Operation Lily Pad (eBook)

A Hiring Manager's Perspective

Jim VanderMeer (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
594 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-6678-1565-7 (ISBN)

'Operation Lily Pad' is more than just a basic job hunting 'how-to' guide. Instead, this book is designed to enable veterans to realize there is more to job searching than just crafting a resume and following the cookie-cutter template of preparation! This insightful book dives deeper into many seldom - or lightly discussed factors - impacting job hunting such as hiring biases and stereotypes, job hunting preparation and strategy, where to look (to include the hidden job market), professional branding, networking, negotiating offers, and even how hiring managers evaluate and make hiring decisions. And yes, resume optimization, cover letter customization, LinkedIn profile (i.e., social media) preparation, and interview approaches and techniques are also covered. This is a must-have guide for all veterans who are transitioning into civilian and professional life!

"e;Operation Lily Pad"e; is more than just a basic job hunting "e;how-to"e; guide. Instead, this book is designed to enable veterans to realize there is more to job searching than just crafting a resume and following the cookie-cutter template of preparation! This insightful book dives deeper into many seldom - or lightly discussed factors - impacting job hunting. And yes, resume optimization, cover letter customization, LinkedIn profile (i.e., social media) preparation, and interview approaches and techniques are also covered. This is a must-have guide for all veterans who are transitioning into civilian and professional life!According to the Department of Defense (DoD), every year in the United States, approximately 200,000 service members leave military service. For a country with the best-trained, best-equipped, and best operational-ready armed forces in the world, we do a very marginal-to-poor job of preparing these men and women for life after their service in uniform. According to a study completed by Syracuse University, about fifty (50) percent of veterans feel ill-prepared for their post-military transition, including how to effectively job hunt. But why? Are we just not doing a great job preparing veterans to find work after service in uniform? Or is there more to the challenges facing transitioning veterans? We can help them better prepare and meet these challenges-this is the catalyst behind "e;Operation Lily Pad"e;.

Realities of the Transition

“Jobs are no longer in demand—talent is!” – VanderHouwen website

It’s true that companies want to hire veterans, but often the reality of why they do is lost in the appeal of the patriotic notion. Most companies will not admit it, but they are struggling with how to hire the right talent regardless of the source. Layer on top of this the desire to hire veterans but complicated by a lack of understanding about your military experience, and you now have an extremely challenging hiring scenario for both you and them. As a result, veteran recruiting can often become a victim of its own good intentions as candidates with military backgrounds unknowingly complicate hiring for both them and hiring managers. The combination of reluctant (think naive or ill equipped to translate military experience and backgrounds) hiring managers and a hiring process designed to help employers find the best applicants already entrenched within the civilian job market means the deck is not necessarily stacked in your favor as a freshly minted civilian. Instead, it is configured for the ninety-two (92) percent of the workforce who are not veterans. Instead, the job hiring process is designed to attract either recent college grads (who generally lack experience) or employees having just left a similar position at another company (with years of working in an almost identical role).2 As a result, you are faced with a process not necessarily equipped to comprehend, evaluate, and translate military experience a majority of the time.

Combine all of this with the inherent difficulty and stress of just searching for a job in the first place and you have a recipe for a tough uphill battle. Job transitions are one of the most stressful evolutions we can experience as a human, alongside events like marriage, the expansion of the family unit, the buying of a house, the death of a loved one, financial loss, unemployment, and divorce. However, as with these other changes, finding a job is not insurmountable. You have proven during your military service you can handle this type of challenge and come out on top!

Every year, approximately 200,000 service members leave the military. Unfortunately, eighty (80) percent of veterans experience unemployment during their transition. As mentioned above, job transitions are highly stressful, and, despite having time leading up to the transition, many transitioning veterans are neither planning for when they leave, nor are they even thinking about leaving until it is too late. Your plan needs to be comprehensive and based on some proven fundamentals. Without a solid transition strategy, you will struggle with finding your first job. As I like to say, “Hope is not a job search plan.” You should not rely on luck or even hope to land a job—you must have a plan, execute your plan, and in the process be nimble and adaptive as you progress through the opportunities.

As you have been taught over and over in the military, no plan survives first contact. Keep in mind there are things you can control and things you cannot control during your job pursuit. Things you cannot control include hiring personalities, timing of jobs, how quickly the hiring process takes, company culture, industry and market dynamics, and the economy’s impact on job market growth. What you can control is what you do to prepare for your job search and how you approach your job pursuit and larger career development. But remember, you will need to be flexible and adjust your approach in finding your next job. Be prepared to tweak or revamp your approach, your brand, your elevator pitch, your resume, your interviewing techniques, and so on as you progress.

