Posted on Jan 28, 2016
When HR Professionals Should And Shouldn’t Use A Military Skills Translator
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The overuse of a military skills translator can lead you down a false trail.
Many human resource professionals, talent acquisition consultants, and recruiters sometimes become enamored with military skills translators when attempting to evaluate a transitioning military professional for an open role they may be supporting. A military skills translator can be an effective tool if you’re not familiar with a military occupation code or military job title and you’re trying to determine, “Does the job the transitioning military professional held in the military match the qualifications for this open position?” However, the overuse of a military skills translator can lead you down a false trail that has you passing on top-tier military talent who could have been an excellent hire for your company.
A good use of a military skills translator can help you fill more technically oriented jobs. For example, you are looking to fill an electronics technician role for your company. You are provided a resume of a candidate who happens to be planning a transition from the Navy. The transitioning military professional served in the Navy as a fire control technician. On the surface, you think, “This job has nothing to do with fires,” using the military skills translator, you enter Navy fire control technician, hit the “translate” button, and discover a fire control technician is an electronics technician who maintains and repairs computer systems and sophisticated electronics that control weapons systems. In other words, a fire control technician has completed in-depth electronics repair training and could be an excellent fit for your electronics technician role.
Many human resource professionals, talent acquisition consultants, and recruiters sometimes become enamored with military skills translators when attempting to evaluate a transitioning military professional for an open role they may be supporting. A military skills translator can be an effective tool if you’re not familiar with a military occupation code or military job title and you’re trying to determine, “Does the job the transitioning military professional held in the military match the qualifications for this open position?” However, the overuse of a military skills translator can lead you down a false trail that has you passing on top-tier military talent who could have been an excellent hire for your company.
A good use of a military skills translator can help you fill more technically oriented jobs. For example, you are looking to fill an electronics technician role for your company. You are provided a resume of a candidate who happens to be planning a transition from the Navy. The transitioning military professional served in the Navy as a fire control technician. On the surface, you think, “This job has nothing to do with fires,” using the military skills translator, you enter Navy fire control technician, hit the “translate” button, and discover a fire control technician is an electronics technician who maintains and repairs computer systems and sophisticated electronics that control weapons systems. In other words, a fire control technician has completed in-depth electronics repair training and could be an excellent fit for your electronics technician role.
When HR Professionals Should And Shouldn’t Use A Military Skills Translator
Posted from taskandpurpose.com
Transition
Talent Management
What Would You Do
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 7
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Fortunately I work in HR, and have a pretty good knowledge base of military occupations. I do teach a session on military skills translation for my civilian counterparts, and share that I am always willing to assist with questions.
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Not every person has exercised the full schedule of skills listed in the MOS or job title. It is up to the applicant to describe their work experience. This is what ACAP, Army for Life, whatever the flavor of the day is, does in its resume training.
Outside of what the DoD and Services says we are required to go through when transitioning, when you decide to apply for a job, you should research the company and the job title to see how industry defines that job title. After seeing many applications for a Senior Networking Engineer, i can say that ex-military over-inflate their knowledge/experience when applying for positions. Interviews sort that out real quick fortunately. It also helps when they state their rank. It is hard to fathom an E5 with 6 years has the experience of a Senior position. Even so, we do an interview anyway to see if there is that odd CCIE that decided to serve their country for a spell.
In short, I don't blame the military, I blame the applicant and believe that the hiring organization should save their money in consulting fees and services and see what comes out in the interview.
Outside of what the DoD and Services says we are required to go through when transitioning, when you decide to apply for a job, you should research the company and the job title to see how industry defines that job title. After seeing many applications for a Senior Networking Engineer, i can say that ex-military over-inflate their knowledge/experience when applying for positions. Interviews sort that out real quick fortunately. It also helps when they state their rank. It is hard to fathom an E5 with 6 years has the experience of a Senior position. Even so, we do an interview anyway to see if there is that odd CCIE that decided to serve their country for a spell.
In short, I don't blame the military, I blame the applicant and believe that the hiring organization should save their money in consulting fees and services and see what comes out in the interview.
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