Tag Archives: Retirement

After the interview: Now what?

Posted by Mike Grice on

So you have just finished interviewing with the company of your dreams.  As you walk out the door you need to remember, though, that even though the meeting part of the interview is over the whole process is not yet done.  You still have some work to do to finish it up.

Or, if you don’t want the job that badly, you can just get in your car, drive home, and have a cold one to celebrate the time that you wasted on the interview and the job opportunity you missed out on because your competition is going to go the extra mile and finish their interview properly.  The choice is up to you.

The smart thing to do is to continue to treat the job interview like a date.  Just as you want your relationship with a pretty girl or handsome guy to get more serious the same can be said about your interest in the company.  You are certainly curious as to how things went during the interview because you to want to step things up a notch and get into a meaningful relationship with the company.  Just like you want your date to call you back the day after dinner and a movie you desperately want the hiring manager to give you a ring with good news.

Even though you have left the building there are still several things you can, and should, do to increase your chances to land a job.  If you don’t do them the worst that will happen is that you won’t land an offer.  If you do the following things, though, you still may not get a job but you will come away from the experience with a stronger reputation and a better understanding of how to become a better candidate for employment.  Here, in my humble opinion (and in the opinions of many hiring managers) are the things that you should perform after the interview:

1.  Make some notes about the interview.  What questions were you prepared for?  What questions were you unprepared for?  What was the interviewer’s name and title?  You should have exchanged cards during the interview, and the back of the card is a good place to jot down the interviewer’s preferred form of address (“Mr. Smith” or “Bob”, for example).  You should take notes while the interview is fresh in your mind because otherwise you will forget those brain-hiccups that you had, and if you forget them then you are likely to repeat them again in future interviews.  I recommend getting a small notebook dedicated to the interviewing process and using it as a logbook or journal to record your post-interview notes.

2.  Send a follow-up note to thank the interviewer for their time and attention.  In the note make sure to use their preferred form of address (that you remembered to write down on the back of their business card as soon as you left the interview) and be sincere in your message.  You should be professional and courteous, but not overly familiar.  After all, you are still making an impression, and a poorly written note will do more harm than good.  Here is an example of a short and acceptable thank-you note:

Dear Bob,

Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you on Tuesday.  I am very excited about the opportunity to join XYZ Company, and I learned a great deal about the firm during the interview.  Our discussion about the corporate culture and dynamic work environment reinforced my strong desire to join the company, and I think that my skills and experience are a great fit for the _________ position.  I feel that I can be a strong contributor to the firm.

If you need to contact me for any follow up questions or additional information I can best be reached at xxx-xxx-xxxx or via email at mike@anymail.com.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Mike Smith

3.  As you close out the interview ask the hiring manager for the best way to contact them in the future.  This is important because it gives the interviewer an opportunity to establish expectations for future communications.  He or she may be open to a call or email or may prefer that you wait to hear from the company before you contact them.  Make sure to pay attention!  You can shoot down your chances at a job if you call them after being asked to wait.  Just follow their lead.

4.  Think hard about your experience at the interview.  Are you going to be a good fit at the company?  Did you learn anything that was unexpected or that is not in line with your goals?  If you did, then do some serious soul-searching in order to decide whether or not to continue pursuing a job there.  Don’t just take the first job that comes along if it is not a good fit.

5.  Be ready for the company’s call.  It may be a letter, an email, or a telephone call, but regardless of how the firm reaches out to you the news will be either good or bad.  This is where character really counts; if the news is good then it means that you have a follow on interview in your future or a job offer letter on the way.  If the news is bad then it means that you will need to look elsewhere for a job.  If the news is good then you need to be humble, respectful, and thankful for the opportunity to work with the company.  If the news is bad, then you need to be humble, respectful, and thankful for the opportunity to interview with the company.  Even though you did not land a job with that particular company it doesn’t mean that you can be a jerk about it; remember, you are building a reputation along with your resume.  If you are obnoxious because you didn’t get the job the word will get out.  If you are respectful, the word will get out too.  The hiring manager who did not hire you may know of a company that is looking for someone with your skill set, and if you make a strong positive impression it may help network you into a new opportunity.

Remember that the hiring process does not end with the interview.  It ends with either a job offer, an invitation for a follow on interview, or a rejection.  You can improve your chances for a job offer by following up on the interview.

__________

Lessons Learned:

1.  Write down your impressions of the interview as soon as possible so that you can learn from it.  You want to make your strengths even stronger and eliminate your weaknesses, and the only way to effectively do that is to learn from your experience.

2.  The interview is not over when you walk out the door.  Hiring managers are people too, and sending a thank you note for their time is a nice touch that will be noticed.  It is a normal part of the hiring process, and if you don’t send a note then you are behind others who do. Send the thank you note immediately after the interview.  If you had to travel to the interview, then write the note and drop it in a local mailbox to ensure that it arrives quickly.  As the saying goes: “Strike while the iron is hot.”

