Daniel Latch ⋅ Northridge, CA ⋅ 25 years experience

Jennifer,

You've received some fine input already so I'll try to take it to another level or put in a new twist you might find useful. While there is a very real potential for getting someone from the outside to give you a can of 'here's who and what veterans are and how to deal with them' but cans of anything tend to get put on the shelf and gather dust unless quickly consumed. You probably already have the resources you need in your organization - veterans. They are the best trainers your can ask for because they are compelled to help the company and help a fellow veteran. . . .Failing to find any, put out a feeler for relatives or friends of employees who are veterans. Gather a steering committee of veterans to help you achieve your goals and even set them.

If they come from within your organization you've got the makings of an onboarding team to help new veteran hires transition to your culture and mentoring them will come naturally. Imagine being interviewed for a job and having the process punctuated with opportunities to speak with potential future co-worker who is a fellow alumnus. Imagine being the hiring manager with a team confederate helping you leverage your knowledge gap for success.

This approach serves two angels: first, you'll get the best employee, which is often not the person who interviews best; second, the veteran will feel well treated even if not selected and know that veteran status did not what hold them back. That will be motivating for them in their next interview and they will have learned valuable lessons and possibly have made a friend.

Daniel Hodd ⋅ Brooklyn, NY U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Gunnery Sergeant ⋅ 10 years served

Hi Jennifer,

As a veteran, it's really encouraging to see proactive employer-side interest in better understanding veteran applicants. While I do believe the burden ultimately falls on the vet, I also believe that efforts by employers to understand fundamentals aspects of military service will ultimately lead to better hiring decisions. Thank you.

It's hard to understand military service unless one has experienced it (and even then, each service arguably has a distinct culture). Further, the type of experience a given serviceman may have will vary based on his job field, and can't be faithfully reduced to rank alone. I know that the organizers of the Veterans on Wall Street conference created a seminar, which they delivered to hiring managers, to address this issue specifically.

In addition to the suggestions above, I'd look at IAVA. I'm doing some digging as well - will gladly report what I find.

Best,
Dan

Judy Tomlinson ⋅ Dallas, TX Energy Future Holdings ⋅ 25 years experience

You should not be submitting a military resume for a civilian job. HR recruiters are only looking for that certain set of skills that fit the job description they posted. You have maybe 5 minutes for them to find the key words that fit the job and then you have either been placed on the "continue to review" or discard pile. Send me your resume and I will be happy to take a look. tomlinsonjk@aol.com
Judy Tomlinson

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Buller Group also offers a "Certified Veteran Recruiter Program"
http://tinyurl.com/bvas5yb

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=4hncpkfab&v=001Nk7PNBlHbx25NxiP6bVCPMP6Cd8LoR8Ikk6yyJ2Qy-FBb2bWD1-VGUZ_YTLTcuplzduQn_UwI2WESN1sCcFQd6BrtzfaAm9ammYWzIaUANpWnKKC4bMg34o1UXJx7prsONe-gdaLL5JmHk5X4EYOuw%3D%3D&goback=%2Egde_165622_member_137650318

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

see http://www.thevalueofaveteran.com/

The Value of a Veteran offers free webinars as well as other servcies. The next free webinar is Aug 6.

http://www.thevalueofaveteran.com/ask_military_recruiting_expert.html

Mark Tegtmeyer ⋅ Denton, TX PepsiCo - Frito Lay ⋅ 11 years experience

Jennifer,

The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is probably a good tool to have handy. http://www.esgr.mil/site/Resources/Employers.aspx (employer portal, but I encourage you to view the whole site).

ESGR's primary responsibility is to work through legal issues regarding employing military, but they are excited to help answer questions rather than react to issues that come up. Much of the focus is on the employment rights of veterans, National Guard and Reservists. It should help you understand what your employee service members are entitled to AND what you should expect out of them regarding wearing both the DoD uniform and your company's name on their shirt. Understanding some of the legal questions will give you some insight into servicemember's jargon and experiences.

For your specific need, they would probably be willing to help you interpert the skill sets, ranks, job titles a bit to give you better insight into what you're seeing on resumes. It may depend on who you initially talk to, but I know there are folks in their organization that should be willing to come meet with you.

ESGR is a great dynamic organization. Yes, their foremost responsibility is mediating legal issues, but they prefer that as a last resort. They work extremely hard to partner with and educate employers about the benefits of servicemembers in the civilian workplace. In fact, they have great programs to recognize companies for their support of servicemembers.

Judy Tomlinson ⋅ Dallas, TX Energy Future Holdings ⋅ 25 years experience

Your resume should be based on your experience. Add a "Skills" section and use bullet points to list your strong points (Management, Computer experience, any specific roles you have been assigned). The Skills section provides employes a quick overview. Keep your Work Experience section to just the date, Employer and title and maybe a brief description of your major areas of responsibility. An Honors and Awards section can list whatever comendations you received.

Most hiring managers take no more than 5 minutes to determine if someone is going to be considered for an interview. Keep your resume short and to the point.

I'd be happy to take a look if you'd like an opinion.

Send it to tomlinsonjk@aol.com

Judy Tomlinson

Charles McGrue ⋅ U.S. Army Reserve, Captain ⋅ 21 years served

Actually you can do a google search and get various things that will help you with understanding the rank structure and positions. One thing you should remember is a Captain in the Army and a Captain in the Navy are not even close to being the same thing.

Charles

Pavan Khatri ⋅ Henderson, NV Oil and Gas ⋅ 14 years experience

Please contact Penpower and Granite Services on the East Coast. They are a veteran friendly and specialty organization that gives employment to specialty veteran skillset personnel.

Meghan Brunaugh ⋅ Pocasset, MA U.S. Coast Guard, Lieutenant ⋅ 6 years served

Jennifer,

I am a veteran who is starting my own business helping other veterans transition, and part of our value proposition is helping the businesses understand how to translate a military resume. I would love to talk to you about the problems you are having, and how a solution could best be tailored to fit your needs, which would help me in the formation of my business strategy.

Thanks,
Meghan
meghan.brunaugh@combat2career.com

Scott Goodman ⋅ Waxhaw, NC Siemens ⋅ 30 years experience

Jennifer

I too have been letting individuals know of military terms on their resume. I only do this due to my past experience. With 23 years of Marine corps experience logically assembled on two sheets of a resume I was scaring companies and HR folks away with military phrasing and acronymes. I had to civilianize my resume to keep the communication lines open during the interview process. Sure if I hit the lottery and was sitting across from a retired military interviewer I was in the money but that was not happening.

I would like to help you in any way I can, please let me know what you need. I would like to do my part in easing the transition of our military personnel into the civilian world.

Thanks
Scott