Tag Archives: active duty

The “traditional” job interview, Part 2: Into the Fire

Posted by Mike Grice on

Hello again!

I left you hanging on the edge of your seat in my last post, and today we are going to finish the traditional job interview story.  We left off with you at the coffee shop making your last minute preparations to cross the street and meet with the interviewer.  So go ahead and finish that donut, wash your hands, check yourself in the mirror to make sure that you don’t have crumbs on your shirt.  Let’s go meet the person who will decide your employment fate!

First off, you need to remember that you are most likely being evaluated the second your hand touches the company’s doorknob.  Maybe even before then, depending on the circumstances of your interview.  Here is a real example of how one company evaluates its candidates:

The firm pays to fly candidates out to their headquarters for personal interviews.  It is a thoughtful company that sends a van with a company driver to meet you at the airport and bring you right up to the company’s front door.  She shows you in, and you are directed over to a receptionist who points you to the floor and room where the interview will be conducted.  After a quick trip on the elevator, you meet another receptionist who confirms you are in the right place and notifies the hiring manager that you are there for the interview.  After a few minutes (and right on time) the hiring manger arrives and you head off to the office for the interview.

If you are not paying attention, you would offhandedly think that your interview started when the hiring manager shook your hand.  You would be wrong – dead wrong.  A part of the company’s hiring process is to see what kind of person you are; how you interact with people like van drivers and receptionists.  The hiring manager will certainly go through the interview process with you, but your performance across the desk from the interviewer is only part of the hiring procedure.

The van driver and the receptionists are asked by the interviewer what kind of person you are.  Are you rude to people you consider beneath your level?  Were you polite?  Did you shake hands?  Were you talking on your mobile phone in the van, and if so, was anything you said indicative of a reason not to hire you?  Did you treat the receptionist professionally?  Nicely?  Would they want you to be somebody that they would work with?

This company is not alone in assessing employment candidates on more than their skills and experience.  Culture and manners matters.  Remember that.  This is particularly important to senior military officers and enlisted people who are transitioning.  When you are a Colonel or a Sergeant Major you are in a position of elevated prestige and responsibility that can make you forget that the people at the bottom of the ladder are people too.  This is not an indictment of senior military people (after all, I used to be one), but it is the way the martial game is played.  As a senior leader it is easy to focus on your peers and immediate seniors and juniors because that is how you do your job and accomplish your mission.  Senior leaders are often so focused on their level that they don’t really see the people many levels below them.

If you treat people at the company like junior subordinates on your way to the job interview it won’t go well.  That way of thinking is archaic in the corporate sector, and you had best be conscious of it or it will severely limit your ability to find a job.

Anyhow, back to the interviewing process.  You walk through the door and meet the receptionist.  Be professional, polite, and shake his or her hand. This is your chance to make a positive first impression.  You don’t need to be artificial or insincere, but just be polite.  A smile goes a long way, too.

From there you are off to meet the hiring manager.  This is where you get a chance to make a second first impression, but this time with the hiring manager instead of the receptionist.  Go in, take the seat that they offer, and get ready to prove why you are the right guy or gal for the job.

Here are a few pointers for those first critical moments of the job interview:

1.  Have a firm, but not crushing, handshake.

2.  Look the interviewer in the eye, and thank them immediately for the opportunity to meet with him or her.  Practice this!!  In your rehearsal make sure to go over what you are going to say when you meet the interviewer so that you don’t get tongue tied.  Something as simple as: “Hi.  I’m Mike, and I want to thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today.”

3.  Don’t come in carrying a bunch of stuff, and turn your mobile phone completely off!  You should have your right hand free to shake the interviewer’s hand, and your left hand should be carrying either a briefcase (which is overkill unless you were asked to bring something along that requires a briefcase) or a nice looking notebook (not a high school spiral notebook or pad of sticky notes, but a folio or pad and paper set that is professional, conservative, and not tattered).  Make sure to have a nice pen – something that looks professional and does not have “SKILCRAFT US GOVERNMENT” stamped on the side.

4.  Focus your attention on the interviewer.  Don’t look around the office like a visitor at a museum.  You are there to get a job, not admire the books on the shelf.

5.  Sit down on the front half of the chair, fold your hands into your lap, and smile.  Don’t kick back, cross your legs, and drape your arms over the chair.  As the interview unfolds you can relax a bit, but if your mannerisms indicate you are a slacker then it does not matter how well you dress- you will be regarded as a well-dressed and unhired slacker.

So now the first few moments are over.  The interviewer is evaluation you on everything you do and say, so keep that in mind.  Don’t bite your fingernails, or pick your nose, or check your phone.  Sit upright, look at the interviewer, and answer his or her questions.

Think of the interview questions as opportunities for you to show why you are qualified and how well you can express yourself.  Don’t turn a question into a monologue by rambling on for five or ten minutes.  In your rehearsal you should focus on answering each question in a period of thirty seconds to two minutes.  Any longer than that and you will likely start to bore the interviewer.  Besides, you probably can’t say anything in ten minutes that you can’t articulate in two.

Don’t try to answer them exactly as you did in your rehearsal, but instead listen closely to the question, take a breath, and then answer it as straightforwardly and honestly as you can.  Leave your military jargon and barracks language at home – nobody, and I mean nobody, in the corporate sector is impressed by the liberal use of the “F”-bomb in an interview.

