Job Seeking Tips for Transitioning Military

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members – Your skills DO translate.

Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

I have had the honor of working with Veterans and military members for the past 10+ years, primarily helping Transitioning Service Members find promising careers post military. Helping Veterans realize the tremendous power and relevance of their knowledge, skills, and experience has been very personally rewarding.

Veterans are valuable puzzle pieces – they just need to find out what puzzle they belong to in the civilian/government civilian/government contracting spaces.

LinkedIn Presence. Key to this process is establishing and building a LinkedIn presence. The strength and completeness of your profile is essential. Thousands of recruiters scour LinkedIn every day, searching for Veterans for their open roles. It’s important to make yourself “discoverable” by using industry key words and phrases from the job description and sprinkling those words throughout your LinkedIn profile. But don't stop there. Locate companies that are hiring people with your skill set in the city you want to end up in, then connect with recruiters and hiring managers from that company and introduce yourself.

Résumé. This document becomes most important when applying for a job. Résumés become most important when applying for a job. Learn about how to write a targeted resume - one that addresses a specific job you are applying for. I recommend that you print out the job description, highlight all of the key words, and inject them throughout (preferably in the top) of your resume. This will ensure that your résumé will rank very high in the stack of applicants and you will be selected for an interview. Key.

Communication. Contact needs to be made with a Recruiter or Hiring Manager.?The job seeker must do their homework and convey a carefully crafted message during this conversation. Communicating how one’s professional experience is relevant to a job opening is not easy, but very doable with a little study and preparation. Prepare by studying the website, understanding the products and services the company has to offer. They should review the list of open jobs, and write down how you can make a difference at the target company by impacting their bottom line.

Interview. Interviewing can be daunting and stressful for anyone - especially for a transitioning military member because most have not had to interview, in many cases in 20+ years. The good news is that the format and content of a job interview is very predictable. You can expect the “Take a moment to tell us about yourself” question, behavioral questions, technical questions, and the “Do you have any questions?” question at the end of the interview. With preparation, rehearsal, and practice, the interview can become a very doable obstacle, similar to a promotion board or Service Member of the Month board that many of us experienced during our military careers.

Salary. Knowing what one’s professional worth is very important, and having a number in mind is important. Review websites such as Salary.com, CareerBuilder.com and others can help. Location matters, so be sure to include that in the search criteria. Tip: if you communicate a "range" to the employer, they will more than likely give you the bottom of that range. So the more specific the better.

Additional resources:

Bottom Line: Job seeking is about identifying, understanding, and manipulating variables relevant to the job search. Knowing what those variables are, answering the key transition questions, and focusing on building a strong presence on LinkedIn will get a job seeker well on their way. A targeted resume and a well prepared for interview are important in this process as well. Seek mentors along the way. They can help tremendously!

Good luck and don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

About the Author

Dave McAleer is a Veteran and Military Family Representative at CareerSource Tampa Bay where he coaches Transitioning Military Service Members during their job seeking journey. He is also the CoFounder of JobHaus LLC, a recruiting/staffing firm in Tampa, Florida that hires Veterans into rewarding careers. He spent a career in the U.S. Army supporting the conventional and U.S. Special Operations Forces. During his 20+ years of recruiting experience, he has interviewed and hired hundreds of professionals, providing valuable insight into the hiring process. He is honored to continue to serve those who have served.