Posted on Jan 29, 2018
After leaving the military, do you feel companies truly recognize your worth during their interview process?
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Posted in these groups: Veteran Transition Specialist
My Veteran Community
My Veteran Community
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 14
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This really comes down to how you present yourself and if you really have worth to that employer. As veterans, we like to believe that our soft skills can get us into any position and that some of our hard skills will translate and make us great applicants, but the truth is that many people think so highly of themselves that they attempt to go with positions that they have no chance in hell of being employed for. People need to start taking a hard look at what they really have to offer an employer and perhaps begin thinking about going after a few certifications or continuing their formal education before applying for some positions. Just because one holds the title of veteran does not make them superman.
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SGT DeMario McIlwain
Point well taken! Thank you for sharing. We're working to make this process of transitioning veterans easier, would love for you to visit our site http://www.getbranddisco.com/veteran --take the demo and provide us with a review as we are pushing hard into the civilian workforce to aid in veterans getting jobs they deserve based on the understanding of their personal brand value.
Introducing BrandDisco, an automated discovery tool designed to make the Veteran recruiting process a simpler, better and faster experience so that top-recruiters can hire Veteran top-talent faster!BrandDisco works by converting military values into civilian worth that can be immediately applied to a number of comparable career choices.
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COL Vincent Stoneking
SGT Joseph Gunderson Very well stated, and the #1 issue I have seen. #2 being horrid, horrid resumes that are unreadable.
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
I have noticed that the inability to create and organize an intelligible resume is not an issue unique to veterans. I have no clue how many resumes I have either written from scratch for people or had to overhaul because they were god awful.
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MAJ Grant Gutkowski
Agreed. When I left the military, I took what effectively amounted to a $35K pay cut (BAH, COLA, etc.). I was horribly upset that I thought I was so undervalued. However, patience is a virtue, and my skillset shone through. After 5 years, I've received 4 pay raises and 3 promotions. Now I'm right back where I was, and am perfectly happy with my employment and employer.
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SGT DeMario McIlwain When I was discharged in June 1972, I went through an extensive series of tests and three interviews for a high paying job at a chemical plant. One of the interviewers was anti military/veterans. He brought up my service in Vietnam and asked if I was stable. I kept my calm and answered his questions without flying off the handle. The other two interviews went fine, and I was hired along with someone with a degree out of 100 applicants interviewed. When I obtained my degree, I started work on the Space Shuttle Program. No mention of my military service was made during the interview process. I had a good resume, was knowledge about the Space Program, and was confident during the interview. Since I was hired for these jobs, they must have recognized someone that could get the job done.
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SGT DeMario McIlwain
Great story! We have developed a tool to make this transition smoother for veterans and HR Recruiters! Would love for you to visit our site http://www.getbranddisco.com/veteran --take the demo and provide us with a review as we are pushing hard into the civilian workforce to aid in veterans getting jobs they deserve based on the understanding of their personal brand value.
Introducing BrandDisco, an automated discovery tool designed to make the Veteran recruiting process a simpler, better and faster experience so that top-recruiters can hire Veteran top-talent faster!BrandDisco works by converting military values into civilian worth that can be immediately applied to a number of comparable career choices.
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SGT DeMario McIlwain When I retired from the Navy in 1990 after 23 years I was recruited by my County Sheriff's Department. One of the steps was to come before an Oral board of deputies of various ranks. They were trying to see if I could hold up to what they saw as issues I would encounter in the job as a Deputy Sheriff. During the interview it became very clear to me, by their questions, that they had no idea what I went through, the training I had, the duties I had acquired and the sacrifices I had to endure. So in short, I do not feel the civilian companies fully understand or are able to value your experiences and worth to them, unless they are all ex-military. As the old saying goes and is para-phrased, Do not judge me until you have walked in my shoes". By the way I got the job and became their boss in the long run. What I did was try to get in their shoes, and talked to them in terms they understood. A civilian will never understand the responsibilities the military put on you, even as a young man! This is just my experiences going from Military to civilian.
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SGT DeMario McIlwain
Thank you for sharing such a powerful story! And congrats on getting the job. I went through something similar but didnt end up with the job..(lol) My end result is Co-Founding a new development to help translate military strengths into corporate terms. We've recently launched our veteran's tool. I would like to invite you to take the demo and please by all means share a review as we are using this information to push into the HR Recruiter market so veterans can have a better chance at not going through what you and I did as prideful soldiers! It takes about 5 mins and we would love to review your results. The website: http://www.getbranddisco.com/veteran (We also will welcome you to a free debriefing and how this tool is being used with some of our clients)
Introducing BrandDisco, an automated discovery tool designed to make the Veteran recruiting process a simpler, better and faster experience so that top-recruiters can hire Veteran top-talent faster!BrandDisco works by converting military values into civilian worth that can be immediately applied to a number of comparable career choices.
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CWO3 Dennis M.
SGT DeMario McIlwain - Thank you for the high five! It sounds like you are well advanced in what you are doing and will do for veterans. I congratulate you on what you are doing. I am not sure that I, as a a veteran that entered the Military over half a century ago, is viable in today's market. I am 70 years old. I retired from the military 38 years ago! I am a dinosaur to say the least. BY the way, I think the company that passed on you made a serious error! Also, the job I got after that oral board was as a part time Deputy Sheriff. Within a year. I was the Chief Deputy of the Department (#2 man under the Sheriff). I held that position for 11 years. I then became the High Sheriff for 7 years, from which job I retired once again and that was in 2008. I will look at the web page, but I will not make any promises. You do not want an old Navy Veteran, knuckle dragging sailor, throwing a wrench in today's modern work force hiring tool! I am ancient history!
