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Hire Veterans: Talking Points for Job Interviews

Editor’s note: This week’s article is written by Brad Miller, TheMilitaryGuide.org

Veterans leave the military equipped with a variety of life and job skills that most professionals don’t possess. For that reason, businesses actively target recently discharged veterans when recruiting talent.

But if you’re a former service member, you still need to advocate for yourself in cover letters and interviews to make sure potential employers know exactly why you’re valuable and how your military skills can fulfill the company’s needs.

The good news is, you can answer the age-old interview question, “What are your strengths?” with several of these significant reasons why any company should consider hiring you — and other veterans.

Listen to Career Transition Strategies for Military Veterans

Veterans have strong job experience

The U.S. military invests a lot in training its members. Regardless of position or specialty, it’s guaranteed that a person in any branch of service receives superior training and comes out with top-notch skills. For example, depending on your military job, you may carry such certifications as:

Medical skills — first aid, CPR, or AED use
Security skills — handling detainees, maintaining public safety, or operating firearms
Construction skills — operating heavy equipment, estimating budgets, or oversee completion of projects
Inventory management skills — keeping track of gear, sensitive equipment, or weapons

Due to the intense and thorough training received throughout a military career, veterans emerge well-prepared to fill jobs across many industries. On a résumé, a skill may look “too military”; however, you can often persuade an interviewer to dig a little deeper. Once they grasp exactly how your military skills and experience transfer to their industry, they’ll see why hiring you can be the right decision.

Veterans possess highly sought-after ‘soft’ skills

While hard skills are necessary to do a job, they can be taught, or existing skills enhanced through education and additional training. However, soft skills are another story: These are often innate qualities or ones instilled by repeated lessons — and not everyone has them.

Read The Military to the Civilian Job Market Transition

According to one survey, a whopping 93 percent of employers said soft skills are an “essential” or “very important” consideration when they look to hire new employees. Many of those employers also said these attributes are hard to find in job candidates. When interviewing, you should be able to explain to potential employers that veterans tend to possess the top soft skills they’re seeking:

Problem-solving — You instinctively know how to troubleshoot because the military trained you to do so, often under intense pressure. One survey found that 62 percent of employers sought candidates with strong problem-solving skills.
Leadership — Military members are trained to lead by example in any given role. You instinctively understand how direction, delegation, inspiration, and motivation are all important leadership tools.
Time management — The military runs by the clock, and employers who hire veterans can rest assured that their team members will make the most efficient and valuable use of their time. You’ve become highly skilled at getting things done because punctuality is ingrained by rote as part of the military timetable.
Communication — In the armed forces, teams rely heavily on communication to complete a mission and/or remain safe. This means you understand the importance of clear communication and pay careful attention to what is said. Poor communication leads to misunderstandings, and there is no room for that in military missions.
Adaptability — Considering that active-duty military members relocate or move every three years on average (not including deployments in between), potential employers should understand how effectively veterans adapt to change — in this case, relocation, frequent travel, or off-site meetings — without complaint. Organizational change is often cited by employers as a tough challenge to overcome, making veterans a perfect choice in such situations. You not only adapt to changes; you’re typically able to lead people through them.

Veterans strengthen your team

When employers are looking for a motivated and ethical person who’s willing to work hard, you can assure them that hiring a former service member makes good business sense. Built on the foundation of a strong work ethic, the collection of positive attributes that veterans possess is often hard to find in other candidates.

Well-versed in teamwork — You thoroughly understand how to cooperate as a proactive, positive and diligent team member. Ingrained feelings of responsibility toward fellow team members make veterans especially considerate when working with others.
Able to work independently — Military members are also trained to be able to work independently when needed. This makes you a valuable solo asset as well as a useful leader.
Adept at conflict resolution — Living a military life usually means you’ve faced serious conflict. Every military branch trains its members to navigate conflict and find a workable solution. Let potential employers know that conflict resolution is a huge strength they can find in their veteran hires.
Strong performers under pressure — Military life comes with pressure; it’s a part of the job description. You well know the implications of tight schedules and limited resources. After surmounting sometimes-literal life-or-death situations, veteran hires often easily transition to coping in high-pressure business environments.
Quality customer service skills — You’re used to cooperating with others, and your strong communication skills transfer nicely to customer service jobs. Veterans often excel at managing customer communication and interactions.
Dedicated to following protocol — Without rules or accountability, things fall apart; you’ve likely learned this throughout your military career. Veterans understand the importance of regulations and protocols, having lived through conditions with and without them. As a result, most vets adapt to their place in an organization and take job responsibilities seriously.
Possess an accelerated learning curve — As military policies and missions change, so do your job requirements. Remind potential employers that former military members are used to consistently demonstrating an aptitude for quickly learning new skills and concepts.