Also, it is not an interrogation, so it is ok for you to ask a few questions as well.  Just make sure that they aren’t stupid (like “how much will I make?” or “what is the vacation and sick day policy at the company?”).

Make sure to answer the questions that the interviewer asks.  Don’t try to steer the conversation in a different direction, but instead provide the answers that interviewer is looking for.  No BS, either!  If you don’t know an answer or are unsure of what the question is actually asking, be honest and say you don’t know or need the question to be rephrased.  The hiring manager has interviewed countless people before you, and your probability of fooling them with a BS response is about zero.  Plus it will show that you are not the type of person that they want to hire.

During the interview you may be asked if you would like something to drink.  Always ask for water.  That way you won’t have any hot coffee to spill on yourself or carbonation from a soda making you want to burp at exactly the wrong moment.

Be prepared for signals that the interview is wrapping up.  The interviewer may be up front and say that your time is up, or may begin saying things like “Do you have any last questions?”.  When the interview is over, it is over.  Don’t try to push the issue with stupid questions like “what are my chances to be hired?” or “how soon will you let me know your decision?” as they put the interviewer on the spot.  He or she will let you know how you will be contacted – let them lead with the information.  Don’t be needy and try to wheedle it out of them ahead of time.

When it is time to go, stand up, pick up your notebook, and shake the interviewer’s hand.  Thank them again for the opportunity to meet with them, and follow their lead from there.  They may escort you to the receptionist or all the way to the exit.  Feel free to make some small talk on the way out, but do not forget that the interview is not over until you are sitting in your car!  Many jobs have been lost because the interviewee blows it on the way out of the building by doing something stupid (like being rude to a receptionist, throwing the “F”-bomb around, or picking their nose in the hallway).

The last step in the interview is to write and send a thank you note to the interviewer.  No kidding.  A thank you note.  This will show your sincerity as well as cement your desire to work at the company.  Many hiring managers will not hire a person who neglects to send a thank you note.  It is an expectation and an essential element of business correspondence.  If you don’t have any thank you notes at home, stop by a stationery store and pick some up, or even better, have personalized notecards made.  It is a nice touch.

__________

Lessons learned:

1.  The interview is your opportunity to present yourself in the best light possible – dress well, be well groomed, be polite, and use professional language.  Not doing any one of the above will likely result in you not getting a job.

2.  Be respectful and polite to every person you meet.  You should assume that they are part of the hiring team at the company, and if you are rude to the receptionist the word will get out.

3.  The first moments of an interview are critical- don’t blow a shot at a great first impression.  Be on time, well dressed, polite, and turn off your phone!

4.  Answer the questions you are asked- don’t try to BS the interviewer.  Also, answer in a period of thirty seconds to two minutes.  No monologues.

5.  If a drink is offered, make it water.  Coffee, tea, or soda may be more tasty, but you are not there to get  refreshments.  You are there to get a job, and the possibility of disaster through spilled coffee or an errant soda-caused burp are not worth it.

The “traditional” job interview, Part 1: Getting ready

Posted by Mike Grice on

So the big day has arrived: your first job interview!  It is pretty exciting, scary, daunting, and exhilarating all at once.  The time you spent networking, writing a resume, crafting a cover letter, and getting it front of  human resources at a company where you would like to work has paid off.  You have a date with hiring manager.

Just like all dates, though, there is a lot at stake.  Instead of a peck on the cheek after a movie, however, you are looking for another date in the form of follow on interview or maybe a long term relationship in terms of a job.  Also just like hoping for a peck on the cheek you must make sure that you everything right, because if you don’t you will be back to square one with nothing to show for your efforts.

In order to make the best impression it is important to show up for the interview as prepared as possible – everything from how you present yourself to how you speak to how you think on your feet.  To make it a little easier, I’ve broken down the traditional interview into four segments: research, preparation the interview, the interview itself, and followup.

First off is continuing your research.  You have already submitted your resume and it resulted in a call for an interview- good job!  Now you need to refine your research into how to successfully complete the interview.  You can search the net for general interviewing tips, but you will be better served to go to a site that provides real insight into company-specific interviews.  My favorite is glassdoor.com because interviewees post their interview experiences, including the types of interviews, questions, and how things went.  It is well worth a few minutes of surfing to see what you are up against.

You should also ask around.  Use your network to see if there is anyone who has interviewed with the company you are looking to join or who has interviewed at a similar company or for a similar job.  They can provide a lot of insight into the process – especially if their interview landed them a job!

Next you need to prepare, prepare, prepare.  You will learn some valuable information about the interview process through your research, but now you have to use it!  What kind of questions do they ask?  How do they ask them?  You must prepare for questions ahead of time, even if you do not know what the specific questions will be.  Nothing ensures a life of continued unemployment like giving the silent stunned mullet look to the interviewer because you didn’t bother to think about the questions ahead of time…

Practice answering questions.  The questions can come from your research or from the items on your resume.  After all, the company called you in because they found your resume compelling.  You should study your resume and think about what an interviewer may hone in on, and prepare for questions along those lines.  Transitioning military folks always have “leadership” in their resume, so you had best be prepared to talk about it!  Whom did you lead?  What techniques or skills did you employ to get people to do what needed to be done?  How will your leadership experiences transfer to the company where you are interviewing?

