The nation’s employment crisis and the huge change in culture from military to civilian life challenge many veterans looking for work. Fine-tune your job-hunting skills so they lead you to a veteran who will hire you.
This advice comes from Holly Mosack, who served in Iraq as an Army captain. She’s director of Military Recruiting at the global manufacturing consulting company Advanced Technology Services Inc., headquartered in Peoria, Ill.
ATS provides onsite maintenance support to Fortune 500 factories. Veterans comprise approximately 28 percent of its workforce and 50 percent of its leadership from supervisor up. Chip Dykes, a vice president at the nonprofit Southwest Veterans Business Resource Center in San Diego. (swvbrc.org), helps veterans find jobs and re-enter life as a civilian. He’s seen the challenge on both sides, first as a Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 3 and then as a civilian. He’s also a vice president at General Services Inc., a government contracting and consulting firm in Oceanside.
“The only reason a veteran of this era would become jobless ... is that the person isn’t trying hard enough,” Dykes says. “The abundance of resources for troops is overwhelming.” He recommends the 24/7 “Courage to Call,” a referral service for veterans at (877) 698-7838.
TWO INVENTORIES
Prepare for your search by taking an inventory of your online brand and your job skills. Social media will tell people a lot, indicates Michael Arsenault, director, Candidate Services, at the military-focused recruiting firm Bradley-Morris Inc., headquartered in Kennesaw, Ga. Arsenault, who served as an Army captain, suggests you review your online activity, including Google and Facebook, as if you were an employer.
Then, too, what do your email address, voicemail and/or answering machine say about you? Arsenault says, “Ask yourself, ‘Would my mother be ashamed if she saw (or heard) this?’”He further advises candidates rejected after a credit or criminal background check to get the company to “notify you (about) what they discovered,” as required by law. Meanwhile, rehearse non-defensive responses to possible knee-jerk questions if you can’t remove unfavorable online chatter, credit or other information.
Next, take a professional inventory. David Jacob, a former Navy pilot and lieutenant, is a managing partner at Davalen LLC in Lynchburg, Va. His suggestion targets technical people but applies elsewhere.
“In technology,” Jacob advises, “people want a person to do something. Choose a critical skill; make the investment and learn it, while continuing to market; and work for free for six weeks so you’ll have a reference.” He recommends that you keep building by using the same strategy with the next company or two, until you’re hired. It worked for him.
FINDING VETERANS
Mosack maintains that veterans like to hire veterans, that the online application system can’t dominate your job hunt. Further, “if you’re a junior officer,” she says, “I wouldn’t rely on general headhunters. Spend more time searching LinkedIn and the chamber of commerce where you’ll be living. Join the (target) company’s online group. See employees and start networking. There are veterans’ groups to join, too.
“It’s all about getting in touch,” she continues. “You have to call the company and find the people.” She adds that asking for advice can be extremely effective in landing a job, because you’ll flatter the person into helping you.
Mosack emphasizes that, with company recruiters, every communication, whether through email or social media, by telephone, or in person or in an interview, is itself an interview, even if the company representative is a veteran. You’re competing with other job seekers. When you have contact with companies, give it your best – the civilian equivalent of standing at attention. Find your job by improving your social media presence, identifying a skill you offer that’s in demand and going after employment in the smartest way possible, searching for veterans and asking for advice along the way.