Employers that actively recruit former service members find they acquire employees who are able to take on leadership roles right from the start. Even if they don’t, these employees tend to advance quickly due to their personal attributes, belief systems and willingness to dedicate themselves to doing a good job.

You can use your job search and interview process as an opportunity to advocate for yourself and other former service members — all the while educating potential employers about the many good reasons to consider hiring a veteran. Former military members retain the “mission” mindset, meaning they focus on “achievement, cooperation, and personal development” — all important attributes that make a workplace better, stronger, and more competitive.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers," career consultant, job seeker advocate, career writer, and founder of this award-winning blog. I help the employed, unemployed, underemployed, and under-appreciated find jobs using job search strategies to navigate the new job market. I aim to give a safe place online to those with different needs, cultures, and ethnicities to find their voice in the job market. Thousands have read my career advice throughout the web as I write about everything from job search strategies to the mobile job search. I have published more than 400 articles on this blog and some of the largest career sites such as Recruiter.com, YouTern, and Come Recommended. I've been quoted in major online publications such as Monster, TIME/Money, Fortune, Business Insider and MSN. FlexJobs, JobMonkey, Aerotek, Career Pivot, and CareerSherpa listed my podcast as one of the top podcasts to help your job search. Love for you to sign up for the weekly newsletter. I share the latest articles I've written, new podcast episodes, and answer any questions you may have. The new job search is scary and if you need help, I am here for it!

by Mark Anthony Dyson 12 Comments

Job Interviewing Best Practices (PODCAST)

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Melissa Cooley, of MelissaCooley.com, is a Certified Resume Writer, Interview Coach, Career Consultant, Blogger, and a contributor to the career book, Nourish Your Career. Her blog, The Job Quest, equips job seekers with tools needed for a successful job search and job interview. Melissa is also a friend and this recorded conversation is the first time we have talked person-to-person since connecting online for the last four years. Her insight into coaching job seekers is worth modeling because she goes beyond the surface practices. That is what made it easy to ask her to share her knowledge in this area. If you want to read a post from her blog that demonstrates her insight, read “3 REASONS WHY YOU STILL NEED TO DO INTERVIEW PREP. (YES, EVEN IF YOU ARE A “SHOO-IN.”).”

Job interviewing is a skill requiring more practice than 95% of job seekers are willing to do. If it is hard to spotlight your best attributes, then your interviewing skills have equal to or less value than your resume.

One of the questions I ask Melissa is what are a few of the techniques she uses to prepare job seekers for the job interview. She cited a technique from Dr. Lynn Joseph, creator of the Job Loss Recovery Program. Melissa says that by visualizing interview success as part of the preparation really has helped a few of the clients she coached.

We also tackled some of the areas job seekers are challenged with such as, communication, networking, and deciding if it is appropriate to go to an interview sick.

I am slightly embarrassed that I flubbed her introduction. My attempt was to roll out the red carpet, but instead, the carpet was spotty in one place. Otherwise, I think this serves the job seeker community well and has advice that is worth putting into practice.

Here is a partial transcript:

Mark Anthony Dyson: And we appreciate you joining us back here at The Voice of Job Seekers, we thank everybody who is downloading the podcast. Hopefully, you are getting great value out of what we are sharing. Amongst all of the guest we have, today I have a very special guest. A few years ago I stumbled upon Melissa Cooley of MelissaCooley.com and she has a blog called JobQuest and I was really intrigued that her blog was a whole lot better than what I was writing at the time. Nevertheless, she reached out to me in conversation and then from that point on I think for 3 or 4 years we always had the conversation. We have shared each other’s content and we have shared a few to follow lists. Most of all, what’s important about Melissa is that she is a resume writer also co-author of “Nourishing Your Career.” Welcome, Melissa and thank you for joining in.

Interview

Melissa Cooley: Thank you for having me, Mark.