Ask a friend to go through a mock interview with you.  Give them your resume and a printout of your research findings, and ask if they will be gracious enough to spend some time helping you practice.

If you have the time, I would recommend that you do a full blown rehearsal – including wearing your interviewing suit and sitting on opposite sides of a desk.  Rehearse the whole process, from arriving at the company to saying goodbye and leaving the building.  If you practice it all once or twice you will reduce your anxiety and be better focused on the interview.  Remember, the interviewer is taking everything in from your appearance to your habits to your level of anxiety, and if you are too uptight or nervous it will not bode well.

Now you are ready for your interview.  Before you go, however, there are some basic things that you should do.

In the military, you prepare for inspections in a disciplined and results-oriented manner.  When you have a uniform inspection coming up you spend a lot of time making sure that your uniform is correct; you measure out where the ribbons and badges are placed, cut off any spare threads (Irish Pennants for you old-schoolers), and press in creases so sharp you can shave with them.  Shoes are shined and the edge of the soles are dressed to remove any scuffs.  You get a haircut the day before the inspection to make sure that your grooming is within the required standards, and then you ever so carefully get dressed and present yourself for the inspecting officer or NCO.

You should approach your job interview with just as much attention to detail.  Get a haircut the day before.   Critically look at your clothes- they should be either fresh from the cleaners or at least have all of the wrinkles pressed out.  Your shirt should fit and your necktie should be professional looking, clean, and conservative.  Shine your shoes!  Even though society has largely moved away from shoe shining as a daily task, I know of one executive who was promoted over three more qualified peers because because he took the time to shine his shoes.  It shows dedication to your appearance and the discipline to do the little things, both of which are a big plus in any line of work.

Leave for your interview early.  Make sure that you allot enough time to be at least ten to fifteen minutes early.  I recommend going at least an hour early and stopping by a coffee shop near the company’s office.  That way you will have plenty of time to spare for traffic or to take care of things you may have forgotten (like putting gas in the tank).  When you get to the coffee shop you can review your notes, have something to drink, and get your mind right for the interview.

In the next post, we’ll leave the coffee shop and head over to the hiring manager’s office…

__________

Lessons Learned:

1.  The interview is the result of all of your hard work up to this point- don’t wreck it with a poor performance!  Follow these four steps:  Research, Prepare, Attend the interview, and Follow Up.  We talked about researching and preparation in this post, and in the next post we will address the interview and followup.

2.  Treat the interview like an inspection- get the little things right and the big things will take care of themselves.  Look at your clothing as you would your uniform and square it away as you would for your Commanding Officer.

3.  Shine your shoes!!!

4.  Rehearse with a friend ahead of time by using questions garnered through your research as well as your resume.  Be ready to answer questions by practicing ahead of time.

5.  Head to the interview early, and use the extra time before you go through the company’s front door to prepare, reduce your anxiety, and make sure you are ready.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill Shot Clock

Posted by Mike Grice on

There has been quite a bit of news coverage lately concerning benefits that veterans from our most recent wars are eligible to receive for their service.  Many educational institutions and training programs have come under scrutiny as a result of questionable practices, but why does it appear rampant these days?

The answer, simply put, is the remarkable educational benefits in the Post 9/11 GI Bill.  The bill is generous, and pretty much everyone who served more than 90 days in uniform since September 10th 2001 is eligible.

The intent behind the GI bill is best summed up by Senator Jim Webb, a former Marine who was highly decorated for his service in Vietnam:

“The Post-9/11 GI Bill started with a simple concept: that we owe those people who have served since 9/11 the same type of quality educational benefits that those who served in World War II received.”

The bill is indeed tremendous in its scale and scope.  Millions of men and women are entitled to the provisions in the legislation, and in cases where the veterans don’t need to go back to school they can pass eligibility to their children.

Recipients are entitled to 36 months of benefits.  With summers off, this makes a four year university degree possible for every veteran or serving member of the armed forces who desires one.  The dollar amount paid by the program equals the in-state tuition for state schools, and with a stipend for books and a housing allowance, it is possible for a veteran to attend a top-notch college or university and earn a degree.

Unfortunately, there is also the opportunity for the veteran to squander the benefit by falling victim to those organizations and institutions that more interested in taking their money than ensuring that they receive a quality education.

Webb, who introduced the bill to the Senate the day after he was sworn into office, recognized the problem and has introduced new legislation to address the situation.

“Some for-profit educational institutions are providing our students a good education, but abuses by certain institutions could put the integrity of the Post-9/11 GI Bill program at risk,” said Webb.

To counter the abuses, he introduced the Military and Veterans Educational Reform Act.  The act requires schools participating Veteran Administration and Department of Defense educational programs to meet the educational standards currently required for Pell Grants, federal student loans and other federal education programs. To receive funding from the VA, the schools must also disclose both default and graduation rates in addition to other information that students need to make informed choices about their education.

