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From your hiring experience, what qualities does a veteran offer that distinguish them from non-veterans and become an attractive potential employee?

Veteran

Christopher Weimar New York, NY

To assist veterans transitioning to the private sector

17 February 2015 40 replies Career Advancement

Answers

Advisor

John Dyck, Ph.D. Spring, TX

One more thing. Your mind set is not correct when , as a veteran, you try to separate yourself from civilians (a.k.a. non-veterans) based on your AF background. You have to start thinking like a civilian.

Employers hire civilians. You have got to present as a civilian. You will not be hired as a veteran. You might be invited to an interview because you are a veteran but you will be hired as a civilian.

Use your experience and skills from your AF career to distinguish yourself from other civilian candidates.

12 April 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Craig Hordlow Naples, FL

Don't forget loyalty. Companies worry about turn-over. Vets can position themselves as having the ultimate in loyalty and dedication.

17 March 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Charles Bonilla Chicago, IL

Chris,

Lots of great advice.

The challenge is capturing your experience, distilling your experience, and relating your experience in a compelling manner that will ignite the potential employer's imagination. In my humble opinion, Kevin McWalters nailed it when he advised you tell a story.

You'll have a tough row to hoe because of your seniority. It seems that many veterans jobs programs are designed for the greatest number of transitioning veterans. Senior NCOs and senior officers are at the far end of that curve. The good news is, you have an awesome opportunity to distinguish yourself IF:

In your resume, you tell your story via SPECIFIC achievement/accomplishment-based bullets WITH metrics
In an interview, you tell your a story in :30 second soundbites, confirm that's enough, or if they want you to go on, do so for another :30
In either medium, you ABSOLUTELY translate your experience from military to civilian.
absolutely invest the time to customize your resume to the desired position; do not cut and paste; DO your research on the company;
translate "Capt.," "Major.," "LtCol." or "Col." to Manager, or Senior Manager, or some designation that's in the vernacular of your desired company
translate all assignments from "AFB" or "AB" to the nearest major city
use achievement-based bullets/statements

Remember, yours is not the only resume they're reviewing; and you're not the only person they're interviewing.

Less is more to be memorable.

Consider these questions:

1. What is it that makes you passionate about your field?
2. What are your top three geographic areas to work?
3. What is the ideal size of the company for which you want to work?

Kind regards,
Charles

P.S. Consider these resources:
http://www.amazon.com/Out-Uniform-Successful-Military-Civilian/dp/1597977152
http://www.amazon.com/Success-Your-New-Mission-Transition/dp/0991561309
http://www.amazon.com/From-Force-Blue-Corporate-Gray/dp/1570230390

Feel free to connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesbonilla

7 June 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Bernard Picot San Jose, CA

Think as a veteran, act as a civilian. The best of both worlds, endurance, honor, resilience, structure, loyalty, leadership and now flexibility, compassion and social communication skills.

Good luck

Bernard

6 June 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

John Dyck, Ph.D. Spring, TX

Hello Colonel,
I grew up in Colorado Springs. Lived on the west side. My father had a furniture store in west CS for 30 years and then sold the building at corner of Colorado Ave and 24th st. The Meadow Muffin café is in the building now although I understand that the Meadow Muffin has been closed for remodeling. I was in the first class to graduate from Palmer High school (formerly CS high school). That was just after the earth cooled in 1960.

Below is a list of core competencies that employers look for. Think of examples of how you have used these competencies and how you could use them to help you potential employer build his/her business.

Also network with former AF friends to find out where they are employed . Former military tend to hire former military especially former AF types.

Contact me at jwdyck@sbcglobal.net. I have done a lot of transition training at Offut AFB and on the AF bases in San Antonio.

