What are the biggest barriers military veterans face once leaving the service?

SGT Jamell Culbreath — Mon, 18 May 2015 14:54:23 -0400

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made May 18 at 2015 2:59 PM

Sgt David G Duchesneau — Mon, 18 May 2015 14:59:17 -0400

With the guys that work Security and Investigations with and for us, it's letting go!

Response by SGT David T. made May 18 at 2015 2:59 PM

SGT David T. — Mon, 18 May 2015 14:59:15 -0400

This is a really big question. I can only speak for what I experienced. I felt a loss of identity when I was discharged because I had tied so much of who I was to what I did for a living. I knew exactly who SGT Thomas was but didn't have a clue who David was. Another thing I found difficult was that no one cared about my military service. We have a sense of pride and comradeship that civilians don't. As such we see how important what we do is. In entering the civilian workforce no one really cares what I did before only what value I can provide them in the here and now. Another hard thing I ran into was translating my military skills into civilian terms. It may be better now but when I did ACAP it was pretty much worthless and didn't help me one bit. Luckily, I have a good support structure with some of my fellow vets and was mentored on how to obtain civilian employment. I look back on that first year after ETS and it was rough, but with a little bit or hard work, flexibility, and the age old adapt, improvise, over come and drive on things work out for the best.

Response by LTC Chad Storlie made May 18 at 2015 3:00 PM

LTC Chad Storlie — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:00:55 -0400

Jamell,

The one central issue is that military experience, especially combat experience and deployment experience, make military veterans, Guard, and Reserve great employees . The caveat is that military experience must be translated and applied in a way that supports the employer's culture, operations, and practices. Veterans and Reserve members often ask themselves, "What can I do as a military veteran to quickly and effectively help an organization succeed?" It appears to be a simple question, but in a new business, a federal government role, a nonprofit, or educational institution, this can be a daunting challenge. Today's employment environment is often characterized by few opportunities, a high degree of risk avoidance by companies in hiring practices, and an ongoing focus on employee productivity. However, you can quickly become a top candidate when you present all of your military experience in a way that directly supports the organization's primary goals. The secret for veterans is to constantly and consistently translate, leverage, and demonstrate all that your military experience can do for an organization's success.

The good news for military veterans is that employers -- whether high technology, manufacturing, finance, or construction -- all are eager to employ more veterans. In June 2010, the Society of Human Resource Managers released a survey on HR Managers opinions about hiring military veterans. Greater than 80 percent of HR Managers were interested in military veterans because of their dedication, experience, and commitment. However, 60 percent of those same HR Managers felt that military veterans needed to do more to translate their military skills into business applications (SHRM, June 2010, Employing Military Personnel and Recruiting Veterans). The first key point from the SHRM study is military veterans have skills that businesses admire, and businesses want to hire veterans. The second key point is that veterans need to re-examine their entire range of skills and determine how they can apply more of them to the job they have (or the job they want). Veterans do best when they adjust their military skills to the company's culture and work processes. Again, there's no time to complain; dig in, and get it done.

I think that one of my hardest transitions came when I moved back from serving as a U.S. Army Special Forces officer in combat in Iraq to emerging as a successful and dynamic commercial leader. In 2003, I was the lead planning officer for a special operations unit numbering over 5,000 people and I lead a planning staff of up to 20 people. Based in Baghdad, it was a dangerous, demanding and complex position where small errors could lead to enormous consequences. Then in less than 20 days, I was back, at a desk, in a different city, relearning how to apply my military skills to make a new organization successful.

The secret to a successful transition was the same as being successful in the military. Smile more, project confidence to your employees, listen more than you speak, ask a lot of questions, get out of the office to understand a situation, help others advance their careers and fully recognize the role of others in your success. Being seen as a leader who is humble, honest, demanding, analytical and rewarding is a great way to rise in an organization.

Military veterans, Guard, and Reserve have the attributes, skills, leadership, and transferable skills that business needs today. One of the examples that veterans can use today both for seeking employment and for their career advancement is the concept of P-A-C-E, a planning tool from my Army Special Forces days. P-A-C-E stands for Primary-Alternate-Contingency-Emergency and I used it to build networks around my Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency employment plans. That way each of the contacts and networks that I constructed would independently support one of the four or five job prospects that I was pursuing. If it seems a bit over the top, that's because it was. As a job changer, an industry switcher and a person seeking promotion in a down economy, you need to stack the deck in your favor, get known, and reduce stereo types. Another area that veterans can add immediate value for business is to help coach and develop other employees in a similar fashion that they did in the military using the Performance Counseling Statement. When counseling in the military, the leader describes what happened, how the soldier performed against the standard, then creates an improvement plan to help the soldier succeed, and finally follow ups frequently to ensure the improvement plan is succeeding. The same performance counseling session can be used in a commercial organization. When I was at a former company, I had a 15+ year employee thank me for doing a performance coaching and career planning session with tears in her eyes because it was the first time a leader had stopped, understood her goals, and then created a plan to help her succeed. Another great military to business skill is the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). SOP's are every day, common and vital activity whose performance is a foundation for the success of the organization. To be successful and to ensure adoption, SOP's must be based upon employee input and design. McDonald's is an unrivaled master at common food preparation and food service procedures. The incorporation of employees and management to draft, test, and finalize important procedures are essential. The more common the procedures, the greater the value when conditions change.