The problem for vets and servicepeople is that the 36 months of GI Bill eligibility are set in stone.  The recipient cannot get those months back in case he or she makes a poor decision and uses their benefits for an education at a dubious institution.  Once those benefits are used up, they are gone and the veteran is out of luck.  The educational institution takes the money and the vet loses out.  Since there are so many veterans and so much money devoted to the GI Bill it has become a cash cow to some disreputable institutions, and it is for that reason that Senator Webb moved to change the rules.

There is help at the local level, too.  This past weekend the North County Times ran an article by Mark Walker that highlighted the work of Pat Uetz, who as a retired Marine Colonel is heading up the University of San Diego’s Initiative to Protect Student Veterans.  He is spearheading a very effective effort to help veteran students.

“If you are a current or former student veteran of a for-profit education company and believe you were misled or are unsatisfied with your education, or you are considering enrolling in a for-profit company, then contact the USD Veterans Legal Clinic as soon as possible,” says Pat.  “They will assist you and there is no charge for the clinic’s services”.

You can contact the clinic at (619) 260-7470 or email to veteransclinic@sandiego.edu.  For additional information on USD’s Veterans Legal Clinic and USD’s other free legal clinics go to http://www.sandiego.edu/law/free_legal_assistance/.

Writing your resume, part 2: The Functional Format

Posted by Mike Grice on

As promised, here is the long awaited and thrilling post about resumes!  Today we’re looking at the Functional Format style, which is the best one to use for people who are changing careers (like transitioning military folks), those with gaps in their employment history, or people who want to emphasize their skills for a particular job or specialized company.

For men and women who are hanging up their uniforms the functional format is a very useful way of showing the talents and skills that they have developed and used during their time in the military.  Even though many of the functions that servicemen and women perform during their careers are not directly transferable to the corporate sector (think rifleman, tank gunner, weapons repair specialist – you get the idea), the underlying skills and capabilities are relevant and desirable to employers.  Things like leadership (that rifleman was probably a small unit leader too), teamwork (that tank gunner worked closely as a member of the team that formed the tank crew), and detail oriented task management (the weapons repair specialist worked on intricate equipment, ordered parts, and managed supplies on a daily basis).

The functional format is best to show those skills and to articulate how they can be useful for a corporate employer.  Remember, when you write it you need to direct it towards the Human Resources person at the company.  As with all resumes you really need to work hard to “de-militarize” it as much as possible; they don’t know what a rifleman or squad leader is and certainly have no clue about the operations of the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank’s gun system.  Don’t make it easy for the hiring manager to throw your resume in the shredder by making it too difficult to read with military jargon and whatnot.  That said, more jargon is acceptable in the functional format because the target company is probably more familiar with the skill set you are presenting and will likely know some mil-speak.  Just don’t over do it.

There are some great advantages to the functional format, and to take advantage of them it is best to target the resume on the job or company you are interested in.  That takes a little research on your part (hello, internet!) and the patience to make adjustments to tailor your resume for each company as you go.  Focusing on the target in job hunting is just as important as focusing on the target on the rifle range- if you don’t have a clear vision of what you are trying to accomplish you won’t hit the target or find a job.

If you do your homework you will find the functional format easier to write because you can direct the reader (in this case, the hiring manager) to what you want them to notice about your abilities.  By researching the requirements for a particular job or needs of the company, you can show how you fit the bill with the exact skills that the employer is looking for.  You can also highlight all of those intangible things that you have been doing while in uniform, such as helping the community, training others, and developing leadership in those junior to you.  It also allows you to cut out anything that you don’t want in your resume, such as gaps in your job history or a lousy grade point average from high school or college.

Another advantage is that you can be much more succinct and direct with the functional format.  In resume writing less is more.  The HR person who receives your resume has a stack of them to go through, and generally speaking you have only a few seconds to grab their attention before they move on to the next one.  If they have no second page to turn to then you have a bit of an advantage because they all look at the first page, and if you can get yours down to one then they will see the whole thing an not have to decide whether to go flip to the next page.

The elements that I used in my functional resume (click here to take a look: Functional Resume)  are pretty standard.  After the standard header information (name, email address, phone number) there are four sections: A summary statement, Functional Experience, Professional Experience, and a bit about Honors, Education, and Publications.

It is the resume that I used when I was leaving active duty and had an opportunity to pursue a job with an organization that was doing fire support and aviation integration operations.  After researching the opportunity and talking to people who were familiar with the company and what they were looking for I highlighted those things that I had done in the past that were relevant and left out those things that weren’t.

Based on my research, I wrote the summary statement to show how my experience was exactly in line with what the company was looking for.  The intent is to keep the hiring manager’s eyes on the page, and by grabbing his or her attention by showing that I had the skills that they were looking for up front it piques their interest.

The functional experience section is the meat of this format.  I chose the six areas that I felt best met the needs of the company and showed my expertise and experience in each.  Notice that there is no timeline associated with the areas,  but instead a series of concrete examples of relevant and specific experience in each.

The next section covers professional experience.  Again, there is no strict timeline associated with the bullets but I did include the years that I was deployed overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan.  I chose to include those dates specifically because it showed that I had recent combat experience in fire support (remember, this resume went out in 2011).  Only the jobs and deployments that are directly associated with fire support are included, though.  My tours and assignments in other areas are irrelevant for this format and would have just resulted in a lot of wasted space and an unneeded second page.