Core competencies:
Competencies such as
The ability to identify, organize, plan and allocate resources
The ability to work with others
The ability to acquire and use information
The ability to understand complex interrelationships
The ability to work with a variety of technologies

Basic skills such as
The ability to read and write
The ability to perform arithmetic and mathematical operations
The ability to listen and speak

Thinking skills such as
The ability to think creativity
The ability to make decisions
The ability to solve problems
The ability to learn
The ability to reason

Personal qualities such as
Responsibility
Self-esteem
Sociability
Self-management
Integrity and honesty

12 April 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Barbara Stern Boulder, CO

Commitment, discipline and problem solving are necessary qualifications for most employment opportunities. Stressing these qualities are attractive to an employer.

9 March 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Doug Hill Kearneysville, WV

Everything.

Advisor

Andrew Kaelin New York, NY

My one liner for any job interview:

"I know how to make educated decisions in high stress environments, where the results of those decisions could have very serious outcomes"

Advisor

Vivek Vadakkuppattu Seattle, WA

IMHO, the top 3 things that sets aside anyone who has been in the armed forces than others are:
(1) Leadership skills - Most people in corporate don't get to manage 100s of people well before they are into 2 digits of experience. Leading 10s/100s of people much earlier, and under more challenging conditions definitely builds stronger and more adept leadership, and people management skills
(2) Ability to function calmly even under extreme stress - Comes in handy both in internal and customer facing roles
(3) Resourcefulness/entrepreneurial mindset. Being an entrepreneur requires perseverance, enviable resourcefulness, and the ability to adapt to the constantly changing environment - all things that hold true for the battlefield too

Advisor

Lori Kruse Pleasant Prairie, WI

Hello Colonel Weimar and thank you so very much for your service to the best country in the world! I have not read the other responses, so let me apologize upfront for any overlap. I have worked for J&J for going on 29 years and I can tell you that we have a good number of veteran's working for our company in many different capacities. If fact, my Chairman and CEO is a veteran. The skills that it takes to be successful in the millitary transfer extremely well to any position in civilan life. Performance words and phrases that come to mind are: integrity, discipline, flexibility, perseverance, determination, stamina, calm-under-pressure, focus, ability to perform in difficult/stressful situations, ability to thrive in an environment with a diverse workforce, leadership and honesty. I am a firm believer in skills making someone qualifed for a position and not necessarily specific jobs or positions. A veteran with skills and the ability to communicate how he/she obtained those skills while enlisted is a compelling story indeed. I wish you the best of success!

Advisor

Autumn Schneider Saint Johns, MI

I just read an article in the Wall Street Journal in the past month about a company who loves hiring veterans and why. Perhaps you can find it by googling it. I found this older article with a quick search: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443624204578056461756235962
There were many like it to choose from.

Advisor

Jeff Shoemaker Lake In The Hills, IL

Almost too many to list. Focus on leadership especially the ability to develop and manage teams to achieve a common goal. Process oriented, able to communicate effectively across cultures, adaptability,..........

Advisor

Melissa McSherry Arlington, VA

First, thank you so much for your service.

I think many of the comments on this thread are very good. In my experience, veterans have positively distinguished themselves in three ways:
1. No drama. There are lots of inputs to this - they get teamwork, they get working in a large organization, and no matter how annoying the corporate situation, it isn't like having someone shooting at you. But at the end of the day, the military folks I have worked with generate much less drama and much more constructive output than the average non military person.
2. A focus on outcomes. The veterans I have worked with have understood that outcomes matter more than spin and have generally been more effective at getting to outcomes.
3. Often leadership. The best military folks I have worked with are great at this. Occasionally there is a concern that someone coming from a "command and control" environment will not be as effective at inspiring people, but my experience is that veterans on average are better at this.

All these things are most effectively communicated through a story. I think the most common format is, "I value x (for example, getting to outcomes) because I had this experience (fill in story where you did something you are proud of) where x was the difference (why getting to outcomes mattered in that situation)".

Good luck!