3.  Reflect on the interview.  Did it reinforce your desire to work there or uncover some negative aspects about the job or the company that make you have second thoughts?

4.  Be gracious when you finally get the results of the interview.  This may take a while because the hiring process at most companies takes time, so be ready to wait.  When you get the news, be respectful and courteous regardless whether it is good or not.  Remember, your reputation is always growing, and if the word gets out that you are a jerk it will hurt your chances elsewhere.

Interviewing, Part 4: Military-specific considerations

Posted by Mike Grice on

As you interview for your dream job there are a few considerations that you need to keep in the back of your mind.  Unlike civilians who are free to pursue any and all employment opportunities, you may actually be precluded from taking advantage of some of the prospects out there because of your status as a member of the military.

There are several areas of consideration that can seriously affect your future career and, if you are not careful, cost you thousands of dollars or land you in jail.  This is not an all-inclusive list or discussion on the subject, but instead a look at three aspects of post-military employment that can get you into trouble.

First is the most obvious one: your security clearance.  When you leave active duty your clearance becomes inactive.  That said, if you join a company during terminal leave or accept employment with a firm that requires a clearance before you get out, the company can keep your clearance active by adding you as an employee and sponsoring your clearance.  If, however, you are unemployed (technically, even for one day) after you get out then your clearance will need to be reactivated.  You have up to two years for reactivation, unless your reevaluation date is less than that.  Top Secret clearances, for example, have a five year shelf life.  If you get out at year four, then it is only good for another year.  So you need to be careful on your resume and be sure to list your accurate clearance status (e.g., “Top Secret Clearance active until 2014” or “inactive Secret Clearance”).  You don’t want to misrepresent yourself as having a clearance that has lapsed or expired!

Second is the concept of Conflict of Interest.  In a nutshell, this is a situation in which your work while in uniform places you in a unique position to either profit from your position or have undue influence over the matter at hand.  An example of this is a contracting officer who can influence the spending of government dollars on a particular contract; he may be enticed to choose one bid over another if his future job depended on it.  The same goes if he influences his military connections after he gets out to bias a contract decision.  Not all instances of conflict of interest are as obvious, however.  If you are seeking a job in your specialty area (which is perfectly logical and normal) it is a good idea to get a copy of the job description and show it to a Staff Judge Advocate (military lawyer).  They can give you an opinion as to whether it conflicts or not.  This is a big deal because often the simple appearance of a conflict may create problems whether a true conflict exists or not.  Better safe than sorry….

Lastly, and most interestingly, is the rule against foreign employment.  The Emoluments Clause of the U. S. Constitution prohibits any person “holding any office of profit or trust” in the Federal Government from accepting any gift, emolument, office, or title of any kind from any foreign state without the consent of Congress – and that includes retirees.  In order for you to work for a foreign government you must first receive permission from your service secretary, as in the Secretary of the Navy, Army, or Air Force.  Needless to say, this is not a simple process!  You will need to apply for a waiver from the Secretary in advance otherwise you are breaking the law and the government may come after you to recoup the monies that you received up to the amount of your retirement pay.  Ouch!

__________

Lessons Learned:

1.  Your security clearance is a big deal for many employers because obtaining one costs thousands of dollars, and if you have an active clearance (particularly a Top Secret one) it makes you a more desirable candidate.  Misrepresenting the status of your clearance, however, makes you a knucklehead.

2.  Conflict of interest is a very murky and thorny problem.  You can get yourself, your new company, and possibly other people in a lot of hot water (and potentially legal trouble) if you are not careful.  Talk to your local Staff Judge Advocate if you have even an inkling that there may be a conflict between your current job in uniform and the one you are pursuing.

3.  Even though you are retired you are still considered to be an office holder in the U. S. Government and as such must ask for permission to work for a foreign government.  This can even apply to you if you are not directly employed by a foreign government but your company is; for example if you are in a law firm or consultant company and you receive a share of the profits that are received from a foreign government it is considered to be in violation of the law.  Make sure that you are not going to get into trouble by researching who your prospective employer’s customers are.

Interviewing, part 3: Curveballs and questionable questions

Posted by Mike Grice on

The purpose of a job interview is to determine whether or not you are suitable to join a company’s team.  How the interviewer figures that out, however, can be unusual, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright odd.  It can also be illegal.  You need to be prepared for when the interview goes in an unexpected direction.

You expect to be asked about your experience, skills, education, and training during a job interview.  You may not be expecting some of the tools that companies use in their hiring process to find the best candidates for the job,  though.  Some companies will ask you to take a personality test (to see what you are really like), submit a handwriting sample (to be analyzed by handwriting experts), have your picture taken (so that others who are involved in the hiring process can see what you look like),  or something equally strange.  These questions and tests are perfectly legal, even if they seem a bit unusual.

What about questions that are not legal?