Garbage in, garbage out. You get what you pay for. You reap what you sow. Pick your favorite catchphrase. Regardless, your career progression, and, more immediately, your job pursuit, will be a full-time job. You need to prioritize your job pursuit and the goal of landing on the first lily pad—finding your starter job. You also need to balance this with your larger life—your family, friends, and your other passions. Make your job search your top priority but avoid getting burnt out and overwhelmed—allow for downtime. Continue to work out, tend to your mental wellness, get plenty of rest, and enjoy time with family and friends. However, ingrained in your DNA (and refined during your military service) is a drive to succeed despite the odds. Harness this drive but do so in an effective, positive manner. Leverage what you are about to read but remember PDCA. Plan, Do, Check and Act Adjust…

I heard one veteran transition counselor proclaim, “when you get out of the military you go from being someone to being no one.” I could not disagree more! You go from being someone in the military to being an untapped potential someone with a lot to offer future employers. You just need to know how to package and market your potential and define the someone you are going to be. Your greatest professional opportunities are ahead of you. Do not look back—there is no rear-view mirror in job searching. Prepare and look forward. Be realistic, but also be passionate.

When working with transitioning veterans, I usually start with the sobering reality of the job transition—a transition you will likely make many times. This includes a fundamental concept—no one is out there ready to hand you your first job in the civilian world. I recall one frustrated job hunter who exclaimed, “Why doesn’t anyone just give me a job?!” No one is standing there ready to hand you a job like one of those solicitors handing out flyers for the latest Broadway show. This may seem obvious, but when you are in the thick of the job search and frustrated by endless dead-ends and lack of responses, your exasperation will expect results and answers. As such, before you jump into your job search, however, take into advisement these four fundamentals of job searching. These are factors I have also encountered in my career, and, if ignored, can contribute to frustration and even become debilitating during your job search:

#1 – Timeline. Your job search will take two (2) to three (3) times longer than you expect. This is often due to events, activities, processes, and scheduling constraints beyond your control. Assume the two (2) to three (3) times worst-case scenario and prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, physically and even financially. By assuming and planning for a longer than expected timeline you will alleviate one source of stress in your job search, and this will allow you to better focus and feel a little less pressure about how quickly you need to find a job.

#2 – The job is not about you. Despite what you may think, pursuing a particular job and convincing the hiring manager you are the right candidate is not about you, but instead is about them—what they need, what they want, and what you need to do to align with their expectations. Put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes and ask yourself the hard questions about what you showcase on your resume, or what you bring to the interview would matter to them? How will you resonate and connect with them? What value do they recognize in your background or experience that makes them want to consider you for the position? Can they see you in this role and why? Or why not?

#3 – Lost in translation. As you will learn and we will explore further in this book, most hiring managers’ exposure to the military is limited to Hollywood’s portrayal of the military, and, in most cases, with little to no real-life exposure at all. Things like military structure, organization, operation, and terminology are foreign to most hiring managers and recruiters. Hiring managers are looking for the best candidate to help them address their immediate needs. They will take the path of least resistance to arrive at this point, which means, if necessary, avoiding the need to translate or decipher your background and military experience. It is your job, not theirs, to translate and communicate what you did in the military and its relevance to what they need. You need to shift your branding, speech, and jargon accordingly, and demilitarize your resume, cover letter, elevator speech, and even approach to interviewing (see Demilitarization of your interview section below). Do not think of this as a betrayal of your time in the military—you should be proud of who you are, but you should not expect others, especially those with no military background, to not comprehend or even appreciate what you accomplished during your time in service. Approaching the job search as a veteran, you have an added responsibility compared to other candidates to help the hiring manager navigate your military background and experience, as well as connect this experience and background with what they need for a particular position. You have the potential—you just need to help them navigate your military past to see your awesome potential!

#4 — There is no set career path. If you are looking for a roadmap of positions or jobs you need to complete in order to achieve your ultimate career goal, think again—it likely does not exist. What you will learn quickly is that you need to imagine a...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	1.1.2022
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Beruf / Finanzen / Recht / Wirtschaft ► Bewerbung / Karriere
ISBN-10	1-6678-1565-2 / 1667815652
ISBN-13	978-1-6678-1565-7 / 9781667815657

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