paul smith ⋅ Warner Robins, GA USAF - Technical college ⋅ 30 years experience

Suggest you consider taking a career test in the area of "color me." These type of career checks classify you by color as to personality type..i.e. gold signifies a rule follower, green sybolizes the analytical, etc. Understanding your personality type can provide insight into you responses in an interview. It may very well be help to have a friend video you in a mock interview...remember that each sector of the business community has a orientation of skill set that value.

Robert Brockman ⋅ San Diego, CA San Diego State University now Self Empl ⋅ 52 years experience

That smile goes along way.........but no doubt you already know it. Given your rank, you probably are abundantly loaded for getting interest so I would say it comes down to selecting and seeking best fit employment opportunities. After that, your best helpers are within your connections and networking along with finding a source that will drill you in mock interviews......minimum of 3. Don't underestimate how much competition you will have in which the interview drives the decision.

Bill Garrison ⋅ Lake Wales, FL Plus-32 Employment Testing ⋅ 30 years experience

If it's not too late you could take a free personality profile on my site which is the resume report. This will show employers your character and talent traits. The report will list 18 different talent and character traits and their strengths. This can be a good "foot in the door for interviews.

Just go here http://www.brgmain.com/resume/Resume.htm
and use auth code PPT.
Good luck,
Bill Garrison Plus-32 employment testing

Babak Chizari ⋅ Manhattan, KS General Electric ⋅ 3 years experience

Hello Crystal, thanks for your service. I found that the single best piece of literature on interviewing has been "Do This, Get Hired" by Mark Lyden. It's a pretty light read and extremely helpful. However, some pointers from my experience include:
-Be prepared for a behavioral technical interview. Essentially, you will most likely be asked to tell how you have used technology to improve/optimize projects, how you have interacted with customers to deliver a quality product, how you have overcome various challenges (deadline balance, difficult people to work with, being given a start and end goal and having to carve your own path). So have answers ready for these types of questions.
-Be as specific as possible. Having spent time in the armed forces can make this difficult at time so go over scenarios on your own as practice and ensure your response has as many details as possible, without sharing information that you are not allowed to.
-Speak to your resume. Every work experience you have had has surely helped you grow in one way or another. I worked at Subway for 3 years and can easily squeeze out a handful of growth points from even a simple fast food job. Don't undervalue the work that you have done from anyone, ever.
-Give as many different work experience answers as possible. If you have 5 jobs on your resume, be prepared to speak to each of them. It's frustrating as an interviewer to see a really great potential candidate only speak to his/her most recent experience because they did not take the time to read over their resume and derive value from previous jobs. It makes you seem like you have only learned from the X amount of years at your last position, which I am positive is not true.
-Be confident and use body language effectively. Point your toes and body towards your speaker, even if your feet are not visible under a table. Smile before the interview, smiling has been shown to increase positive thoughts so you can actually make yourself happy while simply smiling in the moments leading up to your interview. Don't cross your arms or make yourself seem smaller, defensive body language is surprisingly easy to pick up one. Finally, take deep breaths between answers and thoughts. This will increase blood flow to your brain and also decrease the pitch of your voice. It sounds silly, I know, but try it! A deeper voice is easier on the interviewer's ears and carries a tone of confidence much better that a shrill/high-pitched voice.

These are really the big points I hammer on, but in the end, the best thing you can do is practice for an interview. You went to Basic Training before you went overseas and that seemed to get you home safe, so do some Basic Training for your interview and you will increase your chances of landing a job. Hope that helped. If you have any other questions, please let me know at Babak.Chizari@ge.com

jody sibole ⋅ Smyrna, GA American Express ⋅ 34 years experience

Thank you so much for your service. I recommend doing research on the company that you will be interviewing with. Know what their growth plans are, and how your skills can help the company achieve those goals. Practice interviewing with someone who has been in a hiring position before. The more you know about the position you are applying for, the more confident you will be during the interview, and that will come across to the hiring manager. Tell the interviewer why you are the best candidate for that position. Best of Luck!