How I used these 4 hacks to get my "Dream Job" after the Army

After leaving the U.S. Army, my dream job was to be a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a big 4 consulting firm.

This is the story of how I got my "Dream Job" offers after transitioning to civilian life and the lessons I learned. All these lessons served me well over the next 18 years in my corporate career. Now, as a Career Coach, I use them to help my clients find their dream jobs.

Leaving the Army and starting Civilian Life

In 2000, I moved back to Dallas after graduating from West Point and serving in the U.S. Army. Since I was stationed overseas in South Korea and Vicenza, Italy during my entire military career, I didn't start actively networking or searching for jobs until I had left the Army.

Therefore, I had a lot to do in a very short amount of time if I wanted to hit the ground running fast with my civilian career. Another motivating factor was that I didn't want to be living at my parents' house for too long. :)

Here are the 4 hacks I used to get several job offers quickly

1. FOCUS: laser-focus on 20 companies

I created a list of 20 companies that I really wanted to work for and PwC was at the top.

Because I was focused on PwC, it came up in every networking conversation that I had with people. Having that kind of focus really opens doors because you make it easy for others to help you. Also, you come across as a very disciplined and dedicated job seeker, instead of a desperate one.

When I showed people that I had a list of 20 target companies, they immediately started thinking about who they might know at those companies, so they could do an introduction. And the list served its purpose many times.

2. FLOOD THE ZONE: max out your network and then more

As a young 26 year old getting out of the Army, I did not have a big network of people that knew me.

But, as West Point grad, there were many West Pointers in the Dallas area. So, I made the most of it. I called up as many fellow alumni as I could and branched out to the other Service Academies. I attended lots of networking meetings and connected with anyone who might have a relationship with my 20 target companies. Additionally, my brothers went to Texas A&M, so I made the most out of their network of college alums located in Dallas.

Since then, I have developed my own networking technique called "Flood the Zone." After identifying my target companies and specific individuals with whom I want to connect, I develop a strategy to network with as many people in the right areas. When using this technique, I typically reach out to a few hundred people in order to speed up my networking results and get results in 2-3 months.

3. USE LOCAL RESOURCES (i.e. Universities)

One of the best sources of contacts and leads for me were the local universities in the Dallas area, specifically, SMU (Southern Methodist University) and University of Texas at Dallas.

Even though I was never a student at either of those colleges, I still went to the Career Centers to seek assistance. When I asked for help, they were always very cooperative and friendly. In addition to giving me feedback on my resume, they gave me lots of great advice.

In fact, many companies would visit the university for recruiting purposes. Many times, they would leave their business cards at the Career Centers. At SMU, they put these business cards on a bulletin board. So, I took all the cards down and photocopied them. This added a whole new list to my contact database. [NOTE: this was before the days of LinkedIn :) Back then, I was a big fan of photocopiers. ]

While visiting the universities, I reached out to several professors. Since I wanted a job in project management, I met with professors of "Project Management." Although they didn't have any immediate jobs, they were always in contact with companies in that specific field. In fact, the week after meeting one of the PM professors, he was on an airplane sitting next to a company president who was looking for new project managers. He provided my contact info, which led to me getting interviewed and later landing a job offer.

4. WRITE A FORWARD-FACING RESUME

The first few versions of my resume were filled with military terms like "defense" and "intelligence" and "security". Early in my job search, someone gave me this valuable feedback: "It looks like you want a job in intelligence, defense or security."

His comment had a big impact on me. To get my dream job, I would have to use words that my future employer would understand. Instead of seeing my resume as a historical document about the past, I used it as a marketing brochure to spark someone's interest, so they would want to interview me.

Later on, I was able to change the direction of my career from sales into marketing and then into digital marketing, by speaking the language of my future job.

DID I GET THE DREAM JOB OFFER?

Yes, I got my "Dream Job Offer" at PricewaterhouseCoopers... and several other offers using these 4 hacks. In the end, I ended up declining the PwC offer and accepting another job that I got with the help of the UT Dallas professor whom I met.

Over the next 18 years, I developed many other job search hacks that allowed me to master the "Art of Career Transition" and I've been sharing them for years.

Now, I'm doing my current dream job, which is helping other people find theirs as a Career Coach and founder of Career Nerds. My goal is to help as many people as possible reach their full professional and financial potential.

Tom Kent is a professional Career Coach and seasoned marketing executive. He has worked around the world from Silicon Valley and NYC to Berlin, Prague and Korea. As Founder of CareerNerds, he specializes in rapid career and job transition results for his clients. Visit us at www.CareerNerds.com for more information.