Why vets go fed p1 - Military Transition - Military Times EDGE

When Jonathan Zapien left the 3rd Special Forces Group in the summer of 2007, the Green Beret knew where he was going next: to a special State Department co-op program for students — Zapien attends George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. — with the understanding that he’ll be hired as a full-time employee upon graduation.

After five years in uniform, a federal job seemed the logical next step.

“I enjoyed the camaraderie of belonging to an organization that was serving the country, so the opportunity to continue to work for the United States government in that way — I knew I would find that personally rewarding,” Zapien said.

Nearly 23 percent of the 229,000 employees hired by all federal agencies in fiscal 2007 were veterans, according to the Office of Personnel Management. If the numbers are high, it’s partly because those in uniform have an edge when it comes to landing these jobs. The federal hiring process gives applicants “points” for various qualifications, and veterans get bonus points automatically for their varying levels of military service.

“It is a huge edge,” said Kathryn K. Troutman, author of “Military to Federal Career Guide: Ten Steps to Transforming Your Military Experience into a Competitive Federal Résumé.”

“If you are well qualified for a job already, and then you have extra points, you are in a very good position to beat out private-industry people who may be competing with you — and even current feds,” she said.

Zapien landed one of just eight slots in a pool of 150 applicants. “I don’t know if that was specifically because I was in the military, but I know those points definitely did act in my favor,” he said.

Where to work

Some federal agencies stand out as likely landing points for ex-military. The FBI and Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security departments, including FEMA, are just a few options. Most military skills translate across a range of agencies.

“Every single agency in the government has a human resource office. Every single agency has a communications specialist, or a program manager,” said Lily Whiteman, author of “How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job.”

The best place to narrow the field is at www.usajobs.gov. More than just a list of vacancies, it is a searchable gold mine for those trying to get a handle on federal agencies, departments and job descriptions. Whiteman advises plugging in those meaningful, translatable keywords from your résumé and seeing what jobs come up with those same keywords in the description.

You could also start with the money and work backward, Troutman said. The site also lets a user zero in on a specific geographic area and a certain pay range within that area. Find a job that pays $50,000 in your town and see if you’re qualified to do it.

Or just do what astronomer Paul Shankland did: Aim for the stars.

A 1983 Naval Academy grad and former Navy pilot, he decided he needed to go higher still. To make the leap to his dream job in government, he began to study while still in uniform. This spring he earned his doctorate and went to work at the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station as its civilian director.

He’s searching for planets around distant stars, yet his feet remain solidly on earth.

“The civil service was a very positive choice for me, for a number of reasons. It was not too many steps away from the concept of serving your country in uniform,” he said. And with his military background, “I understand a lot of how the government works. I felt like I could insert myself into this environment more quickly.”

The military offers a range of education opportunities. Shankland rode that rocket into a federal job, and it’s not a bad idea. If you know where you want to go in government, training while in the service can get you there that much faster.

Then there is the coup de grâce, the rabbit in the hat that can work career magic at the federal level. Security clearance can open doors throughout a range of agencies.

“Yet I have seen people bury the security clearance [in their résumés] or forget to put it down altogether,” Whiteman said. “They don’t realize how important it is, and they put it down as a footnote somewhere.”

Spell it out

If veterans’ preference points are a big plus, you can almost bet that vocabulary will be a big minus. When military résumés fail to make an impression, it’s likely because the language of life in uniform has not been translated for the federal gatekeeper.

“You are doing communications in the military, telling the world what is going on, but you might not know that one of the big job titles in government is ‘public affairs officer,’ and so you don’t present it that way,” Whiteman said. The lesson: Find out which words do translate.

One career coach showed us a military résumé that included such qualifications as “experienced leading Wing Level Air Force Smart Operations 21st Century program,” and “Certified as a Level I after only 3 Rapid Improvement Events. Led 3rd — achieved outstanding results.”

Flight credentials notwithstanding, this just does not fly.

While federal executives may be a little more military-savvy than their corporate counterparts, job seekers still need to put it in English.

“Often the thing to do is to emphasize your generic transferable skills - leadership, team building, communication,” Whiteman said.

Troutman advises writing it all down, pulling out the words that mean the most, and then writing it down again.

“Anyone who has been an ‘instructor’ or ‘facilitator’ - that translates very well into the federal government. If a person has been a ‘supervisor’ or ‘team lead’ or ‘project lead,’ those are excellent for federal jobs.”

Be tenacious

While veterans have distinct advantages in the federal hiring process, they still must endure the same bureaucratic, exhaustive application process that civilians do. Most civilian employers simply require a cover letter and a résumé. The feds routinely require applicants to answer detailed questionnaires, write essays and make a narrative case that their “knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics” (know in Fed speak as KSA’s) are right for the job.

Whiteman’s advice: Suck it up and do the work.

“If you’re not willing to give up a perfectly good weekend to go through the process, then government likely doesn’t want you,” she said.

The cumbersome process is often used to help thin out a huge pile of résumés. Call it a culling of the herd.

“It helps an overwhelmed hiring official identify the most motivated — as well as highly qualified — candidates,” Whiteman said.

And what if you don’t make the initial cut? Keep trying, she said. Tenacity is crucial.

“The government is not some monolithic entity. It’s made up of lots of different organizations and individuals,” Whiteman said, each with different needs and procedures. “If a civilian company turned you down for a job, you wouldn’t quit applying for civilian jobs. Keep pressing. Keep applying.”