Category Archives: Uncategorized

      By John Sumser

Job Hunting for Veterans is very different than it is for civilians. Veterans face misunderstanding and suspicion in their search for work. Translating military experience into something a civilian boss can understand is a unique challenge.

The United States Military is a land unto itself. It’s a place where the language is a sub-dialect of English focused on the specific tasks and realities of military life. It’s hard to overestimate the difference between being inside and being a civilian.

At about $1 trillion in annual budget outlays, the first layer of Defense spending is over 4% of the economy. When you add the local impact of those dollars, it’s easy to argue that Defense has a 10% footprint. The size of the budget swings significantly depending on whether the military is actively engaged in conflict operations. The world that gives us veterans is a big maze.

It involves a lot of people. Roughly 1.5 million people are active military, 500 thousand civilians support them, another 900 thousand are in ‘reserve’ forces. That’s nearly 3 million before you count the various shapes and kinds of Defense contractors, vendors, suppliers and family members. (Wikipedia)

The unique tasks and orientations of the military make it a relatively closed ecosystem. But when it shrinks and swells, it has significant consequence for the worlds around it. Military veterans have extraordinary levels of experience. Responsibility, which is won slowly in civilian life is big and rapidly acquired. Being responsible for the lives and safety of your peers on an always on basis matures active duty personnel quickly. 

This means that veterans face different competitive pressures than the rest of us. When there are a lot of veterans in the market for work, things seem harder.

Because it is a highly technical environment, veterans are comfortable with the complexities of decision making in a high stress, high data, high ambiguity environment. Typically, great responsibility is placed on the shoulders of relatively young people. After time in the military, the rest of the world seems smaller and less important.

Under ‘normal circumstances’, about 250 thousand people leave the active duty military each year. As the various global conflicts conclude that number will grow for the next several years. The predictable problems associated with translating military experience into civilian language significantly slows the rate at which veterans make the transition.

The unemployment rate for vets is bad and getting worse. “Fair or not, eight years in the Army is viewed by some employers as eight years without private-sector skills and experience,” says Business Week “The skills issue is particularly troubling. Hiring is strongest in jobs that require specialized education, and weakest for blue collar jobs……Even military jobs that are in the right ballpark for growth industries — say, software or electronics technician — may involve specialization that doesn’t readily apply to Silicon Valley’s Web 2.0 or software-services jobs.”

If you are a veteran getting ready to join the civilian workforce, here are several things you can do to ease the transition.

1. Start reading FastCompany. This site and magazine are the best single source for insight into the language and culture of American business. Remember, you are coming from a different culture and you need to ‘go local’. FastCompany will give you the clues you need to start to pass as a native. After a while it gets easier.
2. When you move from the military to civilian life, you always go from being a little fish in a big pond to being a big fish in a little pond. The trouble is that your colleagues may not know this. Be patient as you learn about new work environments.
3.  Glassdoor is a great place to survey both the ways that people think about their employers and what it’s like to work there. Read about the employers you’d like to work for.
4. Some common military management techniques don’t work quite as well in the civilian world. The difference is that employment is generally ‘at will’ for both employer and employee. The great things you learned about ‘toughing it out’ don’t translate very well.
5. Being in the military forces you to be very good at decision making. Most civilians don’t have this sort of leadership experience. If you relax, you can emerge as a natural leader because of your training.
6. Understand how your military skills translate into civilian skills. Both Military.com and Jibe.com have useful ways to translate your skills into job requirements.
7. Prepare to work hard on the transition. Time in the military is a firm foundation for the rest of your life. The first step in making the most of it is learning to translate it into civilian terms.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Guest Blogger John Sumser, a member of the Glassdoor Clearview Collection, is the founder and editor-in-chief of HRExaminer, a weekly online magazine about the people and technology of HR. Widely respected as an independent analyst, Sumser has been chronicling and critiquing the HRTechnology industry for eighteen years. During that time, he has consulted with more than 100 HR vendors on matters of strategy and positioning in the market. Prior to his involvement in the HR Technology industry, Sumser was a senior executive in Defense Technology. From large scale software development to naval architecture, he was the leader of tech development teams in a broad variety of settings. His passion is the intersection of people and technology.

The Glassdoor Team is a small yet seasoned group of individuals looking to provide greater transparency into one of the most important aspects of our lives – our jobs. Contributions to the blog are designed to present a unique perspective on current events, offer commentary on the inside workings on specific jobs at a multitude of companies, and provide details on the latest happenings from within Glassdoor.

By Debra Wheatman

Job Seekers Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons|
…What do the FAA, Cisco, Merck & Co., HSBC, and NASA have in common?

Sadly they are all organizations that are currently experiencing the pain of mass layoffs. It might surprise you to know that even during the most vibrant years of the dot com era, large corporations frequently had layoffs due to restructurings and reorganizations. In case you’re interested in getting the actual numbers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has a section of their website dedicated to tracking mass layoff statistics.