Leadership by example and helping your employees succeed goes far both in the military and in business. On a daily basis, I also use some of my core military experience to become better in business. In 1990, I was a U.S. Army platoon leader on the demilitarized zone in Korea, my employees and mid-level managers (soldiers and noncommissioned officers) constantly reinforced the need to go out and see the reality on the ground. Today, more than 20 years later, there is nothing better than a ground-level discussion with customers and on-the-ground leaders to discern the true customer need, how the company actually performs and what steps are necessary to create the best customer value. There is one more military skill set that allowed me to do well. The first is the application of my military skills in leadership, planning, risk management and intelligence that helped me do competitive analysis and various contingency planning, especially for new product launches. Military skill sets, when adapted to your specific organization’s requirements and culture, are powerful.

Here is some background:

A. Here are some links to articles that I have written that discuss how to translate and apply military skills to business:

Every Veteran Hired Blog Posts - http://www.everyveteranhired.com/author/cstorlie/

Task & Purpose Blog Posts - http://taskandpurpose.com/author/chad-storlie/

Harvard Business Review Blog Posts -http://blogs.hbr.org/chad-storlie/

EHS Today - http://ehstoday.com/safety-leadership/let-s-be-careful-out-there-what-us-army-can-teach-employers-about-working-safely

Sioux City Journal - http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/opinion/columnists/other-voices-apply-lessons-of-d-day-for-business-success/article_5c4b50cf-97a2-5d87-9599-de170cce794f.html

Oxford Leadership Journal - http://www.oxfordleadership.com/journal/vol2_issue1/storlie.pdf

Orlando Business Journal - http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2014/08/5-military-leadership-skills-that-can-help-junior.html

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made May 18 at 2015 3:01 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:01:03 -0400

Stereotypes..both our own and civilian ideas of us. Stereotypes are not usually positive. Even in some gov agencies, I've heard remarks that we aren't particularly bright, had no other options, etc...and take great pains to correct that kind of thinking. Still shocks me to hear it even today.

Response by LTC Gavin Heater made May 18 at 2015 3:07 PM

LTC Gavin Heater — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:07:01 -0400

I think jargon poses a considerable barrier, meaning the industry words employers use and the technical lingo service members use. A potential candidate may get bypassesed for what their resume says despite having the skills. Take advantage of review services and networking.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 18 at 2015 3:11 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:11:11 -0400

I would say the sense of brotherhood or feeling like they are part of something bigger.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made May 18 at 2015 3:15 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:15:34 -0400

Is this why many veterans try to become self employed, so they don't have to worry about working with and working for idiots? By being self employed, they can control who is hired, fired and even who speaks.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made May 18 at 2015 3:32 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:32:51 -0400

This is one reason why I am planning my financial bed to lay in, and I plan to go back to college and work part time.

Response by SGT Jeremiah B. made May 18 at 2015 3:43 PM

SGT Jeremiah B. — Mon, 18 May 2015 15:43:53 -0400

Transition and reintegration can be extremely difficult. The civilian world is so different that many service members go running back to the military within a year. Wrapping your head around the lack of structure, "lax discipline" and individualistic mindset is important.

The other is properly converting your military experience into transferable or at least meaningful civilian skills. The transition program isn't great for this. I can't recommend paying a professional resume writer to help you get this done enough!

Response by PO1 John Miller made May 18 at 2015 11:45 PM

PO1 John Miller — Mon, 18 May 2015 23:45:23 -0400

Civilian stereotypes - all veterans have PTSD

Veteran stereotypes - We're going to find a job that pays as much as or better than we made on active duty.

Response by CSM James Winslow made Jun 15 at 2015 2:30 AM

CSM James Winslow — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:30:22 -0400

Either they think they can move mountains, or they do not give themselves enough credit for what they have done. There is no equivalent for military service in the civilian world, and some employers are not in the picture of what military members can actually accomplish. For my part, it was learning how to write my resume and conduct an interwiew so I wouldn't scare prospective employers off. These skills cannot be readily learned and only come from experience, and each employer is different, and has different expectations.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Jun 18 at 2015 3:14 PM

MSG Brad Sand — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 15:14:23 -0400

Barriers are personal. They are going to change for each person. It is always in the detail and without details no one is going to be able provide a quantifiable answer to you.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jun 18 at 2015 4:00 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 16:00:47 -0400

Everyone's missed the long boat so far. Tough love time again.

