How To Convert Your Experience Into A Job Offer
 by: Bill Gaul

Years ago when you first opted to go into the military service, you may or may not have considered how your experiences could help you land a job when you decided to hang up the uniform. Well, it may be that "time" for you, and there isn't much of a calling for civilians to drive tanks or jump out of a perfectly good aircraft, so what's next?

Well, during your tenure in the military whether it was for a short 3-year enlistment or a full 20-year career, you've probably done more things than you can remember. Yes, many of the skills you've learned are probably not needed directly in the civilian world, however many are. The trick is identifying skill sets you have that an employer could benefit from and showing them how you can be best utilized.

When I finished my career as a helicopter pilot, my resume included all the different types of aircraft I flew along with the responsibility I had for all the equipment and soldiers I supervised. At the time, I wondered why I wasn't getting more interview requests until I was able to sit in front of one helping hiring manager. He looked perplexed and wondered why he was interviewing me. He was quite honest in stating "What can you do for me, I don't own a single helicopter!"

It was at that moment that the light bulb went off for me, and I realized that I had many "translatable skills" that I could convert to the needs of this employer. Before my interview, I observed that the office I could potentially work in was a "madhouse". I overheard angry customer calls, listened to flustered employees that felt powerless to do their jobs, and saw a lot of chaos. I explained to my interviewer that although I enjoyed my job as a pilot, the skills that made me a good pilot are directly transferable to the needs of his group. I then started to make some examples:

1. As a pilot, I always practiced "emergency procedures" so that in the event of something not going the way I planned, I always had a back up plan. In his situation, he should never let his customers "see him sweat". If you have a good backup plan, the chances are you won't need it, but if you don't, watch out, that's when the worst can happen.

2. A pilot always develops a good "cross check" of his instruments. You can't just rely on your airspeed indicator or your altimeter to keep your plane flying straight and level. Just as in business, you can't concentrate solely on one customer to keep your business stable; you have to balance the needs of all of your customers.

3. No matter how many times I fired up my aircraft, I always followed a checklist. I could probably recite the starting procedures from memory to this day, yet, to insure that I didn't miss something critical; I always followed my checklist. In business, a similar checklist could be developed and followed, to insure the handling of its customers is top notch and nothing is overlooked. I could tell his staff were frustrated because they were being reactive instead of proactive.

I went on and on trying to pull experiences from my background that pertained to this hiring manager. The secret being "THAT IT MATTERED" to the particular hiring manager. I was lucky and was able to observe some facts that I could use in my interview, but if I was really smart, I could have done my research ahead of time.

In order to get hired for a position, one of the most important factors is to insure that you have the skills and personality to fit the opportunity. Don't think for a second that someone will instantly hire you just on your good looks and the fact that you showed up for the interview. It's your responsibility to make it easy for a hiring manager to see you "in the job" and how your prior experiences will benefit you, not hold you back.

I suggest that you sit down and tear apart all the things you did while in the military and analyze HOW you got them accomplished. That's the secret that you can take to your new employer.

Bill's articles are Copyright 1997-2005, The Destiny Group.

About The Author

Bill Gaul

Visit Bill’s site at http://www.destinygrp.com/ or http://destinygrp.searchforclasses.com To search for schools in your area of interest visit http://www.searchforclasses.com.