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Recruiting and Social Media for the Veteran Job Search

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Welcome to the 2nd annual Veteran’s Day edition. This episode is dedicated to veterans everywhere who are transitioning back to the civilian sector. We wish you (veterans) much success during your transition, and hopefully, this show will contribute to your needs in finding the right job for you.

I would love your feedback, especially if there are tools you need for your job search. Perhaps we can cover them in future episodes. Here’s how you can let me know:

Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822
Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

If you are a career professional who advise job seekers and adds feedback whether it’s advice or a differing opinion, I will include a link in future show notes and read your comments on an upcoming show. Just let me know if it’s OK with you.

Sultan Camp (@careersultan) is a military recruiter and headhunter who works for Orion International, a company that finds civilian careers for Military Officers, Enlisted Technicians, and strong NCO leaders, as well as Veterans who have already transitioned but are seeking a career change. His contributions have included in media outlets such as Career Builder, Monster, Career Attraction, and Military Times. Sultan’s company sources, screens, and guides veterans to civilian jobs (think eHarmony).

His focus is on veterans technical or mechanical skill set. He puts them directly with a hiring manager
Hardest positions for veterans to fill: High-voltage technicians
Challenges remain to interpret military duties to civilian unless the company has a lot of experience, especially in interviews
Most veterans talk about what the team did before what “I did”
Veterans should try more conversations in interviews than monopolize it (less is more)
The mental pivot from wearing the uniform to civilian is a challenge. The word “fired’ and “quit” are never used in the military. It’s either the “end of contract” or “end of term”
Many who transition are given some time to start finding opportunities wait too long to find other opportunities. If you have a year, you should immediate start looking
“What are your preferences?” What are the priorities?” Those are the first two question is preparing transitioners
90-120 day mark before leaving is when he or she should be interview ready; not much time is spent on the resume, jobs again are technical
For those who don’t interview well, the companies Sultan works with giving feedback for remedial training. They use their local branch transition office

Karin Durkee (@karindurk) is the Director of Social Media for Corporate Gray. She is a military spouse, educator, technology consultant, and author of Social Media and Your Job Search: Maximizing Your Network for a Successful Transition, an ebook for members of Corporate Gray. Karin presents social media workshops to transitioning military members on installations in the Washington, D.C. area. She is a frequent participant in The Voice of Job Seekers Linkedin group.

One of the myths of military is that they should avoid using social media if he or she has security clearance
Recruiters often look for security clearance, and it should be in a LinkedIn profile (although company rules and approval may determine how much info can be published)
Comfort level is also a consideration when determining if and how you want to be found online
High ranking officers use social media but care about not communicating clearance information
Social media is great place for research in a military transition
Find out how your expertise meets an employer’s needs
A professional photo is critical on LinkedIn, personalizes your presence, and get noticed
It is highly recommended to use a professional civilian photo than your military photo
Joining LinkedIn groups keeps you apprised of your field and military groups
Twitter is great for military spouses, easy to set up profiles, follow companies and industry experts
Twitter hashtags are great for research and trends. HootSuite, a Twitter client, allows to follow conversations, trends, information
Don’t: Don’t use military jargon to describe your experience, recruiters must understand what your experience means to their civilian clients
Do: Define your accomplishments that is understood by civilians
Don’t: When you say “retire” means you’re done
Do: “Transitioning,” says you are actively looking
You can Google “military terms translator” to help with military terms and acronyms

As a additional resource, go to www.everyveteranhired.com for the 100% complimentary tool for veterans called “The Job Ruck.” The tool is useful to help high performers find their purpose after service. It’s all about identifying purpose.

Have you subscribed to this show on iTunes? If you haven’t, please do so. iTunes is a great place to write an honest review and increase the show’s visibility. Enjoy listening to the show.

Let us know what you think.

Do you need help with resume writing or career direction? Do you need coaching or instruction?I can help.

Also, join our Linkedin community! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!

I would still like to help self-published career professionals promote their books. If you’re interested, find more info here.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How Canadian Armed Forces Personnel can Write Resumes for Civilian Careers

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I thought that people would benefit if I had Audrey Prenzel back on the show to talk about her approach to resume writing for her Canadian Armed Forces to Civilian clients. This show complements next week’s annual Veteran’s day show. Be sure that you have subscribed so you can hear that special edition.