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SGT DeMario McIlwain
Thank you very much CWO3 Dennis McClure. We STILL would welcome your advice! 70+ years of experience sounds great to me.
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Some companies, and indeed some industries, are better than others, but by and large, no. That isn't to say many companies interviewing potential candidates might not WANT to recognize the value of the veterans in front of them, but most certainly cannot relate to the vet or their experiences in most cases.
Besides, to be fair it takes a little work--even by the vets themselves--to recognize how veterans' experiences relate to the civilian world. After all, while it's not much of a stretch for an Army wheeled mechanic to apply their military vocational skills to being a mechanic in the civilian world, Infantrymen aren't going to find too many jobs needing their singular skillset. In a case like that, strengths such as leadership and perseverance might come into play, but being unquantifiable by nature, may not be easily recognized.
Besides, to be fair it takes a little work--even by the vets themselves--to recognize how veterans' experiences relate to the civilian world. After all, while it's not much of a stretch for an Army wheeled mechanic to apply their military vocational skills to being a mechanic in the civilian world, Infantrymen aren't going to find too many jobs needing their singular skillset. In a case like that, strengths such as leadership and perseverance might come into play, but being unquantifiable by nature, may not be easily recognized.
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Thank you to everyone who shared their story! The reason this information is important to me, is based on the new development of our automated tool designed to help HR Recruiters related and understand military values in relations to civilian values. I invite you all to visit: http://www.getbranddisco.com/veteran and take the demo, leave a review....As we are using this information to continue our push into the civilian workforce markets.
Introducing BrandDisco, an automated discovery tool designed to make the Veteran recruiting process a simpler, better and faster experience so that top-recruiters can hire Veteran top-talent faster!BrandDisco works by converting military values into civilian worth that can be immediately applied to a number of comparable career choices.
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SGT DeMario McIlwain
I can feel the power of those words! We're working to make this process of transitioning veterans easier, would love for you to visit our site http://www.getbranddisco.com/veteran --take the demo and provide us with a review as we are pushing hard into the civilian workforce to aid in veterans getting jobs they deserve based on the understanding of their personal brand value.
Introducing BrandDisco, an automated discovery tool designed to make the Veteran recruiting process a simpler, better and faster experience so that top-recruiters can hire Veteran top-talent faster!BrandDisco works by converting military values into civilian worth that can be immediately applied to a number of comparable career choices.
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I believe that they do see your worth but it depends upon who you interact with or initially reviews your qualifications. If the person reviewing your resume/application has a military background or affiliation, they already know what the veteran brings to the table. Newer reviewers/ interviewers may have trouble making the association between the individual and the organization. All organizations try to see how you can help the Company reach its goals.
The greatest issue for separating members that I see are that military members resume's look more like MOS or AFSC specific job duties or multiple tasks and duty assignments rather than accomplishments. For the non-military reviewer, it means trying to translate multiple skills into job relativity from usually 3-4 pages of terminology that the hiring manager has no clue about. My recommendation is to seek out someone to help you rewrite that resume so that you "shine". As an employer, I want the person who served their country(no matter what job) to have the best opportunity to be hired.
The greatest issue for separating members that I see are that military members resume's look more like MOS or AFSC specific job duties or multiple tasks and duty assignments rather than accomplishments. For the non-military reviewer, it means trying to translate multiple skills into job relativity from usually 3-4 pages of terminology that the hiring manager has no clue about. My recommendation is to seek out someone to help you rewrite that resume so that you "shine". As an employer, I want the person who served their country(no matter what job) to have the best opportunity to be hired.
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SGT DeMario McIlwain
I love that line "resume's look more like MOS job duties"! This is true. With the military being the first "job" I had outside of teenage working, I too thought my skill set was golden to civilian job recruiters, but now I know better! Because of that...we're working to make this process of transitioning veterans easier, would love for you to visit our site http://www.getbranddisco.com/veteran --take the demo and provide us with a review as we are pushing hard into the civilian workforce to aid in veterans getting jobs they deserve based on the understanding of their personal brand value.
Introducing BrandDisco, an automated discovery tool designed to make the Veteran recruiting process a simpler, better and faster experience so that top-recruiters can hire Veteran top-talent faster!BrandDisco works by converting military values into civilian worth that can be immediately applied to a number of comparable career choices.
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We have to remember that we need to show the value we bring to the table for a prospective employer. Service is a great thing, but is generally a poor indicator regarding someone's potential to be a good fit for a job. The military is like any other group. We have our good and bad and everything in between. So the person being interviewed has to show their worth during the interview process.
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In the particular field I pursued after separating, firefighting and emergency medical services, my previous military experience carried a huge amount of weight when applying for both the schooling and then employment with a number of agencies. When I applied for my first position as a firefighter with a small department in Key Largo, Fl, I was competing with 20 other candidates for one position. We all had practically the same level of certifications but I was the only veteran and that, I was told, was what won me the position. It payed off a couple more times as I applied to larger better paying departments.
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I worked for 5 different companies in my civilian career I interviewed with several more.
I was actually told by one of the group that hired me for one that one of the members of the deciding group actually wanted to not hire me because I had served in the military.
From my standpoint I would say that many have no idea what serving in the military involves.
It is up to you to show them what you have done and how your experience can add to their company.
I was actually told by one of the group that hired me for one that one of the members of the deciding group actually wanted to not hire me because I had served in the military.
From my standpoint I would say that many have no idea what serving in the military involves.
It is up to you to show them what you have done and how your experience can add to their company.
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