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Landing a job with no experience

Veteran

karlton minter Cibolo, TX

My job in the airforce is Aerospace Medical Technician, I am planning to join the Air National guard when my enlistment ends as an active duty member. As an Air national guard member my job will become an finance comptroller. How can I get a job in banking with no experience?

16 June 2015 24 replies Military to Civilian Transition

Answers

Advisor

John Zima Kutztown, PA

Karlton - I would recommend as others have to begin to network and let everyone know of your plans. That will lead to someone knowing someone. Then be prepared to tell everyone who you are. Start an exercise on identifying three of your competencies, then list 3 examples of how you applied those competencies. A common formula here is the
C A R = Think of time when you were Challenged - what were your Actions to address the challenge and then, what were the Results. What was the outcome. Employers understand that you are growing in your career and that you are not going to bring many years of experience, however they do want to know that you have the key skills to drive yourself forward and the company. Reach out if you need more help with this.

1 July 2015 Helpful answer

Veteran

FB Zgorski Los Angeles, CA

Bank of America and Chase Bank are big employers for veterans interested in finance. No experience other than customer service and the ability to pass their test s required for an entry level position.

1 July 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Melissa McSherry Arlington, VA

Karlton,

First, thank you so much for your continuing service to your country. I am very grateful, as are the other posters on the board.

Second, I think there is a lot of good advice here, so I'd second the suggestions around building your network and remembering that you do have very valuable experiences and skills.

It might be helpful to understand why you are interested in banking, since banking is pretty broad and why you are interested will help others steer you in the right direction. it would also be helpful to understand what kinds of things you have enjoyed the most in past roles. For instance, does helping someone get you really jazzed? A customer facing role might be good. Or do you like to understand how complicated systems work? A finance or strategy role might be good. Or are you really competitive? Sales might be good. This will also help me and others make good suggestions. Often finding a job where the actual activities of the job are things you like doing is the key to being successful at the job.

I do know Capital One is very interested in hiring veterans, has a site in South Dakota (I noticed you are in ND). They have many different types of roles and in general are very open to hiring people without traditional banking experience.

Good luck!

4 July 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Emanuel Carpenter Alpharetta, GA

Karlton:

I get it. I was in a similar situation when I left the Air Force. You want a full-time job in banking. You’ll be serving in the Air National Guard but that’s only one weekend a month. You need a job before you start your Guard duties. And you don’t want it to be a technician job.

Here’s what I suggest:

First, get help with your resume. There are tons of people on this site who will do it for free. Play up your soft skills you’ve acquired from the Air Force like discipline, leadership, and dependability. If you have taken college courses, let employers know that too.

Second, contact all of your family, friends, and colleagues. Let them know that finding a job ASAP is essential for you. Ask them if they know of any company that could use a person with your experience. Your personal network is going to be your best resource. Just about every good job I’ve had was a result of me knowing someone who had the insider’s track on the position. Most importantly, I got the jobs BEFORE they were ever posted on a job board. One time, a position was created for me. Employers love it when their employees personally know job candidates. And many employers offer bonuses to employees who refer good candidates too. So everybody wins.

Third, remember that you have no experience in banking. But that’s okay because there are plenty of jobs in banking for people with little or no experience. My first job out of the Air Force was a mail clerk at a national bank. My best friend was an employee at the bank and personally recommended me. I won’t sugarcoat it. The job was crap. The pay was crap too. But my friend who recommended me also started in the mail room but then moved up to a better position. That’s because he had established relationships with the managers of different departments while working his mail room job. He also got to see what jobs were getting posted prior to them being made available to the general public since the bank believed in hiring from within. Bottom line, don’t be too proud to start low. Consider applying to be a teller, mail room clerk, or even a collector for the bank. Then use that position to grow within the company.

Fourth, remember that by the time a position is posted in the classifieds or on job posts, it’s probably already gone. And many employers post positions they never intend to fill because they intend to use the interviews for free consulting from candidates. (My own chief HR person told me this secret.) So if you respond to a bunch of job posts and do not hear back from those companies, this is probably why. It’s okay to apply for these jobs. Just don’t make them your number one priority.

Finally, keep learning. Take college courses. Take free courses. Read books. Sign up for free webinars. If you have the G.I. Bill for education, use it. If you get education benefits from the Guard, use them. If your employer reimburses the cost of your courses, take advantage of the program. Some good free resources include Udemy, Coursera, Lynda.com, Udacity, and BrightTalk.