Mark Anthony Dyson: This is really great because Melissa is actually a friend that I talk to her all of the time so we are going to be pretty comfortable in talking to each other and it won’t be the standard interrogation that I may perform at times. We are going to try to make this engaging and involving if you guys want to comment feel free to comment on the blog or you can send me a voicemail on my site. I have a “send a voicemail” or “use your microphone” on your computer and leave a comment or a question as well. Melissa, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Melissa Cooley: I started up the JobQuest about 4 years now. It’s something that just came about because I had a loved one that was laid off during the recession and I was helping him with getting his resume together, helping him with networking, giving him tips on interviewing, and everything that goes into that. During that time, I got on to twitter and started to talk to some more career professionals that really liked what I was saying and the question that kept coming up, What do you do? They liked some of the ideas I had and my writing in some of the blogs that I had written early on. The fact that the question kept coming up with the career professionals and they were really interested in what I had to say got me thinking that I should try to do something with this. So that’s where all of this came about just because of helping that one person in my Life with his issues and it kind of blossomed from there now I have my practice. Working with people in whatever aspect of their career management that they need. Whether it be personal branding, interview prep, or being able to clearly articulate their value and resume or cover letter and all of that type of stuff. Now it has been almost 2 years that I have been certified as a resume writer through Career Directors International and that is something that gives a bit of assurance to people who are interested in working with me that I really do know what I am talking about.

Mark Anthony Dyson: It’s interesting you should mention that and for that to stand out and we just had a show a couple of weeks ago with Bridget Wiede Brooks. We talked a lot about how valuable having someone who is a certified resume writer is to the actual person and how they can get into depth and get the value out of the person because of the training and the information they may have. Whoever gets serviced by you will definitely get some of the best information out there including different trends and different ways and not being a one trick pony in writing resumes and that’s pretty important. It’s very interesting when I have different practitioners on we always tend to talk about what people are doing and what we are seeing in our practices. Today since we are talking about interviewing and resume writing we will probably weave in and out of our discussion. What are you experiencing as far as people seeking your expertise for interview coaching?

Melissa Cooley: I’m finding a lot of people who sometimes come to me because they feel like they have gotten themselves to the door of they are at the interview and then something happens it all seems to fall apart but they aren’t able to seal the deal and they come to me saying I don’t know what’s happening what the disconnect is and just being able to do mock interviews its part of what I do and I’m able to hear how they are answering questions. Of course, there are questions that are pretty unexpected such as tell me about yourself, the greatest strengths and weaknesses, and more of getting into the behavior questions which people have a hard time responding to because they haven’t actually thought about how their experiences relate to the future and how they can fully articulate the value in what they can bring by what they have done and that’s a lot of times where they have been having problems and things kind of fall apart.

Mark Anthony Dyson: You are discerning where people are disconnecting is there a particular pattern that people where they are coming apart at other than the regular questions? You mentioned the behavioral aspect of it. What are some of the behavioral questions you find people are stumbling across and failing to connect with the hire manager?

Melissa Cooley: Sometimes it’s a matter of being clear about their role in something. This is particular for women but I’ve seen it go for both genders, of not taking enough ownership in a project especially a role in a leadership. More often in women, just because women are building a community where it’s all about us and not necessarily the I and that can be a hard thing because it doesn’t necessarily give a full picture to the people making the decision about the role they may have played in let’s say developing the project or managing the outcomes. Sometimes people don’t give themselves enough full credit for the value that they bring or enough credit for what they do.

Mark Anthony Dyson: Women are having a hard time bragging about themselves?

Melissa Cooley: Yes, we were always taught not to brag and that is an impolite thing to do. However, you have to be comfortable with talking about the things you have done. If you pull back and try to deflect with the group then the person won’t be giving themselves enough credit for what they have done and the people who are interviewing you and may not have that knowledge about you won’t fully understand the value you brought to the project.

What you say or do in an interview matters

The power in your words can affect your chances to impress and perhaps disqualify you from job candidacy. Melissa and I created this video to emphasize the words and terms (and the context) are more important than showing up. These are absolutely the wrong kinds of things to say in a job interview. Can you get away with any of these things? Rarely. In most cases, NO! It’s all about professionalism and the value you bring to a company.

