Tag Archives: job interview

Resume Writing and Social Networking Tips for Veteran Job Seekers

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Forward March Inc. has posted some new positions on our website and more are coming in January! Make sure to check them out here…

We thought, with all these new positions coming on line in the next 30 days, we would post a three part series we released earlier in the year to help veterans and transitioning military in the areas of resumes, interviewing, social media and a more.This information is actually really helpful to anyone from any background when they are going through the job searching process so feel free to share it with anyone you know may be benefitted by the info in these articles.

tips for resumes and interviews

Part two of three in our continuing series on veteran and transitioning military employment preparation.

Most people have social media pages. No matter how private you “think” your social media page is remember this… it’s not! Potential employers regularly review social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others. This is common practice and is NOT a practice just reserved for potential employees who will need background checks.

If your social media page(s) contain images, videos, music, or speech that causes employers to think you are not a good candidate it can prevent you from getting an interview or landing the job. Many employees have found that their social media has been the reason for their termination.

Here are some rules that will keep you from having issues with your social media:

  • Remove any images, videos, or other content that contains vulgarity.
  • Remove images or other content that contains sexual content.
  • Remove content that contains alcohol or drug use.
  • Remove images containing violence, graphic images of war/violence/gore/etc

Its pretty easy, though possibly time consuming, to clean up a social media site with the above guidelines. However, its much harder to clean up your comments on posts you or others in your network or in the public have posted. It may be advisable to close your social media account(s) weeks or even a month before you begin sending out your resume and networking.

Some brutally honest advice you may not want to hear – Sometimes it’s better to close down your social media page than to try to clean it up. You will have to assess the difficulty and time invested in cleaning up a page vs. shutting it down and starting a new page at a later date. Should you decide to close down your social media page you have to remember that it takes time. Facebook, for instance, can take weeks to close your page down.

LinkedIn profiles are difficult to delete; that has to be done by LinkedIn at your request. It usually (at the time of this article) takes about two days to get your profile deleted. LinkedIn is a professional social media outlet for professional networking. Follow these guidelines for keeping your LinkedIn page in a favorable light.

Do not post entries or posts that contain vulgarity, sexually explicit remarks, or potentially political or religious inflammatory remarks. In a nut-shell follow the same rules posted above for Facebook. Additionally it is important to remember to keep your LikedIn content professional, and relevant to your professional career.

Your LinkedIn photo, which it is HIGHLY suggested that you have, should be professional. A clear, crisp headshot that has a relatively solid background is preferable. If your career direction is one where a suit and tie would be expected even part of the time then have your photo taken with a suit and tie. For both men and women, the photo should be business dress as opposed to business casual. If your career is one where dressing business casual is not required it is a good rule of thumb to go ahead and have your photo taken with business casual attire. Refrain from “goofy” faces, hand gestures, and most of all using objects, logos, pets, animals, movie images, etc. Only use your portrait, if you do not use a portrait then leave the image blank.

Ultimately it is important to be your self on social media, however, you should always temper that with professionalism as it is not just your “friends” who are looking at your social media posts. Remember this rule of thumb; “Nothing you post on the web is private”.

For further guidance on how to edit or delete social media entries or even delete accounts refer to the instructions on the social media sites themselves. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have excellent instructions on how to make these things happen and with a little time and attention you can “tune up” your social media and have it ready for your next step in getting your dream career.

~ Article by Tobin Pilotte, Directer of Marketing and Technology for Forward March Inc. 

Employment Preparation Part 1 of 3

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Forward March Inc. has posted some new positions on our website and more are coming in January! Make sure to check them out here…

We thought, with all these new positions coming on line in the next 30 days, we would post a three part series we released earlier in the year to help veterans and transitioning military in the areas of resumes, interviewing, social media and a more.This information is actually really helpful to anyone from any background when they are going through the job searching process so feel free to share it with anyone you know may be benefitted by the info in these articles.

Military and Veteran Employment Preparation – Part 1 of 3

Posted on October 9, 2014

 resume tips

Landing a career as opposed to a job is what most every transitioning military person or military veteran desires. There are countless websites, books and other instructional resources that can help with figuring out what you want to do for a career, how to get an interview in your chosen profession, career networking, and how to land that dream job. Today’s post is not intended to be comprehensive but rather a guide for getting started once you have an idea of what you want to do for a career.

120314-A-DQ783-028“This seems like a lot of work” – Just remember, battles are frequently won or lost on the quality of intel. Your job search is no different. The more intel work you do, the more background knowledge you have of your desired position(s) and potential employer(s), the better you will do. Know your industry to the best of your ability through research. Practice being conversant about your field, your desired job, and about your desired employer in order to get the most out of your interview. 

Part I: Interview or Job Fair Preparation: 

Use a military skills translator and find the jobs that your skills translate to in the civilian world. Remember that these are a rough guide and not an exhaustive list. Many times your skills can translate to jobs or positions that are not seemingly aligned. This is where it is also important for you to do some research to see what it is you want to do job-wise. Research the jobs you want, the employers, and the job descriptions. Translate your experience to match where applicable.