Are you in the military looking for civilian careers? If so, let me know in one of three ways:

Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822
Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

Audrey Prenzel of resumeresources.ca (@AudreyPrenzel) is a career transition strategist and an award-winning resume writer who specializes in writing and coaching for those in the Canadian Armed Forces. She has been published in multiple magazine, newspapers, and career publications.

Canada is unique for it has a melting pot population, so language is a major consideration. Many Canadian armed forces members speak French and English fluently
Military bases in Canada are primarily French-speaking. Audrey coaches her military clients to showcase their bilingual abilities (some speak more than two) to civilian employers
Audrey also coaches them to have a dedication language section as they would on a LinkedIn profile
Interestingly enough, most resumes are written in English unless the province is predominantly or solely French
The summary is a key spot on a Canadian armed forces to civilian resume, but provide a dedicated title for what you what to be known as e.g., “IT Bilingual Executive.” Your summary will support your description
Audrey says that infusing personality in your summary is a great way to stand out. Hard skills and soft skills are important to include
Audrey recommends side step cheesy-overused-clichés such as “results-oriented” or “team-player
Your resume should answer many questions so the reader will have a good sense of who the applicant is
A sense of entitlement will keep you from selling your accomplishments. No one will hire on reputation alone
Reverse chronological is the preferred style by employers highlighting what the applicant did and how well they did it
One of the challenges in helping Canadian armed forces to Civilian Transition is translating the acronyms. Audrey has a file with more than 10,000 acronyms
“Tell me what you want to do” is important to target opportunities. Too much information is good to start

Let us know what you think.

Do you need help with resume writing or career direction? Do you need coaching or instruction?I can help.

Also, join our Linkedin community! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!

I would still like to help self-published career professionals promote their books. If you’re interested, find more info here.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Mistakes Job Seekers Make in Planning His or Her Career Trajectory

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How far you will go in your career shouldn’t be determined by job titles. What are you learning that you can apply years from now? That’s a big part of managing your career trajectory. Job seekers are still thinking about the next job instead of their career path over time. Melissa Cooley and I discuss this as we hope you would think concerning the longitudinal path of your career.

What are your career goals 90 days, six months, or a year from today? What will your career look like in five years? There are three ways you can share your thoughts with us:

1) Leave a voice mail or text message at 708-365-9822. Let me know if I can share it on future shows
2) Email me: mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com
3) Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com and press the “Send Voicemail” button to leave a message online

Those of you who are career professionals can receive the additional bonus by leaving your blog and I will link to it.

Melissa Cooley is the founder of the blog, The Job Quest. Her multiple career articles and mentions have appeared in The Daily Muse, The Savvy Intern Blog, and Under30Careers. She is a Certified Advance Resume Writer and an Interview Coach.

Here are a few of the highlights from our conversation:

Some of the language from many job seekers suggests a lack of understanding their career trajectory such as, “I’ve landed…” because it sounds like it’s permanent
A new job still means your actions must be purposeful for your entire career. Take control of your future and avoid being reactionary!
Don’t pitch your tent but treat it as a pit stop! The only constant is change.
An Austrailian study shows that 60% of college students are chasing careers that no longer exist. Online courses such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), Skillshare, and Udemy more valuable.
Melissa stated that apprenticeships are valuable with the real world experience and gut instinct
Missed opportunities because people looking for the formal training (classroom) and it may not exist
Melissa said that people are not grasping and understanding what and where a real opportunity is found
In ancient times, the Greeks desiring education followed other people, not schools
Melissa said that textbooks provide static answers, but mentors will provide more dynamic input
Textbooks may not provide timely answers like a mentor could
Melissa referred to people finding mentors outside of his or her field where transferable skills may apply to both
She also said your career trajectory is not found in job titles but transferable skills. Think about the skills already possessed and its application to other career opportunities
Attitude, aptitude, and soft skills are big parts of the layers required to change careers and your career trajectory. Can you cross-train in your current career? Do you fit with the company? The team?

People focus on activities instead of learning and miss big opportunities Have you subscribed to this show on iTunes? If you haven’t, please do so. iTunes is a great place to write an honest review and increase the show’s visibility. Enjoy listening to the show. Let us know what you think.Do you need help with resume writing or career direction? Do you need coaching or instruction?I can help.Also, join our Linkedin community! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!