Advisor

June R Massoud Burlington, VT

Reliability, adaptability, awareness of security concerns, teamwork, team player. You should maybe start off doing something in sales as there is always work in that area. Best of Luck, June R Massoud

Advisor

Gunnar Light Chandler, AZ

A large portion of my business career has been working in international markets. To the extent that Veterans may have had first hand experience living and working overseas, (and as a result been immersed in a variety of local cultures), this offers the opportunity to acquire many unique skills and qualities which are extremely valuable and difficult to teach. Companies are looking for leaders with a "Global Mindset." At Thunderbird's Global Mindset Leadership Institute, for example, this can be broken into three categories: Intellectual Capital, which refers to an individual's global savvy, cosmopolitan outlook, and cognitive complexity; Psychological Capital, which refers to the individual's passion for diversity, quest for adventure, and self-assurance; and Social Capital, which refers to intercultural empathy, interpersonal impact, and diplomacy. Thunderbird's Global Mindset Leadership Institute has developed a Global Mindset (GMI®) assessment tool which can be taken online to measure the Global Mindset profile of a given leader. Veterans with considerable overseas experience may have already acquired a high level of these Capital qualities and therefore be well positioned to move into leadership roles within globally focused organizations.

Advisor

michael convey Longboat Key, FL

Thanks for doing what you do.

Emphasize and illustrate your leadership skills.

Most major companies place a premium value on service personnel, especially those with leadership qualifications. As such Fortune 500 companies, hi-tech companies and other growth oriented companies are good places to look. Corporate websites, execeutive search firms specializing in your field along employment agencies is a another good source. Make sure your resume is a fresh, and if possible emphasize accomplishments. Customizing your resume and job objective is very helpful when seeking a high level position, such as that which you are seeking.

Best of luck

Veteran

Leon Pikor Los Angeles, CA

Focus on positive outcome use other people who are successful to coach you.

We become what we think about all day long. Earl Nightingale.

Advisor

Scott Mikkelsen Cave Creek, AZ

Chris
Vets are widely regarded as disciplined, mentally tough, mission focused, punctual, great at getting from point A to point B, great at prioritizing......
All of the traits you have been using in the military put you ahead of most applicants.
Play these up along with your experience, responsibility and training.
Good luck.
Scott

Veteran

Michael Del Vecchio Killingworth, CT

Hi Chris,

I left the US Army in 1970 - I learned these things - not sure non-veterans get these as in-depth as I did
teamwork (with a capital "T")
responsibility and accountability
focus, drive, direction
communications skills up and down the chain
truthfulness
quick situation awareness, assessment, and action

what I did not learn was corporate political skill - it is a different community

Advisor

michael convey Longboat Key, FL

Leadership qualities that come from veterans are well known and should be elaborated onduring interviews, You may want to illustrate how your leadership ability could assist the interviewer, or give an example of your ability. Discipline and reliability are aother strong characteristics that employers look for, and veterans can normally provide.

Advisor

Jeff Martin Ashburn, VA

I would try to highlight things like - demonstrated people leadership, decision making, accountability, integrity with as much emphasis as possible on people leadership. Corporate America suffers from a lack of good people leaders and I think military experience can create excellent people leadership skills that are very valuable in corporate America.

Advisor

Kevin MacWalters New York, NY

Military service may distinguish Veterans from civilians. But everyone loves a good story. And Veterans have great stories. So tell a story. The excitement of something unique to serving in the military, combined with insight to your character, helps connect, gives a personal touch to sharing part of who we are. That’s invaluable to finding the right fit.

Veteran

Steve Smith Cedar Park, TX

Thank you for your service!

I would say:

1. Flexible and adaptable.
2. When the going gets tough, military people can continue with the mission. (I know several civilian people that get all wrapped up and tense in our daily cubicle work. The military people who have experienced stress in the field know how to stay calm and work the problem, even when things are falling apart around them).
3. Professional demeanor.