There are some questions that are not permitted, by law, to be asked of an applicant.  Although they vary from state to state, they generally fall somewhere in the following list:

  • Age
  • Gender, sex, or sexual preference
  • Race, ethnicity, or heritage
  • Disability
  • Faith or religious beliefs
  • Marital status
  • Pregnancy or children

There are a few more for serving military veterans:

  • Classification of discharge
  • Military related disability status (particularly PTSD)
  • Post-military benefits status (healthcare, pension, etc.)
  • Whether you are in the National Guard and Reserves

Professional interviewers are well aware of which questions are permitted and which are not.  Not all interviews are conducted by professional hiring managers, though.  Many are conducted by small business owners, retail store managers, restaurant chefs, or anyone in business who needs to staff a position in their organization.  These interviewers may ask a question that they shouldn’t without realizing it, but even though they don’t know the law they are still required to follow it.

There is another possibility, too.  The person conducting the interview may be asking you questions that they know are illegal but they ask them anyway.

Regardless of the circumstance, when one of these questions is laid on the table it is up to you to figure out what to do about it.  You have about a millisecond to decide whether you will answer it or not.  How much do you want the job?  That it what it all boils down to in the end.  If you stonewall, refuse to answer, or debate the legality of the question with the interviewer the probability of you landing the job will rapidly approach zero.  However, if you feel that the interviewer is crossing the line intentionally, then perhaps the company is not really a place where you would like to work anyway.

You have to ask yourself the simple question: “Is answering that question worth getting a job with this company?”  If you answer yes, then do as you are asked.  If not, then don’t.  It is a simple as that.  The downside is that you are certainly guaranteeing that you won’t get the job.  Do you have to answer an illegal question or fulfill an odd request?

Nope.  You can say no.  And probably not get the job.  It is up for you to decide.

__________

Lessons Learned:

– Not everyone conducting an interview is a professional.  They may ask questions that they shouldn’t out of ignorance.

– There are illegal questions, unusual questions, and uncomfortable questions.  Regardless of where those questions lie on the spectrum, it is up to you as to whether or not to answer them.

– There are some questions that pertain specifically to serving military and veterans.  Your military and VA benefits are personal in nature, as is any pension of disability payment that you receive.  Disclosing any of that information is up to you, should any such questions come up.

– It all boils down to how much you want to work at the company.  Questions may be asked innocuously, and making a big deal out of it will likely cost you a job offer.

Not so traditional job interviews, part 2: Lunch, Dinner, and Cocktails

Posted by Mike Grice on

There are many kinds of interviews, and we have covered quite a few of them thus far.  Today we are going to take a trip to your hiring manager’s favorite restaurant or bar and learn about just how similar interviewing for a job is with a drink or a cheeseburger in your hand is to a traditional interview.

Just how similar is it, you ask?

It is a little similar.  And it is completely, totally, and utterly different at the same time.

It is similar to all interviews in that the goal of the interview never changes: the company wants to fill a staffing need and you want to find a job.

That’s about where the similarity ends.  The devil is in the details, and there are a lot of details to an interview in a bar or a restaurant.  Trust me.

Why would a company want to conduct an interview outside the office?  There are a lot of reasons, but we’ll drill down into four significant ones:

  • First, you may not be able to get your schedules to align during working hours, and the hiring manager may simply find it easier to interview you outside the normal workday.
  • Second, it may be a small company.  Small companies often don’t have hiring managers, or may not even have managers at all.  Small business owners may be busy running their businesses during normal hours and the only way they can squeeze interviews in is to meet with you for a meal or a drink.
  • Third, the company may still be feeling you out.  The interviewing process is often a lengthy one that may begin with a phone call that is followed by a lunch meeting and then, if things go well, a more formal interview at the firm.
  • Fourth, the company may be seeing what kind of person you are outside the formal interviewing arena.  They want to observe your manners, your social awareness, etiquette, etcetera.  This is particularly the case for positions that place the employee in the public’s view, because the firm doesn’t want to hire a caveman to represent them in the business world.  It is also an opportunity for the company to evaluate how well you will fit into their culture by observing you in a social environment.

Regardless of the circumstance under which you find yourself in this type of interview, the most important thing to remember is that you are being observed, evaluated, and judged from the second you meet up to the second that you leave.  Don’t forget it!

The best way to proceed with an interview at a restaurant is to treat it like a date.  You don’t want to look like an idiot in front of a prospective significant other, and you certainly don’t want to look like an idiot in front of a potential employer.  This type of interview is one where you can really make a knockout impression or have the opposite effect of making the person across the table run screaming out the door.

The choice is yours.

The basics in dating apply to lunch or dinner with a hiring manager.  Dress nicely, just as you would for an interview, show up a few minutes early, and double check yourself in your car’s rearview mirror before you get out of the car.  It is always embarrassing to find out after it is all over that your necktie was crooked or that your was hair is sticking up like Don King’s.

