If you are getting out of the military soon and will be starting a civilian career, there are many things to do while you’re still in the military to position yourself better when getting a job and starting a career. They include:
- Network online
- Learn how to interpret transferable skills
- Getting qualified for the position
Networking online
Have you heard the line “It is not what you know, but who you know?” Fair or not, it is true and you have probably seen it in action more than once.
And it is not fair. Why should someone who has less skills, experience and training, get hired over you? Part of the answer could be they were better networked than you. In other words, they knew the right people.
What to do
Starting well in advance of getting out, you should set up an account on ClearanceJobs.com. Many servicemembers don’t start networking early enough. Networking is all about making connections that will lead to your next job. Service members should start building their career profiles a year or more before their date of separation. Be up front and list your separation date on your profile, and what you’re looking for in a post-military job.
You want to start your account well in advance of your transition leave so you have time to make connections, join groups, post your profile and start making in-roads into the civilian job market.
Part of setting up your profile is to put your military education, training and job experience into terms civilians can understand.
Learn how to interpret transferable skills
Civilian employers need people that not only have the technical qualifications to do a job, but also the experience to go with it – something new civilian college graduates usually do not have, or if they do, it is on a limited basis. Specifically, employers are looking for evidence of “soft skills” that can be universally applied like:
- Planning – Defining the objective and a plan on how to get there.
- Organizing – getting the resources needed to support the plan to get to the objective.
- Decisiveness – Being able to make a decision.
- Team player – Being able to either function as a team member or team leader.
- Leadership – Energizing people to accomplish a mission.
- Resourcefulness – Efficiently managing resources given to you.
- Loyalty – If coming out of the military, no explanation needed; you already know what it means.
What to do
The difficult part for many military members is taking military terms and putting them into civilian language. One place to start is right here at ClearanceJobs. To dig even deeper, go to O*NET OnLine and click on Crosswalk and select Military from the drop-down menu. Next select your military branch from the drop-down menu and enter in a MOS or military job title. From the list of jobs returned, click on one to drill deeper and see the knowledge, skills, abilities and work activities required to do the job.
For example, one of the work activities listed for the Training and Development Managers job that came up on the list for an Army 11B is Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills. Sounds a lot like being an NCO or officer doesn’t it? Now you have the correct terminology to put on your civilian resume for having been in a military leadership position.
If done correctly, you will ‘wow’ hiring managers with your military experience and abilities in terms they can understand.
Getting qualified for the position
Sometimes having the training and experience isn’t enough; the job may require some proof of education to get past the first resume cut. Spanning that education gap often means getting a degree in a chosen field to round out or enhance the training or skill requirement of the job. In other fields, a license, certificate or certification may be required either by the industry itself or by the governmental agency; this can fall under a process called credentialing.
In the past, credentialing was frequently found in only the career fields of computers and healthcare. But now it is available in dozens of jobs in other fields.
What to do
One program open to most military members and worth exploring before getting out is COOL or Credentialing Opportunities On-Line. It acts as a bridge between what you know and what you need to know as far as credentialing required by a specific civilian job. Being able to show you already have that knowledge or training by being credentialed can help you get employed quicker into jobs and careers requiring it.
Networking, converting transferable military skills to civilian language and taking advantage of credentialing programs can position you not only for jobs, but better jobs that pay more and have more benefits. Use these three ways to your advantage and get the job you want.