Advisor

Bernie Berania Middleburg, FL

I'll keep it short for you Colonel. A veteran comes with a set of qualities that are expected that the job market needs: discipline, loyalty, following the SOP. But to add to those unique set of experiences and skills, I would add: 1) Translating DD214s or military classes to equivalent business experiences, 2) Earning a degree while serving even if it's an AA, 3) Keen attention and detail to clear communication in both written and verbal (can't stress those enough!), and 4) An enthusiastic, but realistic personality! -All the best, Bernie

Advisor

Robert Boswell Broomall, PA

Discipline. Responsibly for self and others.

Advisor

William (Liam) Hickey Chicago, IL

Loyalty, discipline, and hands-on experience

Advisor

David Akre New York, NY

You're probably determined, smart, loyal and not full of it. That's what I would think before you walked in the door to interview. All of that gives you a huge leg up. Same goes for all veterans. Use it to your advantage.

Advisor

Janey McCarthy Pikesville, MD

Veterans are trained to think on their feet, take initiative, work as a team. They are adaptable to new work and living situations. They're start-up and turnaround experts.
Veterans are dedicated, loyal and disciplined. Qualities which are especially attractive to large, structured corporate cultures.
Best of luck. And thank you for your service.
Janey

Veteran

Glenn Robinson Aberdeen, MD

We military veterans have a strong sense of high standards, which we strive to maintain; veterans are more polite and professional when it come to management of people on work projects. We strive to stay away from negative workplace issues, such as gossip, poor performance, etc.... We produce positve outcomes at work on a high level.

Advisor

David Alhadeff Buffalo Grove, IL

Chris,
In a business environment that moves fast, I believe that a veteran can bring a higher level of efficiency and discipline to the job than a non-veteran. Such competencies are more connected to a military "mission" than they would typically be to an corporate initiative. I also think a veteran brings crisis leadership skills that would rarely present themselves to a non-veteran employee. As a corporate trainer, I have also found that veterans are often more engaged in a training program than a non-veteran. Their listening skills and their overall level of attention and involvement in the conversation are quite high, given a prior world where training was both regimented, enormously monitored and possibly life-saving.
Thanks for your service.

Advisor

Emily Alfstad Mount Pleasant, SC

Veterans can be the best combination of team leader and team player. Organizational structure is similar in the military and civilian sectors, but advancement opportunities (promotions) arise more regularly and are more sharply defined in the military sector, so a veteran will have obtained leadership positions and skills earlier than a civilian counterpart and developed them over a longer period by the time he or she is ready to transition to civilian life. Similarly, your duties and responsibilities are relatively well understood at each level; ours are less so (lower, middle, and upper management can mean different things to different companies, so we have to explicitly define them each time).

Personalities aside, military units tend to operate more cohesively than similar civilian units. Military units work for the good of the whole and a common objective; each individual within the unit is not pitted against the others for personal advancement or recognition. Although civilian units may be assigned a common objective, each individual is more concerned with outshining his or her peers and obtaining the coveted promotion and/or raise. Companies strongly prefer the military mindset of working toward the COMPANY objectives; hiring managers (mine included!) will ask initially and at each performance review whether you are aligned with the mission and vision of the company.

THIS is how you will edge a civilian interviewee for the same position; you have PROVEN with your service that you are willing to work (hard! tirelessly! unselfishly!) for a larger, more universal objective. It's not that we civilians are not also willing, but it's harder for us to prove it BEFORE we're hired, unless we were somehow responsible for turning a previous company from failure to success. Also, it's hard to fake; the hiring manager can tell whether you're genuinely invested in the company or whether you're paying lip service to earn a paycheck.

Best of luck, and thank you for serving!

Advisor

Barry Sosnick Greenlawn, NY

I would add to the list an ability to manage risk. Finance is about maximizing returns for a given risk. The ultimate risk is the responsibility is protecting lives. Having done that, I think it is easy to convince someone that you are the kind of person who will find opportunities to grow without risking the firm's reputation, customers and assets.