You should also do a little homework about the restaurant before you go.  Look at their menu online, and decide what you would like ahead of time.  The hiring manager probably uses the restaurant routinely and knows exactly what to order and it will be awkward for you if you are stumped by what to order when the waiter shows up.  I recommend that you order a salad because it is easy to eat with a knife and fork (not your hands!) and will not put you in the awkward position of trying to eat the world’s greasiest cheeseburger without making a mess out of yourself in front of your interviewer.

That brings me to a significant point about military people, food, and table manners.  Most military folks view consuming food as a method of calorie loading: we need to feed the machine to keep the machine going.  We eat too fast, talk while we eat, and generally just shovel it in, starting on one side of the plate and stopping when we run out of food on the other side.  Not only is this not a way to impress a date, it is certainly not a way to impress an interviewer.

Remember your manners: be polite to everyone (including your server!), use the proper utensils (don’t eat everything with your spoon because of years and years of experience eating rations with the issued plastic spoon), and SLOW DOWN!  A good rule of thumb is to take a bite, chew it at least ten times, swallow, and then take another bite.  Take small bites and pace how quickly you eat your meal with the interviewer.  You will be talking through the meal, and it is quite embarrassing to try to answer a question right after you shove half of a steak into your gaping maw.  To help with this, try paying attention to yourself the next time you eat alone — I’ll bet you will be surprised at how much the military lifestyle has affected your table manners as you mow down French fries like a belt fed machine gun.

Treat your interviewer with the same deference and respect as you would a date.  Allow them to be seated first, and follow their lead in ordering.  Avoid alcohol and drink sparkling water or iced tea.  Remember, you are being evaluated through the entire process, and if they sense that you are a three martini lunch kind of person then you will likely find yourself pursuing an interview with another company.

Place your napkin in your lap and keep your elbows off the table.  As with a date, it is a good idea to have some topics of conversation ready.  Lunch and dinner interviews tend to be a bit more informal and social, and the hiring manager is feeling you out to see if you are a social match with the company in addition to asking about your skills.  Remember the rules of the military mess: do not discuss politics, religion, or sex. Any one of those topics will be a guaranteed job loser.  Even if the interviewer initiates a conversation on one of those topics do your absolute best to steer the discussion back to the company and your interest in working there.  One thing that may help is reading the newspaper before you go to the interview or listening to the news on the radio in order to have something to chat about when you need to fill some time.

Here are a couple of other do’s and don’ts:  don’t complain about the food (do you want to look like a whiner?), don’t get a to-go box for your uneaten food (you will look cheap), don’t order dessert unless the interviewer does, and lastly do be both appreciative and gracious when he or she picks up the tab.  It is assumed that the company is paying the bill, but it is good form to be thankful for the free lunch or dinner that you just enjoyed.

So there are some tips for an interview over a meal, but what about an interview in a bar or lounge?  That is again similar, but also different.

Think of being interviewed in a bar as the same as running through a minefield in your underwear — it can be both embarrassing and potentially lethal for your career.  You can do just fine, however, if you treat it as an interview the entire time you are in the bar.  My recommendation is to order one drink and nurse it all night.  The best drink to order is a Gin and Tonic because you can just keep topping it off with tonic or soda water and nobody will ever know.  Keep the conversation clean and on topic, and even if the interviewer gets hammered don’t give into temptation to join him down the boozy trail!

You may be interviewed in a bar for the same reasons as you would be for a meal, but now you have the added factor of involving alcohol.  This is a big deal because we all act differently after a few shots of loudmouth juice.  Here how an interview at a bar can change everything:

A prospective employee spends an afternoon interviewing with a company.  He meets people at varying levels of the company and impresses them all with his savvy demeanor and job skills.  So much so, he thinks, that they invite him out for drinks after work.

While having a few cocktails he shifts out of “jobseeker” mode and back into “military” mode, complete with a liberal sprinkling of the “F” bomb and barracks humor.  He had a great time, but was very surprised when he was informed that he would not be working at the company.

The trip to the bar was part of the interview.  They wanted to see what the interviewee was like outside the office, and they learned enough to know that he was not someone that they wanted in their firm.  He blew his shot because he was not savvy enough to see that rule number one of interviewing is that the interview is not over until you start working at the company or they tell you to go away.

Now that is a lesson worth learning.

__________

Lessons Learned:

1.  You are being evaluated the entire time that you are being interviewed, from the moment you walk into the restaurant until the moment you leave.  There are many more things to get wrong in this environment, so limit your possible mistakes by preparing before you go.  Check the restaurant location and menu online before you leave home.

2.  Be ready for some chitchat, but stay away from politics, religion, and sex.

3.  Be polite to everyone.  The interviewer will notice if you are a jerk to the waiter and you will NOT get a job offer.  I guarantee it.

4.  Eat a salad.  Avoid the Monster Burger.

5.  Manners, manners, manners!  Slow down.  Bite, chew, swallow, repeat.  Don’t shovel in your chow like it is the last MRE you will ever eat.

