One year to a new career p1 - Military Transition - Military Times EDGE

Tracy Lockett served as a staff sergeant in the transportation corps at Fort Eustis, Va., until separating in June 2008. A stint with temp agency LaborReady helped him land a consulting job with Marriott International just a month out of uniform. It’s a job he says he could not have won had he not laid the groundwork well ahead of time.

A year before separating, he didn’t know how to search for a job, didn’t know how to interview, didn’t know civilian jargon. The Army Career and Alumni Program, which offers detailed job assistance training, counseling and resources, helped him get up to speed.

“Had I not spent that year preparing myself, I know I would not have been equipped,” he said.

The career-minded service member will always be thinking a year ahead about promotions, postings or life in the civilian job market. While formal training programs such as ACAP and the Navy’s Career Options and Navy Skills Evaluation Program are one avenue to gainful employment, there are lots of other ways to get there.

If you’re 12 months away from separating, here are 12 steps to steer you forward in 2010, courtesy of Andy Decker, a former Army infantryman and regional vice president with the staffing and consulting firm Robert Half International.

Twelve

The search is the job: Take time upfront to organize. “Set goals and actionable items around what you are going to achieve on a weekly, on a monthly basis.” Searching for a job is a job. Treat it that way.

Eleven

Self-assessment: “You start with your career audit: What do I want to do? What industry, what career?” Start with what you have done, figure out what you liked doing.

Ten

Research: “Go to CareerBuilder or Monster and put in keywords. Say you enjoy interacting with payroll, you did benefits planning. Put in those words.”

Nine

Focus on your target: Are there jobs in your field? Try a job spider such as Indeed.com to find industry and job data, things such as median pay and how many jobs there are in a given ZIP code. “If you have family in Kansas City and you want an IT job, then you do need to get into those specifics. The smaller your net, the more you have to dig into the details.”

Eight

Pass the résumé: Talk to military buddies now on the outside. Join professional groups and use online tools such as LinkedIn. Make friends first, be helpful to them if you can, then ask them to circulate your résumé.

Seven

Moonlight: Take an internship if you can find the time. Volunteer in a company that needs your skills. Those experiences show employers you know how to function in the civilian world. “Nothing beats practical experience.”

Six

Shmooze the pros: Find people doing what you want to do and pick their brains. “If I got an e-mail from somebody looking to learn a little bit more about this industry, just asking to talk for 20 minutes while I am driving home from work, a lot of people will [take the time],” Decker said. Ask them about the job, what made them successful in the search and what makes them successful now. If they were doing it again, what would they do differently?

Five

Talk to a recruiter: Start early to seek out a recruiter who might help you down the line. “I would look for those companies that work solely with the military,” Decker advised.

Four

Join a job-search group: Churches and other institutions are forming social groups for those seeking employment. Join one. “You can share frustrations, share résumés, share search tips. It’s a great way to share best practices.Right now especially, the job market is confusing to people, it’s easy to get frustrated, and it helps if you can share those experiences with others. It helps keep people positive.”

Three

Gather references: Employers will check references, so have them ready. And make sure they will be available when the call comes. “Find some way to connect to them other than e-mail or phone number, whether it is LinkedIn or Facebook. People move around so much, especially in the military, and the last thing you want to do is to reference your CO and find you don’t know where they are anymore.”

Two

Hone your presentation: You’ve got 45 seconds for a call or a pitch. Don’t wing it. “Write it out. If you don’t have recording equipment, leave voicemails for yourself. Videotape yourself.” Prepare, prepare. “Write out mock questions: What do you think a person is going to ask? Write out all your answers. Otherwise you walk into an interview just hoping it will go well.”

One

Read up: You’ve put résumés on the street by now. Don’t just cool your heels. Keep learning while you wait. Read job search books, but consider the source. “There are thousands and thousands of books out there, so you want to go to people who have reputations in the fields they are working in.” Before you drop $25.99 at Amazon, Google the author and make sure this is someone whose advice is worth paying for. When in doubt ... the local library is free.

Liftoff

Once you’ve separated, it’s time to hit the 12 steps hard, starting from the top. Repeat as needed. Fine-tune your weak spots. Your job search really is a full-time job now.