Lastly comes the Education, Honors, and Publications section.  This bit is where you can cherry-pick those things that you have done to highlight your skills and achievements during your career.  In my case I was fortunate to receive some awards that are unusual and have been published quite a bit.  You should look through your awards, professional military education graduation certificates, and other certifications or qualifications and include those that will help break you out of the pack and highlight why you are the best candidate for the job.

__________

Lessons Learned:

1)  The functional resume format is best for people changing careers, with gaps in their employment history, or want to emphasize specific skill sets for a particular job or specialized company.

2)  Less is more- shoot for one page.  This format is the easiest of the three to get down to one page.

3)  Look hard at your career and pick out those things that are directly related to the job you are seeking or the company where you want to work.  Ruthlessly cut out things that are not relevant!

4)  Be selective in the military jargon that you include.  For companies that you know will understand it – for example, if you are applying for a job at Bell Helicopter it is OK to talk about your zillions of hours flying the AH-1W/AH-1Z attack helicopter – but don’t go overboard.  For those less familiar you would want to describe your extensive experience as a pilot who flew attack helicopters in the Marines.

Latest column in the North County Times

Posted by Mike Grice on

Ever since hanging up my uniform I have been actively working to help veterans make the transition back to civilian life, and for many vets it is an even more difficult process because they suffer from Post Traumatic Stress.  This column is about a nonprofit organization that is doing tremendous work to help both those still in uniform and those who have left the service overcome the challenges of PTSD.

I have written quite a bit about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in previous columns.

For those who have gone to war and fought for their country, it is a fact of life that the battles will stay with them for years to come —- and for many, for the remainder of their days.

It is a testament to both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs that the psychological effects of war have been met head-on in both the serving and veteran communities, but I am not optimistic that the high level of commitment that exists today will survive the austere fiscal reality that faces our government in the future.

That is where the nonprofit community comes into play. There are many organizations out there that are helping veterans both in and out of uniform deal with the trauma that they experienced in war. It is these organizations that I will be writing about in the next few columns.

Not all organizations that claim to help veterans are in it for the right reasons. As I mentioned earlier, the federal government has been providing more resources to veterans’ issues for the current wars than it has in recent memory —- and there are some outfits whose aim is to make money more than to help vets. Those are not the groups I will be writing about.

Those that I will be addressing are the ones that are making a real impact in veterans today or have a plan and the drive to make a significant difference in the lives of those who have served.

The first organization that I would like to introduce you to is the American Combat Veterans of War. ACVOW is a nonprofit group headquartered in Oceanside that aims to help veterans who have survived the physical ordeal of combat cope with the psychological aftermath. They offer a variety of programs to help vets, but one in particular is making a tremendous difference for those who are fortunate to be involved.

The Safe Warrior Outreach Program brings healing to combat veterans who still serve as well as those who have left active duty. This program is particularly important because it brings veterans together in a completely anonymous environment in which they can share their experiences and bond with others who are going through the same turmoil they feel. Rank, position and prejudice are left at the door as warriors join together to share, help and heal as equals.

This is particularly important because many of the participants are still in uniform. The stigma against PTSD is still strong in the military, and the Marine Corps is certainly no exception. Many of the warriors who come to ACVOW do so because of the anonymity that the group provides; without having the assurance of secrecy, many of the attendees would not seek help at all.

ACVOW exists because its president and co-founder, William Rider, knows first-hand what combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are going through. Rider is a combat veteran himself, which in and of itself is not unusual. What is unusual, however, is that Rider experienced some of the most savage combat during the Vietnam War as a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines in a place called Khe Sanh. His battalion had the gruesome honor of suffering the greatest casualty rate in Marine Corps history, and as a result became known as “The Walking Dead.”

Rider received the Purple Heart medal for wounds suffered at the hands of the North Vietnamese, and after the war he recognized that it followed him home. In 2001 he co-founded ACVOW and has dedicated himself to helping combat veterans make it back from the dark side. Thanks to Rider and his dedicated peers, many vets have found the healing, and comradeship, that has made a tremendous difference in their lives.

 

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/columnists/grice/grice-nonprofits-offer-help-to-veterans/article_909288ca-0239-55a7-82f4-93d1875186d1.html

Writing your resume, part 1: The Chronological Style

Posted by Mike Grice on

Finding a job is a process, and a critical part of that process is having a resume that will entice prospective employers into calling you in for an interview.  We’re going to be taking a few deep dives into the wonderful world of resumes over the next few posts, but before we put pen to paper or electron to screen let’s talk a little about resumes in general.

There are as many opinions about resumes as there are people who write and read them.  Just type “Resume” into Google and you will find over 80 million results.  Clicking a few links will take you to sites that proclaim that resumes are dead and that the “new” business world uses social media to find employees while other sites say that traditional resumes are the key to finding work at established and respectable companies.  What I am writing about are the things that I have learned and used to get jobs after leaving the military, so keep that in mind as we talk about resumes.  I have used all three types in my pursuit of employment, and all three have resulted in job offers.

There are three basic types of standard resumes, and each has its place depending on the circumstance and type of job you are pursuing.  In today’s post we will take a look at the style that is most commonly used: The Chronological style.

The chronological form of a resume is the simplest of the three to put together.  In simple terms it tells the story of your professional life and career history to the prospective employer, who then decides whether or not you are worth bringing in to meet in person.

