Lately, I’ve been spending some free time assisting fellow veterans try to find jobs at my company. Thanks in large part to the benefit of hindsight, I’ve spotted a recurring trend in their actions, one that I was certainly also guilty of. Which means that in all likelihood, a lot of us are victims of this pitfall. We already know that it’s tough getting out of the military and finding a new job. One of the key difficulties is translating our experiences so they are easily understood by civilian employers. While there’s certainly an art and science to translating words like “company commander” to “senior operations manager”, I’m addressing a larger root cause that is hamstringing good service member’s efforts to get hired. The problem I’m seeing is that most of us don’t (or won’t, or can’t) bother imaging themselves in roles significantly different than the one they do in the military, so they end up doing a serious disservice to themselves. We’re not square pegs, people, we can fit into round holes.
Listen, nobody is going to do the heavy lifting for you. No recruiter is going to ask you “so what kind of job would you like us to give you?” You’ve got to do some serious work to expose what your strongest characteristics and skills, and then do even more work explaining that to companies. Which is why some of us don’t do it – it’s a lot of work. Why do all that when you can just go be a shift manager? Or a security guard? Because, you know, soldiers have guns and stuff, and security guards have guns, so, like, super easy, right??
I was there, and hell yeah, it was tempting. Some of us should take that easy option, because it’s what’s right for you and your family at that point in life, or you need a break, or you were much smarter than me and acquired a valuable skillset in the military that civilians are paying big bucks for. But not nearly enough of us are taking the awesome opportunity provided by transitioning from the military to go after something new and exciting. So if you’re currently a surface warfare officer and want to get into commercial real estate, then it’s time work.
You need to find a way to bridge that gap between what you’ve done and what the employer needs, and that starts with having some imagination. Imagine yourself in that new job that sounds cool, even if you don’t think that it’s something an employer would consider you qualified for. THEN, imagine what the company needs to understand about you so they can in turn imagine you in that job.
Of course, I’ve got examples of my own failures in this regard (it wouldn’t really be my blog if it didn’t include some story about how I’ve f*cked it all up, right?) I was having a phone interview with a certain obstacle course racing company for a position at their corporate offices. I thought I was a perfect fit for the role given my experiences. But during my interview, the recruiter kept wanting to talk about my time as a platoon leader (my first job in the Army), despite me having so many additional roles with greater levels of responsibility, authority, and independence. So why on earth did we keep talking about a job I had when I was 23? Because in my explanation over the phone and in my resume, that’s the job that looked like it fit the role at the company best. I hadn’t imagined what the company was looking for, as I was so confident that I was a great fit. Had I imagined myself in the role? Yup. Had I deconstructed my experiences so the other side could imagine it as well? Nope.
So what do you want to do? Get hired to be security guard because you know which way to point the barrel of a handgun, or do you want to seize the initiative? Same same or different?
If you’re still reading, I’m going to assume you want something different, because that’s what the remainder of the article covers. How to bridge that gap so you can do something different. I usually avoid the talk about tactics (losers love tactics), but I admit that the deconstruction of military experiences is a tough one and is worth it’s own deconstruction in kind.
You’re not going to like what I’m about to say. Because it takes time. If you’re going to go after a job, then I’m already assuming a couple things:
- You’ve done all your research. You know the job description and requirements forwards and backwards.
- You’ve done some recon inside the company, soliciting current workers’ opinions of what makes someone successful in the role you’re looking at.
- You’ve also done some serious self-examination, with resources like StrengthFinder 2.0. You know what you’re good at and you’re ready to tell others about it.
So you’ve got 2 endpoints – you and your experiences and strengths, and the job and it’s requirements. Now you need to bridge the gap – imagine how you can fit into that role. Tie the two sides together. It’s not as easy as replacing your military job title with a civilian job title (side rant – I hate it when I see a military resume that says something like “program manager” but when you ask the person basic questions about program management, they stare at you like you’re speaking Tagalog. Dude, don’t claim to be a program manager without having a basic understanding of things like critical path, slack, etc. That’s just junior varsity.)
If you’ve actually learned what the company is looking for, then it’s not hard to explain how your experiences give you the capability to solve the problem they have. Did I have the slightest clue of what was required to work in online retail? Oh hell no. But did I know that negotiating was a fundamental skillset needed by the company? Yeah, because I did my recon. And I sure as hell highlighted my experiences with building and growing relationships in my resume and interviews. There was still some serious discussion about if I was going to be the right fit, but I addressed it right on. You’ve got to bridge that gap, help the employer imagine how you’re the answer to their problem and that despite your inexperience in aspects of the industry, that risk is mitigated by hiring someone of strong fundamentals.
This isn’t a cure-all, by any means. Even after all this hard work, a company may pass on you. Maybe it’s too big a risk to take someone aboard who isn’t familiar with the business model. Maybe the recruiter just can’t imagine you in the role, now matter how much you bridge the gap. Maybe that recruiter breathes through their mouth and collects stamps in their free time, who knows? But I do know that if you don’t try, you ain’t going to succeed. If you don’t stand out, you’ll stand in line. And I’m sure as hell not willing to accept that, and neither should you.
Go get ’em.
serialimprover 