How Do You Handle The," We Are Looking For Individuals With Management Experience Question?" During An Interview.

SGT Aaron Miranda — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 13:34:00 -0400

Okay, you are a proven field NCO/Officer. Your resume clearly states your leadership experience and you effectively used the STAR method explaining your tangible management skill-sets. Of course, civilians with no military experience only assume you are just yelling at your subordinates and making stuff up to get the job. How do you overcome this hurdle during the interview?

Response by Sgt Randy Hill made Jul 18 at 2014 2:18 PM

Sgt Randy Hill — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 14:18:28 -0400

Sgt Miranda such way is to extract the key words for management used on the job posting instead of using the military jargon from our military job analysis. Put your management words and experiences in their corporate language. The job posting and descriptions are great keyword sources.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Jul 18 at 2014 3:37 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 15:37:16 -0400

Okay so there is one thing that rubs me wrong way about how you phrase your question (or maybe I just never experienced it). In my experience, no civilian employer that I either worked for or interviewed with assumed I'm just yelling at my Soldiers or making stuff up to get the job. If they do, then it's probably not the right company for you. However, there are things Veterans can do to help raise their chances of setting a good first impression on the job interview and then hopefully on the first few days/weeks of the new job.

Carry yourself well. When you go to that interview, walk with the confidence of leader. Don't just walk looking down at the ground. Walk into the interview, make eye contact and exchange a good handshake.

Sound confident. Along with the way you walk, the way you talk says a lot about you. This doesn't mean be the loudest voice in the room. Sometimes the loudest voice isn't always the one people are paying attention to. Speak like you know what you are doing because you do. Speak clearly and avoid words such as "like", "um", "whatnot", "sort of", "maybe", etc.

Do you research. You land an interview, then get to know the company. Look at their online social media sites and reviews. Sites like Glassdoor.com and LinkedIN are huge resources when you are trying to learn about the company. Look to see if your interviewer is on LinkedIN, read his/her profile; learn their background. Again, research and prep.

Lastly, this isn't a military board. This is an interview, give it the respect it deserves but do not go over board. There is no need to walk in at the position of attention and wait to be told to take a seat. You want to look confident, not robotic.

These are just a few things Veterans can do to give the right impression on the interview. These are things you can do to help SHOW that you have management experience.

Response by SGT Aaron Miranda made Jul 18 at 2014 4:06 PM

SGT Aaron Miranda — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 16:06:20 -0400

Thanks everybody for the input. I just wanted to stir it up and get different views for veterans struggling with this obstacle. This is the truth of what is out there. The article attached is an example of a person that overcame that struggle. He was educated, retired 1st SGT, and possessed the gift of gab. He was one of my warriors that face this issue and did something about it with some help. http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/dining/articles/20130606iraq-veteran-grilled-cheese-truck-goodyear.html

Iraq veteran puts skills to use with Grilled Cheese Truck

Iraq veteran puts skills to use with Grilled Cheese Truck,After four tours in Iraq, Vernon Lee Gibson returned to a cool reception from employers. He was given the opportunity to own a Grilled Cheese Truck, only to face exclusion because his food truck is a franchise. But armed with a strong work ethic and positive attitude, the veteran is winning supporters.

Response by LTC Chad Storlie made Aug 11 at 2014 1:31 PM

LTC Chad Storlie — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 13:31:12 -0400

Attached is a recent article that I used two easy to remember frameworks for answering interview questions and the top 10 questions that will be asked.

http://taskandpurpose.com/3-communication-methods-master-next-job-interview/

Hope this helps!

Chad

3 Communication Methods To Master Before Your Next Job Interview

A successful interview uses a relaxed and effective communication style combined with a structured, complete response to common interview questions.

Response by LCpl Carl E. Reid made Sep 9 at 2014 12:26 PM

LCpl Carl E. Reid — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:26:38 -0400

Before any interview, each candidate should do a little homework on 2 fronts
- Google the company for their web site to understand what products and services it provides
- Look on the company web site to learn what the mission of the organization is about. This provides business intelligence about the "corporate culture", which is different in each company.

Management experience being obvious in the resume is a secondary reason for the interviewer question "We Are Looking For Individuals With Management Experience"

The primary and more important reason for asking the question has 2 objectives:

1. To verify the candidate can clearly communicate ideas and the speaking manner / tonality of the presentation delivery.

2. Clarify whether the candidate's management style fits into the mission / corporate culture.

Carl E. Reid, CSI

Response by CW3 Dylan E. Raymond, PHR made Sep 11 at 2014 5:13 PM

CW3 Dylan E. Raymond, PHR — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 17:13:33 -0400

I politely disagree that all employers I know there are some that you are going to run into that has biases. But they are tasked with trying to find the best candidate for the role regardless of whether they served in the military or not. I have roles where there is only one position however 1K people apply for it how do you suggest you start sourcing for the position? You have to start somewhere and there is going to be a cutoff and shortlist that you may not make it to. It is a numbers game.

If you go to an interview thinking that the employer has bias your gun is half cocked. You have to go in there and give it our best and hope you convinced the interviewer that you at least make the short list.

So how do you increase the probability of a better chance network, network, network.........

Response by SGT Richard H. made Sep 11 at 2014 5:20 PM

SGT Richard H. — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 17:20:31 -0400

list out day to day management tasks and responsibilities, written in civilian-speak. Never forget that they don't speak our language. It's best if you have it written out this way on your resume and what you say verbally doesn't contradict, of course.