There are pros and cons to the chronological format, so let’s look at each in turn:

Pros

  • It shows the relevance of your work experience over time.  It is actually a “reverse-chronological” resume because you list your most recent experience first and work backwards from there, but everyone just calls it the chronological style for simplicity’s sake.  Since it shows your most recent work first, you can highlight your current skill set and talents up front and show how you have garnered experience and developed those skills over time.
  • It is fact based.  Since you list your experience on a timeline you can show when you learned your skills, where and when you received relevant education and training, and articulate your experience to show how you have grown professionally over time.
  • It is a universal format that is understood across industries and around the world.
  • It can add credibility by showing what organizations you have worked in and the duties you performed in them throughout your career.  This can also be a con, however, because you must remember that civilian hiring managers have no idea about military units or service jargon, so you need to be able to put your experience into terms that they will understand.

Cons

  • This is not a good format in cases where you have little or no experience to show.  For example, if you were in the military for one enlistment this format will probably work to your disadvantage because you don’t have that much to show for experience over time.  In that case, a functional resume (which we’ll talk about in a future post) is probably a better format to use.
  • It is also not a good format in cases where you have large time gaps in your experience base.  Since it the format is a timeline, having gaps of a year or two here and there may raise a few eyebrows on the employer’s side of the fence.
  • Likewise, if you have switched jobs frequently then this may not be the best format to use.  That telegraphs to the employer that you may not be committed to working for them in the long term.
  • It also may not be a good format for people looking for specific jobs in specific industries that require specific skills – the combination or functional formats are much better suited for those circumstances.

So let’s get to it!

The basic format that I use for the chronological resume contains four elements of information:

1)  Your name and contact information, including your telephone number and email address.  As I wrote earlier, make sure that your telephone number is one that you can control (i.e., your cel phone) because you don’t want your preschooler answering the phone when a potential employer calls.  It may be cute, but you probably won’t get the message that they called.  Also, make sure your voicemail greeting is professional sounding – “Yo, dude, I am getting hammered right now and can’t answer my phone!” will not result in a job offer.  Trust me!  Likewise, make sure your email address is not offensive or controversial.  If yours is “drunkguy@whatever.com” then get a free gmail or yahoo email address and use it solely for job search purposes.  I don’t recommend including your home address on your resume, though, because you cannot control where it will end up.  Identity thieves are everywhere.

2)  A summary statement.  This is a thumbnail sketch of who you are in terms of your experience.  Not everyone agrees that you need one, but I include one in my resume to get the attention of the reader as quickly as possible- after all, they are reading hundreds of these things and if you don’t grab their interest quickly your resume will land in the trash can.

3)  Your experience over time.  This is the meat of the resume.  Here is where you need to show what you are made of and what you have done in such a manner that the employer will like what they see.  It is a remarkably difficult task to be able to strip down a lifetime’s worth of experience into less than two pages, so be ready to spend some time on this section.  I recommend that you include no more than ten years worth of experience (for those with more) because anything beyond that timeframe is pretty dated, and the most relevant stuff is the most recent stuff anyway.  The format I use lists my job title first along with the associated dates, and then put a few bullets underneath that show what I did in that job.  It took me a lot of practice to write my military experience down in such a way that a non-military person could understand it.  Also, look at how the bullets are formed: They follow the “action verb” format, meaning that they show that I did something followed by the effects of what I did.  This resonates much more than using the passive tense.

4)  Your education and other pertinent info.  The education bit is self explanatory, but what about certifications, awards, or other things that you have done that reinforce your work history or differentiate you from the pack?   This is where they go.  For my resume, I include things like awards I have received, associations I am affiliated with, and applicable qualifications and certifications.  Things not to include are your hobbies, marital status, family information, or anything not related to the job you are seeking.  Those things can be distractors for the reader and may actually turn them off; if you write that you are an avid hunter and the reader is a vegetarian then you are in for trouble.  Also, you only have two pages, so don’t waste space on things that don’t matter!

At any rate, the chronological style is the best resume type to start with.  You will use elements of it for the other two formats as well, so you won’t have to reinvent any wheels.

The internet is full of samples that you can check out.  Here is what my chronological resume from when I left active duty looks like: Chronological Resume , so feel free to follow the style I used or branch out on your own.  For what it’s worth, this particular resume resulted in a job offer.

In the next post we’ll tackle the functional resume format…

__________

Lessons Learned:

1.  Of the three basic resume types, the Chronological Style is the most common and most widely used.

2.  It is best for those who have no interruptions in their job history and can show a logical progression in education, skills, and experience over time.

3.  It is not the best resume for very specific skill sets or for those with very little experience or education to show.  The functional format is best for those circumstances.

4.  Only include the things that matter; keep your hobbies personal items off of the resume.

5.  Proofread, proofread, proofread.  Then proofread again.  Believe it or not, I just saw a typo on the resume I included in this post.  See if you can find it….

6.  Make it professional, and keep it to two pages!

Business correspondence: Enter the resume

Posted by Mike Grice on

Not long ago we started talking about the importance of making a good impression.  Not just in life, mind you, but in the context of starting a new career.  By now you should have some most excellent business cards that you can hand out while you are networking, but that is only the beginning of the path that leads to a  job.

