No Longer In Uniform? Then You Are Out of Your Wrapper

Guest Blogger: Jason Sedivy, USCG Veteran

Rockers, chevrons, crows, stripes, stars-the list goes on. These all mean something to someone working in the military. It is a standard all military members learn to respect alongside seniority and general experience. And, it is universally identifiable by almost everyone-military or not. No longer wearing the uniform as the all informing wrapper displaying my role and level of leadership was a huge change and a serious hurdle as I searched for jobs in my new career. And, this easily identifiable symbol of one’s place in an organization-the one thing military members can count on in day-to-day life-disappears like a quick puff of smoke the minute you take it off.

My wrapper identified me as a well-tenured member of the USCG, and a Chief Petty Officer to boot. I knew exactly what I was and what I could do every single day. And, for the most part, so did those around me. I am here to testify to all my veteran brothers and sisters and hope you can read this and maybe avoid some simple pitfalls I ran into transitioning your once-obvious qualifications into the civilian workplace.

It is important to understand that once your wrapper comes off and the close-as-skin supervisors you had in the military are no more, you must market yourself and find new ways to make yourself stand out. The following are problems that I have observed in my hunt for a post-military career gathered from my own experience, other veterans, hiring managers and resume service professionals. Hopefully they can help at least one person gloss over the first clumsy steps I took and set them on the right path quicker than I found it.

Employers Want EducationThe key to any decent career is education, obviously-and experience. Skill sets that military members pick up during their careers make civilian hiring managers brains quiver. How often does one see a person with 8 years of leadership and management experience (basically from E-3 up, dependent upon perspective and the relevance upon the job you want) along with maybe three or four different operational competencies and dozens of professional level certifications? It simply is not the norm out here. On the other hand, service members for whatever reason are not as educated as their civilian counterparts and the scales can tip either way in the competition of today’s job market. Use Tuition Assistance. Use your GI Bill. Apply for grants and scholarships. You need that degree. For example, I have submitted resumes for 46 different safety manager and safety coordinator positions. Of those, 38 “preferred” to see a BS on my resume. “Preferred” is a strong suggestion that unless you have eye-popping skills and experience on your resume, you will be in the middle of the pack in competition without the degree.

Learn more about earning your degree. Visit the Military​.com Education Center.

Don’t Demand Ransom-Like Salaries

Do not expect to replace your entire military salary right out of the gate. If you do not have the “preferred” education or certifications that are the norm in your chosen industry, you must make concessions. You, in some ways, will be starting from square one. But, your pay will still be quite a bit higher than those with little or no experience-even if your experience is not necessarily in the industry you now seek a job in. And, the skills you learned and qualities instilled by your military service will propel you if you use them wisely.

Watch Your Language

When you market yourself, do not try to describe your experience in passive, cliché, and general terms. Describe what you achieved not what you did. According to Professional Resume Writers, this is one of the most common mistakes of all non-professional resume writers.

Examples:

• Passive language/ Doing: Duties include dealing with difficult customer service issues.
• Action language/ Achieving: Entrusted with the most complex customer service issues as a result of exceptional ability to promptly resolve concerns and satisfy customers.

In your work history section, quantify your achievements. In the action language example above, you could expand: Consistently achieved a quarterly customer approval rating of 98%. See how that all fits?

Obviously — but frequently overlooked by job seekers –make sure your resume is absolutely free of grammatical, spelling and punctuation mistakes. This is a huge no-no in resume submission and will kill your chances upon its discovery.

Precision Can Equal Decision

Make sure your resume and cover letter pass the 30 second test. This means that your Career Summary and Core Competencies are clearly displayed in the top third of the first page of your resume. 30 seconds. This is the average amount of time the average hiring manager gives the average resume when deciding to either keep or round file your hard work. Make it count!

Consider the Experts

If all else fails, consider having your resume, cover letter, and other documents professionally done. It can be rather expensive up front. But, the results can be breathtaking compared to your own efforts. The people who write resumes for a living know what employers are looking for. They know how to catch their attention quickly. And, best of all, the pro resume writer doesn’t know you from Adam and has to do his or her level best to sell you as a product without bias.

Just to make sure everyone can understand this. Think of a product on a shelf.  Think of all the job seekers out there. That shelf would be lined up with a bunch of average looking people with no obvious symbol of what they can do. The employer is the shopper forced by that reality to pick up, if only briefly, each person to look at their label. You want to endeavor to make your label (resume) as obvious and spiffy as your uniform once was. Inexpensive, effective, smart and easy to figure out at a glance. And, if you cannot accomplish this, consider hiring an advertising agency (professional resume writer) to design your label.

I wish all who are making the transition the very best of luck!