Another valuable point is that veterans learned to serve as well as lead. It means that they are well adapted to the realities of a work environment. Even a CEO running a business is still responsible to the company's customers and shareholders. A division head still needs to cooperate with other divisions. Leadership gets so much attention, but understanding that serving managers, customers and other stakeholders is just as valuable. Knowing when to lead and when to follow is a critical skill that veterans have mastered.

Advisor

Craig Fraser Jamison, PA

There are some generalities which apply to all veterans that employers find attractive. In comparison with their civilian peers, veterans are exceptional in tackling challenges and problem solving as well as exercising high personal accountability. This matters because in many larger companies, people survive by not accepting "person risk" while veterans excel because of these traits. They also understand leadership of teams. The biggest misconception our civilian counterparts have about military leadership is people have to follow you because of rank. As we know, they do.... but not well. The skills learned to focus and align teams against clear objectives, foster team work, ensure resources are there and command and control measures in place then inspire and lead out front are invaluable experiences. I have worked essentially in sales and marketing and as a military officer, we are trained to inherently think in terms of an "op order" format (considering situation, enemy (competition), the mission (clear goal), strategies linked to tactics, resources and control) and then plan for flexibility and adaptation. All of this is a business plan - plain and simple. Lastly, the amount of responsibility we obtained at such a young age shows. In business, age 22 or 27 is young where as in the military, you are squad leader, company commander (and other important jobs the air force and navy have, etc.) whereas civilian counterparts are just getting started. Good luck!

Advisor

Nancy Stober Hillsborough, NJ

Thank you for your service first off! Being a veteran speaks volumes of your character, determination, getting the job done, commitment, following directions, and displays leadership skills that many civilians do not have. Its such an added plus which differentiates you from other candidates. Think about all those marketable qualities when someone asks "Why should I hire you" Back up the results with the accomplishments of being a veteran.

Advisor

Aaron Bernstine New Galilee, PA

*Ability to accept coaching and feedback
*Striving toward team-based goals
*Individual accountability to the organizational mission

Advisor

Sue Novotney Lapeer, MI

One of the things as a leader that I always found valuable is that you usually have experience working under pressure and that most people with military background are excellent team members - willing to pitch in and help out to ensure the success of the project/engagement.

Advisor

Neil Serafin Easthampton, MA

Hi Chris- Vet's pluse over the civilian population: Ability to deal with change. Unlike other military forces in say israel or the U.K. where you sign up with your unit for the entire hitch, the U.S. changes the players all the time. Vet's minus over the civilian population: No track record of profitability.

The people who hire you and their executives are clueless on what you did in the military and how you did it. This group shops at Costco (read household incomes over $100k) and has had little if any connection to the military since conscription ended 42 years ago.

Advisor

Robert Brockman San Diego, CA

I would say if their skill sets are right, what they bring is ready, willing and able with discipline along with an understanding of organization goal based performance fulfillment and team work.......all of which comes with measures of experience and reasonable successes.

Advisor

Brage Garofalo, M.A. South San Francisco, CA

Chris,
This is an easy answer and one I am constantly sharing with my colleagues. In addition to what Sam has listed, veterans bring the following (in no particular order):
* Ability to plan
* Ability to negotiate and work with all types of personalities
* Ability to meet tight timelines
* Leadership
* Planning and organizational skills
* Ability to work as a team and within a team
* Ability to flexible and nimble
* Able to perform critical thinking and problem solving, whether it's in a high-stress situation or working with a difficult situation

I'm quite certain the list could go on and on, but these are the things that I try to highlight this with the men and women I work with to underscore this on their resumes, LI profiles and speak to during their informational interviews because they all bring this to any employer.

Advisor

Sam Chamberlin Cincinnati, OH

Discipline, ability to plan and in some situations, practical experience in the field they are seeking. I hired engineers and technicians for physical security system projects and found veteran candidates could identify with the security problems our systems were intended to monitor and detect. Also veterans tend to be straight shooters. Honesty is a key asset for any position.

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