Burning questions for recruiters & hiring managers

We do not spend a great deal of time at SHC getting Recruiters and Hiring Managers to learn how to decipher a Veteran resume - we spend the bulk of our time coaching and mentoring Veteran candidates on how to accurately translate and sell what they have done in the service. We do make a consistent effort to educate our recruiters on the basics of military service, and the tools available to them when it comes to sourcing Veteran candidates, but it is not the primary focus of our program.

Candidates that can clearly articulate their service accomplishments to a recruiter are going to be far more successful than those that assume the recruiter should have to learn how to speak military. While that may seem harsh - it is not the job of a Talent Acquisition professional to assimilate into military culture - it is the job of the Veteran to assimilate into civilian culture.

When I am evaluating a Veteran candidate, I look for a few key things before passing them on to a recruiter for serious consideration.

1. Has their resume been translated? If it has, then it shows that person has made the effort to really understand how their military skills will transfer into the civilian sector. If not, it shows that they are not willing to make the effort to come halfway in the process.

2. Has the candidate expressed interest in a particular field/job, or are they coming to me with the "what do you have for me?" mentality? If a Veteran takes the time to apply to a specific position, and articulates why they want to work in that field or position, I am going to advocate for them. The ones that assume I am going to find a job for them with no effort on their part almost immediately hit my recycle bin.

3. How flexible is the candidate? Are they willing to move? Do they understand that coming out of the service they may take a slight pay cut? Do they have aspirations to move up the ladder in a company? Have they done research on the company they are talking to? Candidates that are open to location/salary and can tell me about the company I represent have my full attention. Those that want to live in one place, make $100K a year, and think they are going to be VPs right off the bat don't have my attention.

4. Does the Veteran feel like I owe him/her something, or do they understand that their service is another experience that they can use to their advantage in the interview process? No business owes a Veteran anything - period. Businesses hire Veterans because it makes good sense from a Talent Acquisition perspective - due to the incredible amount of maturity, people and asset management, and soft skills expertise that a Veteran brings to the table.

As a TA Program Manager - I see Veterans as a key talent source for any organization, but will assess them based on the same basic criteria I would any other candidate - skills, education, preparation, and desire.

The most sought after skills for us, are the ones listed in the job description. As someone so eloquently put it above, we need to hire very specifically. Not one resume fits all sizes and even though it is a pain, you may have to rework your resume for every job you apply for. Make sure you are using the same terms in your resume as written in the job description. Why? Because corporate recruiters get 100's of resumes a day, and they are sometimes electronically prefiltered for us using the job description as the tempate.

That leads me to the translation of your resume. First, if you only put a description of your MOS as your job description, we assume you want to continue that MOS in the civilian world. So, if you are a 88Z Transportation Sr Sgt, I am going to assume that you would be looking for something in our Fleet Coordination or Fleet Management.

11B's, 0351's, etc will have to be more specific in what they want to do; even know what they don't want to do helps tremendously.

It is up to you to help me translate your resume into what you want to do. If you are unsure what you want to do, that's cool, but that's a very lengthy process on both of our parts and an extensive network helps tremendously.

Know the answers to the fundamental questions: Do you want to work inside, or outside? Do you want to work on something mechanical or something computerized? Do you want to work with many people or just a few? Would you consider a job in sales, or customer service? What are your interests? Have you pursued a degree? Do you want to use that degree? What kind of jobs have you heard of or know of that you'd be interested in?

I'd estimate that over half of the vets that I've spoken to this year, do not even have an answer for half of the questions above. I asked not to impeach them, but to try to help them hone in on a target and triangulate their job search.

Be patient: being a civilian, having a title "Recruiter" isn't the most favorable way to start a conversation with a veteran. I've found that there is an association with a "recruiter" and promises unfulfilled (as one of my veteran friends eventually told me). Be patient with us, most of us care deeply about the freedoms that Veterans have paid so dearly on our behalf. It is, at times, as hard for us to find you; as it is you to find us. Getting a career is difficult and time consuming.

Today, I average a 15 percent call back ratio by a vet.
That means, if I reach out to 10 vets about a job in RallyPoint, only 1-2 of them answer.
After scheduling 12 veterans for a job interview, in person.... 3 of them did not show up and 1 of them showed up in casual clothing.

If you do get a chance to interview, you are representing all of the veterans this hiring manager will see.

In fact, I'd like to ask veterans some of the attributes they have found in the best civilian recruiters that they have come in contact with? What did they do that was a differentiator? This helps me train my team and make sure they have a bearing on what matters to all of you.

First off, what I tell any Transitioning Veteran that I'm helping with their resume... is to brag! The Military is a place that houses a lot of humility and of course it's the ultimate team atmosphere. As much as team-playing is important, remember when it comes to your resume, you have to be ready to brag! Be humble in every aspect of your life except for your resume. Remember to give your resume a 5-10 second glance after it's done... did you pass your own 5-10 second test?

That's the window you have in getting from the "call pile" to "not call" pile. Once we separate the piles, we then give it a much more intense glance. So... brag early and brag often on your resume. I always suggest a "Summary of Qualifications." This is 5-6 bullet points your most proud of... what's separates you.

Years/dollar amounts are big for military resumes-converted-to-civilian-resume. "Oversaw $100m budget..." "Managed 25 troops," "Lead" "Taught" Managed" "Executed," key words like that.

Also, convert your Title into a civilian-type term. For instance... Captain in the Air Force = Mid-level management... use those terms of "Upper-level" or "Mid-Level" Management so a civilian recruiter unfamiliar with your titles, can decipher.

Hope this helps!