By now you should have the first tool of networking, your business card, and you need to get ready for when networking pays off.  The next step is when someone asks to see your resume, and if you want to get the job that they are offering your resume had better be pretty tight!

Your resume is the core of your job-seeking business correspondence, and it is your opportunity to sell yourself to a prospective employer.  We’ll talk about cover letters and thank you notes later, but for now let’s get a bit more familiar with how to build a resume.

Getting a job is like going shopping in reverse.  When you go to the grocery store you are selecting the products that you want and need to feed your family.  When you go down the canned foods aisle looking for a can of baked beans, for example, you are presented with a whole lot of choices.  There are brands like Bush’s and Van de Camp’s and Heinz and Hunts and flavors that range from tangy and sweet BBQ to wicket hot Jalapeno.  Lots of choices!  You, as the customer, get to examine the dizzying display of cans and pick the beans you want.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but you are one can of beans out of thousands in the job market.  There are a lot of other cans out there selling themselves to potential customers who will hire them, and in order to break yourself out of the generic bottom shelf and into the highly desirable gourmet section you will need to differentiate yourself from everyone else.  That is where the resume comes in.

Your resume is essentially the professional you in two pages or less.  It is your one shot to sell yourself to a potential employer and get yourself in the door for an interview.  In the current economy there are literally thousands and thousands of other people out looking for work, and they all have been firing off resumes to try to land a job.  The competition is pretty fierce, so you really need to break out of the pack.

So how do you do it?

I’m glad you asked.  Before we get into writing resumes there are a few things you need to do first.  Let’s start with those.

A few posts ago we went through the four-sheet exercise to determine what you really want to do with your life, so now let’s take that a few steps further.  You know what you want to do and where you want to do it, so in order to find a job you will need to do some research to find out what opportunities are out there.

Start with the internet.  After all, you are smart enough to be reading this blog, so I think it is a safe assumption that you can use Google or another search engine to surf around and see what’s out there.  I recommend that you go to Monster.com and punch in what you would like to do and where you would like to do it, and within a nanosecond (and for free!) you will have a list that shows opportunities in your search area.  You can also use a bunch of other sites, such as simplyhired.com or careerbuilder.com as well.  I recommend that you spend an afternoon surfing the web and looking at what is out there –  not because you are necessarily going to apply for any of those jobs persay but in order to get a feel for opportunities.

Look at the lists critically.  What industries are hiring?  Where are they located?  What are the prerequisites?  You can drill down and see what the specific requirements for jobs similar to the ones you would like to find are.  This is important, because the research that you do now will help you build a resume that fits the bill for the job you want and will help you go from the “ignore” pile to the “call for interview” pile at the hiring manager’s desk.

Also play around with the terms that you put into the search engine.  Try different variations on the job title and keywords.  The point is to get a feel of the job market in the area that you are looking to enter.

The other thing you need to do is contact some real live people.  You are leaving the military, which means that you have plenty of compadres who you can tap into.  Although they themselves may not have much to offer in terms of experience in the outside world, they all have families and friends out of uniform.  If you want to go into financial services, who better to reach out to for information than your squadmate’s father who happens to be a banker?  The great thing about networking is that you can get access to people who would not speak to you if you cold called them, but are happy to share a cup of coffee or lunch with a peer of their son, daughter, cousin, or family friend.

Another way to get a feel for the area is to read the local newspaper.  Read it from the front page all the way to the end; that way you will get a sense of what is going on.  Is local unemployment up or down?  Are there any new business or manufacturing plants opening up?  What is the engine that drives the local economy?  What industries are in trouble?  What is crime like?  Where are the nice and not so nice places to live and work?

To get started on actually building your resume you need to some homework, otherwise your efforts will be unfocused, and to the hiring manager, uninteresting.  You need to get smart about the industry, the area, and the company where you want to work in order to create a resume that piques the interest of the Human Resources specialist who reads it.  Surf the net, talk to your friends, and read the paper.  It will greatly help you as you build your resume, which we will start doing in the next string of posts…

Happy Independence Day!

Posted by Mike Grice on

Wow- it is hard to believe that 2012 is half gone, but on the positive side it is almost Independence Day!  Time for fireworks, barbequed steaks/burgers/hotdogs, and of course a beer or two.

As you enjoy the fireworks tomorrow make sure to keep in mind those men and women who are in uniform and away from their loved ones.  As we all celebrate the 236th birthday of the United States it is important not to forget that the freedom that we enjoy is not free.  It is bought and paid for by everyone who wears a uniform and also by their loved ones who are left behind as they serve from one corner of the globe to another.

May each and every one of you have a tremendous and happy July 4th, and we’ll be back to talking about transition by the end of the week!

 

 

VA Exam and Disability Rating

Posted by Mike Grice on

Over the last weekend I had the great fortune to run into a good friend of mine who retired from the Marine Corps after thirty years of active service.

He is a great guy who lived one of the hardest lives you can live in the Marine Corps; he started out as a infantryman and then became a reconnaissance Marine and then a Special Operator (meaning he began his career as a grunt who carried heavy loads long distances and lived in the dirt to a recon guy who carried heavier loads longer distances and lived in the mud).