6.  Be gracious and don’t forget to mention how much you enjoyed lunch or dinner in your thank-you note.

7.  If alcohol is involved, order one drink and nurse it.  Keep the barracks language and humor at the barracks.  It has no place in the business world.

Not so traditional job interviews, Part 1: The Phone (or Skype) Interview

Posted by Mike Grice on

So you have sent in your resume and heard back from the hiring manager.

That’s great!

She would like to  interview you as soon as possible.

That’s even better!

Over the phone.

Um, ok, you think.  Sounds good.  That should be easy.

Au contraire, my friend.  Interviews over the phone are not simple and you can certainly screw one up.  They are not easy to get right and take just as much preparation  as a face to face meeting, at least they are if you want to succeed and get the job.

There are countless reasons why a company may want to interview an applicant over the phone, or perhaps over Skype or another video interfacing system.  The company may be on the other side of the country or even the other side of the planet, and a phone call is infinitely cheaper than a plane ticket and a hotel room.  The hiring manager may be travelling.  You may be travelling.  A common reason may be that the company’s hiring process begins with a phone interview to determine whether or not you are worth bringing to the office for a second look.

Regardless of the reason, a phone or Skype interview is still a job interview, and just because you are not going to the company headquarters is no reason not to adequately prepare.  You should do your research, review your resume, and rehearse with someone using a phone or Skype.  After all, you want the job, don’t you?

The heart of the interview is the interaction between you and the hiring manager of the firm.  Having a telephone or laptop screen between you and the person on the other side changes the venue, but the content is pretty much the same.

What a phone interview is not, however, is easier.  Here are a few reasons why:

First off, you don’t get a sense of the company or the interviewer that you would normally pick up by walking through the lobby, meeting a few people, and shaking hands with the hiring manager.  Instead, you are going from zero to sixty in the few seconds between “Hello?” and “Let’s get started.”

Secondly, it can seem deceptively informal and easy.  So easy, in fact, that you may not take a preparation as seriously as you would for a “real” interview.  It is over the phone, so why not do it in your pajamas?  Or over Skype, so all you need to do is put on a nice shirt and maybe a tie, right?  Again, au contraire.

The worst thing you can do in any interview situation is to be unprepared or not take it seriously.  Sure, you can do the interview in your underwear if you want and the hiring manager will never know.  Sure, you can watch Sportscenter with the sound turned down and the hiring manager will never know.  You will know, however, and it will affect the interview.  And not in a good way.  You need to get your mind right, steer clear of distractions, and focus.

Here are some recommendations that will help you have a successful phone or Skype interview:

Most importantly, prepare for the interview in exactly the same manner as you would for a traditional interview.  Get a haircut (they can still see you on Skype, after all, and getting a haircut is never a bad thing), wear your interview suit and tie or blouse and slacks, research the company, and review your resume.  Be ready fifteen minutes before it starts, and clear your mind in order to focus on the interviewer and the questions that you will be asked.

Prepare a location for the interview.  The interviewer is likely in their office, but you can be pretty much anywhere.  That said, driving down the freeway or sitting at your child’s soccer game are remarkably bad ideas for obvious reasons.  The hiring manager is devoting their time exclusively to you in order to determine if you would fit in their company, so the least you can do is reciprocate.

You should find a place that is quiet, has good lighting, and is as office-like as possible.  Sit at the kitchen table as opposed to on the couch, for example.  We are all creatures of habit, and if you are lounging on the couch as opposed to sitting at a desk or table you may well act or sound like you are sitting on a couch as opposed to a desk or a table.  Clear everything away except a copy of your resume and your notepad and a bottle or glass of water.  No distractions!

For a Skype interview you need to go a step or two farther.  What does the background look like?  It should be bland or uninteresting, if possible.  Is the light coming from behind you?  From the front or side?  Remember, the interviewer is going to see you and your surroundings, and if the light makes you look like Bela Legosi in a ’40s vampire movie it won’t help.  Your Twisted Sister poster collection is also not the best background, either.

Back to the interview.  Make sure that the quiet place you have found stays quiet: turn off your mobile phone, the dishwasher, television, radio, and everything else that makes noise.  Put a post-it note over your doorbell telling visitors to not ring the doorbell and to come back later.  Use your land phone line if at all possible, too.  You don’t want to drop the call or have a poor connection because that will only reflect negatively on you.  Have a copy of your resume laid out in front of you, take a deep breath, and call the hiring manager exactly on time.

Close all apps and programs on your computer for a Skype interview.  You don’t want to be distracted by emails or instant messages popping up on the screen during the interview, and the interviewer will instantly recognize that you are ignoring them and reading something else that popped up on your screen.  That is a guaranteed job offer killer.

Start the interviewer by introducing yourself, and then follow interviewer’s lead from there.  Lead off with something like “Good morning!  This is Mike, and I am calling in for the interview…”

From there the interview is similar to the traditional style, except that you cannot really gauge the interviewer’s mood, expressions, or mannerisms.  Skype offers a little insight because you can see the interviewer’s face, but that is about it.

