VETERANS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT
BY DAWN MCDANIEL
“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you
Know what you know.
And YOU are the one who’ll
Decide where to go.”
- Dr. Seuss
I don’t review resumes
as a general practice, however lately I have had numerous veterans coming
to me for transition and resume advice. In an attempt
to support those transitioning veterans, here are my
top 4 tips for preparing for
the civilian workforce:
Acknowledge
your
skills – Veterans tend to
be far too humble. Whether focusing on the team
instead of their own contribution or downright ignoring the skills they have
developed during their
military career, veterans
tend to understate their
skills to employers. So
what to do? Research the
skills most companies are
seeking in an employee,
you will quickly find they
desire inherent military
qualities such as accountability, discipline, integrity, and teamwork. You
learned way more in the
military than you think
and MOS translators often overlook these highly
sought after skills.
Learn the lingo – You
already know that the military is filled with phrases
and words that don’t make
much sense to civilians.
But the civilian world
is filled with words that
don’t make much sense to
transitioning veterans too.
Sometimes our transition
programs make this clear,
and other times this gap
is overlooked. Sure, you
know to change common
military words to common
civilian words (think platoon sergeant to front line
supervisor), but there are
many work related words
in the civilian world that
don’t make much sense t