VA Translator

Military.com Translator

Market yourself as broadly as possible – If you are an aircraft mechanic and only want to interview for aircraft mechanic jobs then market yourself very specifically in just that skillset. However, if you want to look at other possibilities in mechanics from auto mechanics to wind turbine mechanics to oilfield mechanics then be more broad with how you market your skills within mechanics. Highlight mechanics related skills that translate across several disciplines.

When you are preparing for a job fair and you know there will be a variety of employers, make sure to have several resumes in different formats that are industry specific. You can also have resumes on hand that are very specific to your ideal job on hand in case you are leaning to a particular specific position. HINT: keep each resume kind in a file folder that is clearly labeled so that you can quickly and easily access them when moving from employer to employer.

Resume Format – Know the correct format for your particular industry. There are on-line resources that give plenty of examples of resumes; focus more on the examples for your particular industry. For instance, an engineering firm wants a conservative resume, a graphic design firm wants something with creative flair. However, if you are applying for a government contracting position with a company such as Lockheed Martin or Boeing they will most likely have a format they want you to put your resume into. Check out this link for some industry specific examples:

Monster Resume Examples

Network, Network, Network – Use LinkedIn, make your profile as neat and professional as possible. Use the above pointers, such as being brief but concise.

Look for and maintain network connections with people in the fields you are looking at going into. Network with people doing the work you want to do. Do not pass up opportunities to meet with these connections in person. Take concrete steps to meet these connections, especially in person. When reaching out to a potential connection on the internet, especially on LinkedIn make sure to make your message personal, do not use the default message.

As a veteran you are given a year of LinkedIn pro. Make that happen. (Offer is good as of the writing of this article)

In your network connections make sure you have a few trusted professional connections that can review your resume, and your LinkedIn page to make sure that they are as professional as possible.

Those trusted mentors are good resources for practicing your interviewing skills with.

Network with professional organizations, groups, and clubs that have people in your industry as members.

Dress to Impress – When interviewing put your best foot forward with regards to your appearance. When interviewing for a job it is important to go with business dress, a suit or at minimum; slacks, button down shirt, and a tie. Vests can be worn as well but try to keep your overall appearance conservative. That bright red silk shirt might be great but keep it for another occasion. If you need to appear in uniform ensure that your uniform is impeccable. ACUs are never acceptable for an interview or when meeting employers at a job fair. The exception to this would be if there is a job/career fair that is brought to your (military) location during duty hours and it is understood that everyone will be in ACUs.

These tips and suggestions should help you move toward landing the job you are looking for and starting on an exciting new career.

Check out the Tools and Resources page on our website for valuable links to help in your veteran job search or your military transition. 

Make sure you bookmark this site and come back for parts 2 and 3 where we will continue with social media and interview tips and suggestions.

~ Article by Tobin Pilotte, Directer of Marketing and Technology for Forward March Inc. 

Hiring Veterans, Serving Those Who Served

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hiringveteransservingthosewhoserved

Did you hear the one about the kid who went to church one Sunday and asked the pastor, “Why are all those names on the wall of the church?” The pastor replied, “Those names are members of the church who died in the service.” The kid then asked, “Which one, the morning or afternoon service?”

As the child of a disabled veteran and a 24 year Army Veteran myself, I have spent my life around those outstanding Americans who have served their country. The key word here is SERVED. In fact, baby boomers, generally refer to the military as “the service”, but unfortunately we don’t hear that phrase much anymore. With less than 1% of the country serving in the military at any one time, it understandable that “service” has fallen from our collective psyche.

veterans minoritySo what does this mean for our veterans? For starters, about 90% of the U.S. population are non-veterans. Furthermore, only about 20% of the prime enlistment age of 17-21 are even eligible for service and that number continues to grow. While the nation “Supports Our Troops”, the overall population just does not understand us.

Since a majority of the population does not understand what it means to serve in the military, the same applies to civilian recruiters and hiring managers. Although strides have been made in veteran unemployment, the number of unemployed veterans remains at about 722,000. With a continued drawdown of the military, with the Army alone losing 70-90K in 2015, much work still needs to be done to find veterans gainful careers.

Our veterans have already fulfilled their commitment to our nation selflessly serving to keep our country safe. Now it’s corporate America and small business’ turn to serve those who served.   Here are five practices to help your organization attract and hire veterans.