Remember to keep your answers short, in the thirty second to two minute range, and speak slowly.  A big part of listening is seeing the other person’s mouth as they speak, and that obviously is not the case over the phone. Being interviewed is anxious business, and you may unintentionally speak faster than normal which can result in the interviewer not understanding what you are saying.  To help with this, try taking a breath after hearing each question, restate the question to yourself in your mind, and then start talking.  It will make you appear thoughtful (which is good) and articulate (which is also good).  Remember, the hiring manager has done countless interviews, and you want to make a solid impression, not sound like a knucklehead.

The same rules apply for Skype, except remember that you are on camera during the interview.  Sit up straight, look at the interviewer on the computer screen when she is talking and at the camera when you are answering.  Also, be conscious of what you are doing with your hands.  A famous actor once said that one of the hardest things about acting is knowing what to do with your hands, and that applies to interviews as well.  Put them in your lap or sit on them if you need to, because if you fidget or pick at your nails all the interviewer will see on the screen is you fidgeting or picking your nails.  You don’t want to distract the interviewer.

As the interview draws to a close make sure to thank the interviewer for her time and make sure that you close out the call professionally.  Again, we are all prisoners of our past experiences, and if you say goodbye on the phone by saying pithy things like “Later!” or “Out here…” then the last impression the hiring manager will have of you is not particularly professional.  A simple “Thank you for your time today. Goodbye!” will go a long way.

As with all interviews make sure to follow up with a thank you note.  It is fine to send an email immediately, but go that extra classy mile and send a note in the mail too.  It is important, expected, and if you don’t you will be viewed as less desirable than those who do send in thank you notes.

__________

Lessons Learned.

1.  A phone or Skype interview is just as important as a traditional interview.  It is imperative that you treat is as such.  Make sure to thoroughly prepare, get dressed in your interviewing clothes, and be on time.

2.  Tips for preparing an interview setting: sit at a desk or table, sit up straight, use your land line, have some water and your resume at hand, and for a Skype interview check out your background and how the lighting affects your on-screen appearance.

3.  Take a breath, restate the question, and then provide answers in the thirty second to two minute range.  Try not to talk too fast!

4.  Make sure that there are no distractions, and turn off apps, televisions, mobile phones, or anything else that could interrupt your interview.

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.

Job Interviews: Oh, the places you’ll go…

Posted by Mike Grice on

As you depart the military and hang up your uniform you are going to be placed in a new and unusual position.  Throughout your time in the service your career path was largely determined for you by someone who worked at the manpower branch of your service headquarters, such as a Monitor or Detailer.  This individual was charged with filling open positions within the service branch with qualified individuals who had the right rank, skills, and experience level.  After reviewing the population of “movers” (those folks who had been in one place for three years or so) and comparing it to the list of openings (holes in the spreadsheet created as “movers” leave), the Monitor or Detailer would pick someone and issue them orders to their new job.

Sure, there was a lot of politics involved, particularly for jobs requiring higher rank and experience.  Sure, there was favoritism as bosses influenced the process to get “their people” into their units.  Sure, some jobs required interviews of candidates (such as serving as an aide-de-camp for a general or admiral). What there was not, however, was a free and open competition for jobs.  Even if you did not like the assignment you received in the military, you were still in the military and the paychecks still show up twice a month.  If you don’t get the job you want in the civilian world, you are unemployed.

Big difference, that.

As a transitioning servicemember you no longer have somebody in a distant headquarters telling you where to go or what to do when you get there.  Now it is up to you to do that for yourself!  We have already looked at the decisions needed to end up where you want to live as well as what industry or job you would like to pursue, and now we are going to drill down into how to actually get that job.

The last step in the job-seeking process is to go through the interviewing process with the company in hopes of securing an offer of employment.  That is what we will be talking about in the next string of posts.

Interviews come in many forms and styles depending on the type of employment you are seeking.  There are traditional types of interviews where you show up at the firm at the appointed time, go into the hiring manager’s office, and sit across the desk from the person who will determine your fate with the company.

In the modern age, however, you may not actually have to go to the office.  You may have a telephone interview or videoconference in cases where the company is too far away for a face-to-face without incurring a lot of travel costs.

You may be interviewed over lunch.  Or dinner.  Or maybe even breakfast, so that the interviewer can learn about your manners and mannerisms while asking you questions.  Maybe at a bar to see if you get hammered every afternoon.

More senior positions often require much more in-depth interviews.  Perhaps you will be interrogated by a panel of Vice Presidents, or maybe spend an entire day at the firm in order to meet a variety of people.

Maybe you will be flown into the company’s headquarters, where you will be evaluated by everyone from the bus driver who picks you up to the receptionist to the interviewer.

For technical skills there may be a test of some sort, and for other disciplines (such as management consulting) there may be a case example for you to study and comment on.