Best of luck with this exciting new chapter in your life.

4 July 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

John (Casey) Roach Greenwich, CT

Please provide me some basic information:
where would you like to work: city, state
what is your education - be sure to include your education in the airforce
why are you interested in working for a bank

With some basic information we can begin to discuss your opportunities

2 July 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Maureen Devane Purchase, NY

Karlton, thanks for your service to our great nation. Please strike the words "with no experience" from your description of yourself. You have plenty of experience -- the key is positioning it correctly for the jobs you are interested in. Whenever looking at a position description, focus on the skills the employer is looking for and how your experience relate to those skills. In addition to the suggestions regarding networking, you might want to consider a reading a book or taking an online / community college course in introductory Finance, which will get you familiar with the language of the field (if this is not something that will be provided by the Air National Guard.
Best of luck! Happy 4th!

2 July 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Gerald Mannikarote Houston, TX

Hi Karlton,
Along with Susana, I too am a little confused with your question. Based on your question, it seems that you will be getting finance experience with the Air National Guard.
All that aside, I think it is important that you follow through with what the other advisors have already stated. Don't discount your current skill set.
Do an exercise of understanding your current skills. As a Med Tech, I am sure that you have a lot of analytical and problem solving skills. These skills, I believe, are very important in a finance career. You may have several others- leadership, decision making, etc.
Figure out what those are... create and develop a linkedin profile. Begin networking and sell your skills. You will be on your way to the career you truly want.
Warm regards,
Jerry

2 July 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

June R Massoud Burlington, VT

Start working as a bank teller and work your way up. Or do sales for banks.
Best,
June R Massoud

Advisor

Gregg Rieber Port Washington, NY

Karlton,

First, thank you for your service. Second, I believe you have already received some very good advice so I won't reiterate what has already been said. I'm an HR person who has been in Financial Services for 17 plus years. Many Financial services companies have hiring initiatives related to military veterans so I believe there is opportunity. I believe you need to target your search - location, type of role, etc. I would be happy to review your resume and help you tailor it to the positions you are seeking and I may even be able to provide you contacts in the Financial Services industry depending on location and type of role you are looking for.

Advisor

Deb Miller Bardstown, KY

Sir, thank you so much for your service. Please just remember that your service is experience. Experience in leadership, teamwork, teambuilding, operations planning and execution, not to mention your MOS training and experience.

Advisor

Deb Miller Bardstown, KY

Sir, thank you so much for your service. Please just remember that your service is experience. Experience in leadership, teamwork, teambuilding, operations planning and execution, not to mention your MOS training and experience.

Veteran

Jack Bosma Butler, NJ

Please stop by the AFRC on Minot. I attended a conference with the director, Scott Kuehn, a few years ago. The staff can help you out.

Advisor

michael convey Longboat Key, FL

Ask yourself How did I get the job as comptroller? Use the answers you found in developi ng a resume around these skills and the experience you anticipate enjoying in your new position. I am a strong believer in using Linkedin as a networking device. There are different committees, and think tank groups that would be extremely helpful in learning more about positions similar to yours. Get involved you will have an opportunity to learn, and simultaneously develop some contacts. The websites of major banks and financial institutions along with Fortune 500 companies post positions, and most would like to assist veterans, like yourself. Good luck!

Advisor

Judy Tomlinson Richardson, TX

I can help with your resume. Send it to me in Word Format and we can work to craft it in a way that will show your skills and strengths and highlight your career goals.

tomlinsonjk@aol.com

Judy Tomlinson

Advisor

Carmine Costello Manasquan, NJ

Karlton,

Don't want to sound like a broken record here, but I agree with the others, you really need to network, network, network. In your situation (no experience) there is a high probability that a human will not even see your resume. This was my issue when I transitioned in 2006, this stemmed from not having a degree at the time. Companies today use computer software to scan resumes for key words and qualifications prior to a human seeing it. The way around this situation is to network through industry specific organizations, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any other method of meeting new people that are either in a position to help you directly, or through their network.

I'm happy to say that I was hired to create a program for my company that looks past this type of scenario. I am able to offer a conversation to all veterans, experienced or not. Some companies like mine are picking up on the fact that Veterans are different in many ways and should be given an opportunity to articulate their individual experience in a non-cookie cutter type manner. Meaning, initially its okay to look past a lack of college or experience to get to know the person underneath. Unfortunately, many companies have not come around to this opinion as of yet, but the way around all of this is "Network". Hope this helps and feel free to reach out.