Be sure you sign up for our newsletter found near the top right in the blue box. Join more than 1,100 subscribers about what goes on behing the scenes and other job search tips not mentioned in the show!

About Mark Anthony Dyson

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5 Ways to Show Job Interview Mastery to Employers

More than ever, job seekers must be proficient at interviewing. In fact, it’s likely every networking opportunity is an essential job conversation. It may be the interaction to decide your next step, so you want to be interview ready.

The interview process is no longer a one and done meeting. In Lavie Margolin’s latest book, Mastering the Job Interview Process, he states since employers have more applicants than ever. He says companies, “… are maximizing their time by scheduling more interviews online or by phone than they are in person.” It is an “an extra hoop” for job candidates go through, but it is common for professional positions to have a phone interview and a digital assessment before an in-person interview.

It doesn’t have to feel like the Spanish Inquisition. Although these are easier to brace yourself for, the process and mentality are outdated. You’ll be tested and often tried, so you’ll need to be prepared.

To impress hiring decision makers, doing and knowing enough to get by is what your competition is doing. You must be presentation ready at all times and in different ways.

You’re thinking, “All I want is a job!”

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You don’t have to say it. It shows. You know nothing about the interviewer, the company, or why you want the job. We can all tell. If you want the competitive edge, but want to know how and why to differentiate yourself, I got you! Here are five reasons and strategies to implement:

Employers want to see your enthusiasm.

Interviewers throw around words indicating they want someone who is “passionate” about the job. In other words, they want job candidates invested in the work. Sort of like dating where if you’re not affectionate, then your heart is questioned.

Solution: Margolin says, “…employers expect the job candidate will do research since the access to research has increased.” You’re not mastering the interview process if you don’t check the company’s website, look at press releases, or know the company’s brand.

Employers want to see you add value.

You got the interview because you will add value. Now you’re competing to show you add the most value. It’s another reason to research, but it’s also time to evaluate your natural strengths and skills and how they match that of the employers.

Solution: You must clarify your value in particular ways with stories and results. Keep a running list of your accomplishments, transferable skills, and how you add value. The more you add to the list and how it applies to each employer you prepare for, the clearer your explanations to employers.

Employers will test you during the job interview.

Some companies will test you through assessments, others will give you case scenarios for you to walk them through your solutions, and others will ask irreverent questions to see how you’ll respond.

Solution:

You must be agile in your thinking to be ready for anything.

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Margolin suggests taking notes is necessary in most cases to show your interest in what the employer has to tell and show you’re willing to learn.

via GIPHY

Employers won’t see fit without personality during your job interview.

The interviewer will likely use their “gut instinct” rather than metrics to discern if you’re a cultural fit for the organization. If he or she does not feel they know the candidate better, the interviewer will choose someone who is more personable and relatable.

Solution: Showing personality is tough for job candidates but as Margolin says the strategy is to “Turn questioning into a conversation. Ask questions during the interviews, not at the end.” I have stated in the past,

companies can’t train personality so show your uniqueness

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Employers want to know that you want the job.

You’re expected to sell yourself somewhat aggressively to show you have the passion for the job and the company. Most people usually undersell themselves even if they promise hard work, diligence, and timeliness.

Solution: Margolin uses the analogy of an advertising company using a billboard approach and how in-your-face creativity doesn’t promote you better. Margolin is right in suggesting over-the-top is not effective (although some have had success). Sprint’s subtle approach in saying there’s only a 1% difference between services, but their price is a profound value proposition. It’s your job to make it your own.

Margolin also suggests the job candidate is responsible for moving the process forward by asking follow-up questions and sending thank-you notes. Most people think when they leave the last interview is the last contact necessary. Create several points of contact, timeline, and clear expectations of what is next for yourself and the employer. Without clarity, you set yourself up to be ignored or insignificant. Neither is good as you will need to ensure a good impression is all an employer experiences with you.

This article was originally published on the Jobs2Careers blog.

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Veterans have strong job experience

Veterans possess highly sought-after ‘soft’ skills

Veterans strengthen your team

About Mark Anthony Dyson

Here is a partial transcript:

Interview

What you say or do in an interview matters

About Mark Anthony Dyson

Employers want to see your enthusiasm.

Employers want to see you add value.

Employers will test you during the job interview.

Employers won’t see fit without personality during your job interview.

Employers want to know that you want the job.

About Mark Anthony Dyson