You may go through a series of interviews of different types.  For example, you may have a phone interview that leads to a Skype meeting with the hiring manager that results in a plane flight to the company headquarters where you are grilled by a panel of executives to see if you are someone they want in the company.

It can be quite bewildering!  How can you be sure you are ready to do your best?

You have already done the prerequisites: resume and cover letter have opened the door to the interview, you have updated your wardrobe and worked on your manners and hygiene.  What’s next?

Research, pure and simple.

Get on the internet and search for sites or blogs that discuss the steps others took while interviewing for a particular firm.  Use search terms like “interview preparation for company X” or “interview tips for firm Y”.  Read through them to determine trends.  Make sure to focus on the level of employment you are seeking.  Don’t prepare for a mailroom interview if you are looking to be an executive, or vice versa. Spend an afternoon surfing the net and taking notes.

Also ask around.  Use your network of friends and family to see if anyone has interviewed at the company or knows someone who has.  Pick their brain to see what they learned.

You can also perform some interviews of your own by seeking out people at the company or in the industry to learn more about the firm and to ask them about their experience   This takes a little chutspah on your part, but it may pay off in the long run.  It can be a win-win for you if it is done properly, or a guarantee that you won’t be hired if you do it wrong.  An informational interview is one in which you ask someone about the company in order to learn more about it, and the hiring process is certainly germane to the discussion.  Just calling out of the blue to ask about getting hired, though, is a non-starter!

We’ll dive into specific interviews in future posts…

__________

Lessons Learned:

1.  Interviews are different depending on the company, position, and level of responsibility.  They are not all the same.

2.  Research what type of interview is normal for the job you are seeking.  Use the intenet, your personal network, and the informational interview to learn more about the company and their interview process.

3.  Prepare, prepare, prepare!  Depending on the type of interview you will need to polish different skills.  If it is a lunchtime interview, do yourself a favor and review your table manners.  If it is a traditional interview, make sure to take your suit to the cleaners the week before.

 

 

The next step: getting ready for job interviews

Posted by Mike Grice on

So you’ve written a dynamite resume and married it with the perfect cover letter, and after sending it off to the company where you want to work, you receive the much-anticipated call.  The firm would like to invite you to an interview!

It is a thrilling feeling when the phone rings and the hiring manager is on the other end of the line  – kind of like having having someone you like say “yes” when you ask them out on the first date.  It is also slightly terrifying – also kind of like having someone you like say “yes” when you ask them out on the first date.  Seemingly thousands of thoughts race through your head: what to wear?  when should I arrive?  what does the company expect from me?  what will the interview be like?

It can be overwhelming, but in the next few posts we will take deeper look at the various types of interviews that companies employ to find the right employees.  Some are very traditional, such as meeting the hiring manager in his or her office, and some are very eclectic, with such hoops to jump through as impromptu essay writing, math quizzes, and team building exercises.

The long and the short of it is that all of the work that you have done to this point – researching the company, writing a resume, crafting a cover letter, and sending it in – is wasted unless you can close the deal in the actual interview.

Before we get into the individual interviews and how best to prepare for them, we first need to go over some basics.

Remember always that the purpose of the interview is for the company to fill a need in their organization.  It is never about what a great person you are.  That said, if you fit the need of the company, then you are likely to be hired.  That’s right, you are likely to be hired.

Why is that?  Why only likely?

I’m glad you asked.  Your skills and talents are what got you the interview in the first place.  In the eyes of the company, they are bringing you in and expending resources (in terms of the interviewer’s time, maybe lunch, or maybe even airfare and a hotel room) because you look good on paper and are worthy of a closer look.  Your resume opened the door, but it is up to you to go through it and secure a job offer.

Simply put, the interview is more about how you will fit in with the company’s culture and the way things are done there than your skills.  They want to see how you articulate yourself, how you dress, what your manners and mannerisms are like.  They want to see if you trim your fingernails or pick your nose or scratch yourself in awkward places, or if you project the image that the company wants.  That is what the interview is really all about.

So in the next few posts we will look at how to prepare for specific types of interviews, but before that let’s look at things that pertain to all interviews.

First off is personal hygiene.  Ask someone you know and respect of the opposite sex how you look.  Don’t ask your mom or dad (because they still think of you as a kid in the third grade) but someone who will give you an objective opinion.  Ask them to look at you in terms of a hiring manager.  How does your hair look?   If it is a super-motivated flat-top then you may want to consider growing it out a little bit.  Your posture?  If you slouch in your chair it will project an image of slovenliness.   How do you speak?  If every third work is the “F”-bomb or you use acronyms in every sentence then you need to change your vocabulary.  Do you have any mannerisms that you are not consciously aware of yet are distracting to others, such as drumming your fingers, wiggling your toes, or biting your fingernails?  If so, recognize that you do and make a conscious effort to stop.