Advisor

Heather Gillbanks Houston, TX

I'm assuming you want to be in the banking end, not the controllership area. However, that would be the easiest entrée for you ... because you can show that you already know that space. Just be sure you get hired at a firm that will let you move laterally once you've proven yourself.

best of luck!

Advisor

Aitbek Amatov Athens, GA

Karlton,

You have experience as finance comptroller. Employers are looking for people with certain analytical thinking, and once you prove them that dealing with numbers is something you like and good at it, there is always a chance.

Advisor

Bob Molluro Wilmington, DE

You already have lots of good advice. Let me provide a slight twist. I have personally Coached over 4,000 professionals and if I had to boil everything down into one trait people should look for when hiring someone it is the following. Does this person have a track record of taking responsibility for the results they have produced?
Let use a sales producer as an example. His job is to sell the companies products and deliver profitable revenue. The "below the line person " when they sit down to review their results will explain missing their objectives by blaming everyone but themselves. Obama did this, the stock market did that -all things that are outside of their control.
The "above the line person" will say these are my results. I did these five things. Two worked and three didn't. Here is what I going to do differently to improve the results.
I hope this little example will enable you to determine which person you are . I would only hire above the line people. You can train skill and gain the necessary experiences. What is difficult is to change is a persons DNA. Be prepared to discuss difficult challenges you have had and how you perservered and over came them.
One last tip. Very few people who are responsible for interviewing and hiring understand what I just revealed to you. Many will ask questions that are totally irrelevant to actual job performance. Please trust me when I tell you this as I have looked at the questions used by some prestigious companies that totally miss the mark. Therefore in preparation for your interview, knowing what I just explained to you the real trick is at some point during the interview you need to take control. You need to explain what makes you an outstanding candidate and how you are totally responsible. Be sure to practice what you are going to do with someone you trust so that you are fully confident in your approach.
Let me share a personal story with you to prove a point. When my son was taking interviews to get into a graduate medical school program he said my GPA is below the acceptable level. My reaction was you don't have a GPA problem you have a marketing problem. We then crafted his interview with the five member evaluation committe. We had seven practice interviews until he felt confident in our approach. He called me after the interview and when I asked him how it went he said, "I killed it". He not only was accepted he finished in the top quartile of his class and today is an outstanding medical professional who has help thousand of patients. Plan your interviews as if your career depends on it and you will succeed. My best to you.

Advisor

susan collins Kenmore, WA

Hello Karlton!

There are MANY opportunities to learn through an "internship". A recommendation from
a contact or a direct call to a manager at the institution that can offer you the right kind
of experience you want is always appreciated.
It can be as simple as finding the "right" leader and an approach with a sincere, transparent desire to help will be the winning energy!

Thank you for your service and best of luck to you!

Susan Collins
Director of Career Services

Advisor

William (Liam) Hickey Chicago, IL

Review a lot of announcements for jobs that you are interested in for that industry. From those, identify the credentials that matter to employers. Research that list of credentials to find out which ones are the fastest to get.

Advisor

David Icenhower Phoenix, AZ

Start networking and the best place to start is by building an extensive profile on LinkedIn.

Advisor

Marlene Boychak Newark, DE

You should not discount your experience in the Military because you have acquired skills that the public sector does not have. I encourage you to play up those skills on a resume. From a Finance perspective, it's always good to research what applications Banks are using, SAP, for one and training in that app. This will help you to gain entry into a position in the Banking Industry. They are always looking for people with business knowledge that they can leverage.

Advisor

Susana Moraga Hayward, CA

Karlton,

If I understand your question, you plan to enlist in the Air National Guard as a Finance Comptroller. If they are going to train you, you will have experience in that field and you will have an idea of where you could see yourself in the banking industry in the future.

However, I have a feeling that you haven't explained everything, which makes answering your question difficult.

Advisor

Tom Cal, CFA San Francisco, CA

Karlton -
Messge me when you reply, so I know you have replied.

Where are you studying for your Masters in Finance?

What specific roles in banking interest you, either now, or in 5 to 10 years and beyond?

re: "How can I get a job in banking with no experience?"
Build person-to-person goal relevant friendships and relationships.

- Request a goal-specific mentor from acp-usa.org.
- Find mentors among college alumni and college faculty.

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