During his career he did all of the high speed things that are the stuff of recruiting posters.  He jumped out of airplanes –  but not just enough times to earn his wings but hundreds and hundreds of times from helicopters and airplanes both at very low and extremely high altitudes.  He became an expert diver, marksman, and small unit leader.

He helped the Marine Corps blaze the trail into the Special Operations world.  He helped build what is now called MARSOC and was a critical leader in the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion.  He deployed to Kuwait and Iraq and Afghanistan to fight, and in his career he deployed thirteen times.

All of this came at a tremendous cost, however.  He suffers from a long list of physical ailments that are related to doing all of those incredible things; his ears ring from being around gunfire for years on end, his joints and back are so painful that he sometimes can barely move, and he wrestles with PTSD in the same manner as so many of us who have fought for their country and survived.

At the end of his impressive career he did what all separating servicemen do –  he went through the VA evaluation process.  He ensured that his physical problems were recorded in his medical record and was then examined by a VA physician.

With all of his maladies he was certain that he would be assigned a relatively high disability rating.  After all, many people served for far less time and in far less strenuous and physically demanding environments and had received very high disability ratings.  He wasn’t looking for anything he didn’t earn and deserve, mind you, but was just looking for what was fair.

Recently he received his disability rating announcement in the mail.

10%.

For tinnitus.  Ringing in the ears.

To say he was angry is an epic understatement, and upon taking his case to his state VA representative they agree and are challenging the ruling.

How did he end up with such a low rating when he has so many demonstrable maladies?

He attributes it to his physical evaluation.  The doctor didn’t really examine him, but instead just asked him questions about his conditions.  He did not order tests or even check for himself, but instead had a conversation and wrote down some notes.

The point is that in order to receive the most accurate evaluation it is imperative that you take an active role in your VA physical.  Demand that the doctor examine those things that you know are wrong.  Don’t just let the overworked doctor hurry through your exam.

Otherwise you may likely find yourself under-rated for your service connected disability, and to get it corrected will make an already disturbingly long process even tortuously longer.

So this is a cautionary tale.  You may save yourself a lot of time and inconvenience by taking an active role in your VA evaluation, so I recommend going into the doctor’s office with the intent of having each and every issue examined, addressed, and recorded.

After all, if you don’t do it, who will?

Another column from the North County Times

Posted by Mike Grice on

Here is last Friday’s column from the North County Times:

It has been more than a decade since 9/11, and during that time a lot of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have trained, deployed and fought the War on Terror.

They have crossed into the deserts of Iraq and climbed the hills of Afghanistan. They have battled pirates off the coast of Somalia, and have fought against insurgents in the Philippines. The last decade has found young American men and women in combat in places that they may have never even heard about before they donned their uniforms.

They have also done magnificent things outside the combat zones. Sailors and Marines rushed to Indonesia to aid the victims of the disastrous tsunami in 2004. Less than a year later, members of all the armed services were doing the same in Louisiana after the coastline was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. They have helped recover and rebuild from dozens of other disasters at home and abroad, often while their own homes and loved ones were threatened by the same calamities.

Through it all they forged a real and tangible bond with those with whom they served. They joined a brotherhood that transcends any found in the regular workforce. Like firefighters and the police, they have been in the worst possible situations and bested them by working side by side with people just like them. They have become integral members of a close and closed society that only those who have been a part of truly understand.

The experience of being in the military changes a person. There comes a day, though, when the uniform is worn for the last time. The last decade has made that change as visceral as it was at the end of the First World War and the Second, as well as Korea, Vietnam and the other conflicts that brought young Americans to foreign shores to fight for years on end.

So the day comes when the uniform comes off. It is much more impactful than just changing clothes, however, because with the shedding of the uniform comes the departure from military society. While you may still be close with your military friends, but the relationship changes: You are no longer a part of the same conversations. You are no longer training or deploying or sharing the same burdens, and over time the relationships change as you have less and less in common. Your lives move in different directions.

As a veteran, the sense of loss as you leave the warm embrace of active service can be jarring. After all, they have served, deployed, fought and done the myriad things together for years on end —- and suddenly it just stops. In many ways it is like a divorce, because you can never go back.

As a kid I never really understood what the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars were all about. I saw them as the old men who marched in parades wearing bits of uniforms from wars long over. I rode my bike past their modest buildings and wondered what went on inside. I accepted them as part of the fabric of our community, but never thought much about them.

Today, though, I understand. Veterans of active service have lived a life unlike any other, and it is often very difficult to relate to those who have not shared the same sacrifices. Veterans love their families and cherish their friends, but there are some conversations that are only for those who have worn the uniform and endured the trials, horrors and joys that come from military service.

That is why the American Legion, the VFW and so many other veterans organizations exist. That is why those old men gather; to be around others like themselves who understand that which to others is incomprehensible.

The difference today is that today not just old men gather in such places. Young men and women have joined the ranks of those who have gone before. Now stories of Iraq and Afghanistan join those of wars past in the tapestry of the veteran community. It is a place that provides a little solace and closure to a big part of veterans’ lives that stays with them no matter how long ago they put away their uniforms.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/columnists/grice/grice-retiring-is-a-tough-challenge/article_5bdd4651-d64e-5acb-8907-f21cf642fb4a.html