While most recent economic trends are not as encouraging as they could be, you will be pleased to know that according to a survey conducted by Harris in Q1 of 2011, three out of five workers who were laid off last year have gotten new jobs. Whether you are concerned about layoff or simply want to make a career transition, these numbers should bring renewed optimism.

The glass is more than half full. So what is it about the folks who got jobs that may have made the difference?

•60% changed their career. If you find your current career path is limiting, re-invent yourself. Many candidates come to me in order to reposition their résumé so they can cast a wider net in the job market. By creating a résumé highlighting transferable skills, they have identified and secured new opportunities.

•One third of those surveyed relocated. If you haven’t thought about moving, it may be time to consider this option. Even if you live on one side of town and have to move to the other side of town, it may be worth the sacrifice depending upon your unique situation. You will have to weigh the pros and cons of course; to the extent that you can, relocating for a better position might further expand your sphere of opportunities for future growth and development.

•While 43% of those surveyed did take a pay cut, 23% actually got a pay increase. Losing your job to a layoff doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make less money, but being open to this possibility will give you more flexibility in the job market. What is it they say about one step back and two steps ahead? I have coached many people over the years that were laid off; they were happier in the long-term because it ultimately led to career advancement.

I think so much of how we approach a job search in a down economy has to do with attitude. I don’t deny that it can be a challenge to remain positive. Your proactive approach, focus on improving your personal brand, and doing all you can to present yourself to employers as a highly qualified candidate, will drive your ultimate success.

If you are unhappy in your current role, at risk for layoff, or have already left your most recent position, look at your situation as a challenge rather than a problem; you can rise to the occasion and be among the job winners. While making a career transition can be stressful, it might also be an opportunity to grow.

Lemonade anyone?

 Glassdoor.com is a career and workplace community offering a free inside look at jobs and companies with access to millions of job listings. Glassdoor enables employees, job seekers, employers and recruiters to simultaneously see – for the first time – unedited opinions about a company’s work environment along with details on salaries, company reviews, CEO approval ratings, job interview questions and reviews, and office photos as well as career advice.

By John Sumser

As an experiment, I recently asked 20 friends to write me a recommendation on LinkedIn. About 25% of the people I asked actually completed a recommendation. Even then, I didn’t really like everything that everyone said. I chose not to show all of them on my profile.

As a job hunter, having recommendations available online is a really valuable thing. Most employers do some level of online background checking. It usually amounts to a quick look at your Facebook page and LinkedIn profile. Having several recommendations visible when they look will instantly add to your credibility.

Here’s how to ask for and get the recommendations you want:

1.Always ask people who know you well enough to write a glowing recommendation. You’ll know who these folks are. Time on LinkedIn or some other social network is not good enough. Ask people who have worked with you and are familiar with you as a whole person.

2.The best way to get a nicely done recommendation is to write one first. This exchange happens routinely. Take a look at the recommendations on a few pages and compare those to the recommendations on the recommender’s page. This reciprocal back scratching is how recommendations have always worked.

3.If you’re asking someone who is busy, you might offer a sample of the kind of recommendation you’d like. Early in my career, I was surprised to discover that this was how the writing of recommendations worked. If someone really valued my contribution, they’d ask me for a sample that I liked and then edit it to their needs. Offer to write a suggested version.

4.LinkedIn has a great recommendation system. If you ask for help using the system, your reference will be able to add the task into regular workflow.

5.Expect that some (in my case, it was most) people are going to be too busy to help you out. As is the case in most aspects of job hunting, don’t take it personally. Just ask the next person.

6.If you don’t like the recommendation you get, ask for a rewrite. Really. Give the author suggestions. “When you call me a cowboy, I know what you mean, but I think others might not understand your humor. Could you say ‘independent thinker’ instead?”

7.Just because you get a recommendation doesn’t mean you have to publish it. Carefully consider the impact your recommendation will have on a prospective employer’s view of you.

8.Really work to personalize the note you send asking for the recommendation:

Hi Bob,
I hope you’re doing well. I’ll never forget the amazing time we had when we were working on the Acme proposal in Boston. I’m in the process of gathering references for my next job transition. I’m hoping that you’ll be willing to write one for me on LinkedIn. I’d be happy to offer suggested language, if you’d like.
John

9.Search for LinkedIn recommendation samples. If you can’t figure out what to say or what you want said about you, there is a treasure trove of useful boilerplate online. For a good giggle, visit the Endorser. It will automatically generate a reference letter for you.

10.Finally, the essence of a great recommendation is one sentence telling how you know the person followed by at least two or three sentences that tell a story. Stories make your recommendation memorable.

Your online profiles are the basis for managing your reputation. Carefully building a bank of references is the key to presenting a solid professional face to the job market.

Glassdoor.com is a career and workplace community offering a free inside look at jobs and companies with access to millions of job listings. Glassdoor enables employees, job seekers, employers and recruiters to simultaneously see – for the first time – unedited opinions about a company’s work environment along with details on salaries, company reviews, CEO approval ratings, job interview questions and reviews, and office photos as well as career advice.