked 4, 6, 12, to 15+ years in the military environment. Even the language on the flight line is far different than logistics and distribution. Imagine an astute civilian manager being placed in an E-7 role, without any prior knowledge of the military, think about it! My sincere hope in sharing this information is to prevent some early frustration in the transition process, or even an idea that may help in the middle of the changing your life from within “the cocoon” aka uniform to a less than organized civilian job market place.