IGNORANCE! ASSUMPTIONS!

There are the nasty mountains that have to be climbed to be successful. Businesses do have some like for the discipline, drive, etc. that an ex-mil can bring to the table, but it ends there. You have to understand different cultures, processes, business practices, sense of timing, etc. and you better come up to speed in it because business will only invest so much time and money in you before they write you off. Failure to assimilate is one reason many Vets have a hard time making it. They can't or won't and then wonder why.

So it's never too early to get schooled up on life on the outside. Seeking out current Reservists who work both sides is a good thing for mentoring and learning the ropes. Seek them out when they are around. Federal, State, and Local governments have process driven hiring systems with varying degrees of preferences and protections. Commercial sector is much more free wheeling. They're trying to figure out if you'll make them money. It's an investment gamble for them. So anything you can to to improve THEIR odds, not yours, will help. Slick talk and BS performance assures an early exit and word will circulate about you faster than liberty in Subic.

The last recession was actually good for many businesses. They got rid of their dead wood and rode out the storm. Now work is picking back up but not so much the hiring as they're leery of what stupid things the Feds will do so they're keeping their marbles. When they do hire, they can select amongst those who are ready to hit the road running because they're out there. They are avoiding the dead wood. Besides those who stopped looking for work, long term unemployment is a flag for dead wood so employers screen those candidates more closely.

I can't stress more that military service doesn't mean "Anointment". However it can mean "Ointment" in that it can smooth your way in ahead of non military. However you have to know when and how to apply it and where. Rubbing it into someone's nose won't help. That's where your assumptions can hurt. Just because you have specialized experience doesn't mean a prospective employer cares about it. It's your job to provide the translation services, not theirs.

I was in the hiring game for contractors a long time. The principles of what you're looking for is similar. Capability, experience is fine but you have to know how to communicate it in terms that the employer sees will add to their success.

Response by SFC Mark Bailey made Aug 17 at 2015 10:05 AM

SFC Mark Bailey — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 10:05:54 -0400

My biggest barrier was the fact that I was Combat Arms, and when asked about what I did in the Military...none of my accomplishments seemed to matter to my potential employer. It always seemed to circle back to what my MOS was, and not my education level (4.0 MBA) or what my NCO-ER's always looked like (always top of my grade with well documented bullets).

It came down to "So, You were Infantry"

I have a fantastic job now for an excellent company that saw past all of the Combat Arms background to the real me. Their hiring comment was "we need more people like you that are here to simply get the job done ". It has been a long hard road since leaving Afghanistan, and the number of hiring opportunities that simply vanished in front of my face without cause led me to believe it was either my age or my military background (and it was probably both, I'm 54 now).

Response by MSgt Rena Schmidt made Apr 26 at 2016 11:53 AM

MSgt Rena Schmidt — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 11:53:53 -0400

that I am a female and a vet most people think it is my husband, but I served for 27 years! Also getting any employment I do work for the government due to husband's position we did move 5x in 7 years getting employment was hard.

Response by PO1 Darren Martin made Aug 11 at 2016 2:11 PM

PO1 Darren Martin — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 14:11:28 -0400

I would say the biggest barrier is the veteran themselves. I meet guys all the time who did one enlistment and they act like they served 30 years. The biggest advice I give most veterans is to not talk about your service in the civilian life. You are not longer Major/Sgt XYZ you are Steve. The military is one part of your life like high school.

Response by PO3 James Carter made Sep 4 at 2016 8:35 PM

PO3 James Carter — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 20:35:52 -0400

<scratching my chin> Well from my observations and experiences and of course the situations..I believe it's mainly the civilian themselves....In the military everyone knows what and how much you make..and no one is afraid of you taking their their 'job' away from them if you get promoted. And then of course you have the team work and camaraderie and everyone should more or less help you and themselves out..of course you have the exceptions......I've noticed in the civilian world that unless it's in a 'professional' field i.e. police, fire, emt something along those lines; your so called co workers will try and back stab you, try and take something away from you to make them look better and especially put in a bad word for you if they are suddenly in charge... A few jobs that I had after I got out i was looked down upon and treated like dirt because I was former military because I think they thought I would try and take their job and promotion away from them since I was squared away and what not..which if I may put in a quick afterthought here..Civilians don't seem to have the teamwork bug...they think if you want to help them or something then you must be out for their 'promotion'.....but that's just my opinion:)