Make sure not to take anything that your friend says personally because they are really helping you out.  An unintended benefit is that you may actually pick up on some things that will improve your appearance and help you find a date for Saturday night, but that is an entirely different subject.

Look at how you dress.  As a transitioning military person you likely have a closet full of uniforms and a single navy blue blazer with a rumpled pair of khaki trousers.  That was fine for your time in the military, but it is completely underwhelming in the corporate sector.  Time to do some shopping.

I personally like going to the clothier Joseph A. Bank.  They carry a quality line of professional clothing, and more importantly the staff in the store is there to help you build a complete wardrobe.  This is a bit more challenging than you may realize, but after years and years of wearing exactly the same thing to work has a tendency to dull your fashion sense.  Nobody wants to hire an employee who wears a suit fresh from decades gone by, and just as importantly the sweet threads you wear to a nightclub are definitely not going to make a good impression at your interview.

Talk to the salespeople at the store.  They will show you the current trends in professional attire as well as instruct you on how to coordinate your wardrobe.  Believe it or not, there are color choices outside the green, brown, and khaki palette, and if you choose poorly you will end up looking either comical or color blind.  Swallow your pride and listen to the experts- you will be better looking for it!

__________

Lessons Learned:

1.  There is a lot more to interviewing than just showing up at the hiring manager’s office.  Before you show up, you need prepare, and a significant part of preparation centers around how you will come across in the interview.

2.  Have a trusted friend give you an honest evaluation of your appearance, habits, and hygiene.  Then work on your deficiencies and shortfalls.

3.  Get a new set of clothes.  Talk to the pros at a place like Joseph A. Bank, and listen to what they say. You will look a lot more professional, and that will go a long way in presenting a solid impression at your interview.  They also have some wickedly good sales on suits and whatnot- so take advantage of them when you can.

Innovation in education for veterans: USC’s MBV program

Posted by Mike Grice on

As the war in Afghanistan comes to a close it signals the end to one of the longest periods of protracted warfare in American history.  For well over a decade our nation’s young men and women volunteered to serve in time of war, and over two million of them have seen firsthand the face of conflict.

They have learned things that are not taught in any school and gained experiences that could not be garnered in a lifetime spent following a different path.  These veterans, some still in uniform and many more who have already left the service, have tremendous yet unrealized value for the corporate sector.  They are leaders who have matured in austere and often dangerous circumstances as well as being highly trained in their martial specialties.

Despite their experience, veterans have difficulty transitioning from the military to the corporate sector.  Many are daunted because they feel that they must start all over again.  There are many opportunities for them to go back to school, but it can be frustrating for vets because they feel that their experiences are not valued and the time that they spent serving our country was wasted.

But things are changing.

Leading the charge is the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.  The school recognizes that military professionals have learned so much in their service that it makes sense to not just value such lessons but to also leverage them in an educational context.  In concert with the California Department of Veterans Affairs, alumni, and veterans, USC has developed the Master of Business for Veterans (MBV) degree program.

The MBV is specifically designed to build upon the experience that veterans have gained in their military careers by adding coursework in areas such as finance, accounting, statistics, strategy, marketing, entrepreneurship, business leadership and communication and others that are consistent with traditional MBA programs.    Class sessions meet Fridays and Saturdays over two semesters with minimal interruption to the careers of working professionals. The MBV degree program is constructed of lectures, projects and course work that are delivered via distant learning, with significant projects and course work being primarily completed during the 16 residential sessions.

It is a graduate level program, and as with all programs at that level there are prerequisites for enrollment.  In a nutshell, they are a minimum 3 – 5 years of active and honorable service in the military, a bachelor’s or equivalent degree, two letters of recommendation, and they must complete and submit two essays for the review of the matriculation panel.  Standardized test scores such as the GMAT or GRE are not required, but a good set of scores would certainly help.

The program is an innovative response to the growth in active duty military and veteran communities.  Not simply a mashup of the traditional MBA curriculum, the program is an integrated educational experience that focuses tightly in leveraging the skills of military people to ensure its success.  Class cohorts are small, in the 20 – 40 student range, and the entire class will consist of those who meet the military service requirements.  Like the military, it is both demanding and fast paced.  The course is completed in half the time of a normal resident MBA program, with classes starting in the fall of the academic year and graduation coming the following summer.

Active duty and veterans can take advantage of the Post 9/11 GI Bill to help defray the cost.  Students will learn from world class professors in a world class educational environment, and in the end both the veterans and the corporate sector will benefit from USC’s leadership in educational innovation.

James Ellis, the dean of the USC Marshall School of Business, says it best,   “This is an important program for Marshall, serving a population that has provided outstanding service to our country while creating valuable leaders and managers for the corporate community.”  My hope is that Dean Ellis’s vision spurs other top-notch schools to create programs like the MBV for graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education.

For more information about the program and the admissions process, please go http://www.marshall.usc.edu/mbv or contact the program office at mbv@marshall.usc.edu or 213.740.8990.