  1. Develop a solid military recruiting strategy. Developing a strategy begins with the company’s vision. This should be a top down driven initiative with specific, measurable, and achievable goals that the entire organization understands. Once a plan is made, recruiters and hiring managers must then be trained and resourced to execute the plan. Furthermore, performance reviews should be tied to veteran hiring performance to ensure continued success.
  1. Leverage existing veteran employees. What better way to attract veterans than engaging current employees who have served. They have not only talked the talk, they have walked the walk. They understand the military transition process and can assist in military skills interpretation and veteran interviewing. The bottom line is this: a brother and sisterhood exists within the veteran population. Veterans who believe in their organization want to share it with others.
  1. Market your organization as the veteran employer of choice. Building your organization’s brand as a veteran friendly company is key to military hiring success. Part of this branding is leveraging current veteran employees and telling their success stories within the company. Create military specific brochures and other military marketing collateral when attending military hiring functions and use veteran employees as recruiters at such events. Create a veteran hiring site on your company webpage. Send veteran applicants a separate email thanking them for their service when they apply. Make veterans feel welcomed before they even step foot in your company.
  1. Get engaged with the military community. In order to find the veteran employee population, your organization must be engaged in the veteran community. Establish partnerships with non-profit veteran organizations such as the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars. Get to know people at local military transition centers and make routine visits to reach out to those leaving military service. Establish relationships with local National Guard and Reserve units. Encourage employees to get involved with volunteer programs supporting veterans.
  2. Don’t forget about military spouses. When developing a veteran recruiting and hiring strategy, do not forget about the military spouse. Although they do not wear the uniform, they possess many skills employers are looking for. Just like the service member, the military spouse is flexible, adaptive to change, conscious of cultural and regional differences, and focused on getting the job done.

As a nation, we owe it to those currently serving and those who served our country in the past, the opportunity to begin new careers after their military obligation is complete. Forward March, Inc., can train your organization to attract, hire, and retain top military talent. We help develop a veteran pipeline and a military hiring strategy for success of both your organization and our nation’s veterans. If your company is committed to hiring those who served, let FMI show you how.

FMI TENANTS LOGO

~ Article written by Jason Caswell, Forward March Inc – Director of Training and Talent Pipeline Services

Holiday Cheer Filled the FMI Offices This Week

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RED FRIDAY COPTERS

Its Friday again, so break out those red shirts! R.E.D. Friday is here so remember everyone deployed!

Learn more about RED Fridays:

http://redshirtfridays.org/  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_our_troops

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Our-Troops-Wear-Red-Fridays/188809874489323

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Here is the weekly roundup.

We are always moving forward at a high rate of speed here at Forward March Inc.

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Did you catch Richard Abrams at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair? Richard is the Director of Strategic Development for Forward March Inc. You may have seen him on our social media pics in costume as a chef. Well, truth is, that is no costume. Richard is also an accomplished chef and has taken it upon himself to make sure that we eat really well at our FMI events!

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Paul (President of FMI) and Stephanie Volpe wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

This week the folks here at Forward March Inc. got together at Paul Volpe’s home and had our first annual Christmas party. With spouses and children present there was more than enough holiday cheer to go around.

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Don Palen (CEO of FMI) and his wife Andrea bringing the festive spirit to our Christmas party.

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And the winner of a great time is… everyone! You just cannot beat getting together with the FMI family!

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Chef Richard and his lovely family enjoying the festive evening.

We also had an amazing first annual Holiday Networking Mixer on Wednesday which you can read about here…

For more pics of this great Christmas party check out our Facebook page! 

Monday we will resume our highly informative article posting. Have a safe weekend!

To learn more about Forward March Inc. click here…

Holiday Networking Mixer Recap

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First things first. All the folks here at Forward March Inc. (FMI) would like to extend a huge THANK YOU TO ALL OUR FRIENDS who showed up to our holiday mixer last night. Each and every one of you, like us, have a huge place in your heart for veterans and your presence, fellowship, stories and joy made this event very special!

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FMI would also like to thank everyone for all the donations for St. Pj’s Children’s Home. We are still collecting so contact us anytime before December 19.

Wow, what a great week! There is never down time and its never dull trying to make American industry great through providing veterans with careers. If you ask anyone who works at FMI they will tell you that it’s the best job they have ever had. We are a company of veterans, from diverse backgrounds, that all share the same passion… helping our nation’s greatest treasure, our veterans. Our corporate culture is one that encompasses hard work and dedication but we also never pass up the opportunity to have a great time. We all know that life is short and we share the attitude that we want to make every moment count. These things cannot be summed up better than they were last night at our first annual Holiday Networking Mixer. FMI gathered together to exchange stories, enjoy good food and amazing live music.

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Our company is very honored to have a special relationship with veteran/wounded warrior/hero/musician/ and all around great guy J.P. Lane. J.P. Lane is a US Army wounded warrior from Green Bay, Wisconsin and is an amazing and up and coming musician so be sure to keep your eye on him in the future.  You can check him out on the web HERE. J.P. provided the live music for our gathering last night. He actually provided so much more from inspiration to entertainment. Make sure you follow FMI on our blog, Facebook, and Linkedin pages to keep up with some amazing things we are hoping to do with J.P. next year through our Forward March Inc. Operation Outreach non profit program. You can read more about our Operation Outreach programs here…

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FMI would like to give a shout out and heart-felt thanks to our neighbor Rob Deering and the Beacon Circle Coffee House and Gallery. Our party was held in our corporate offices and in the Beacon Circle Coffee House next door. You can learn more about the Beacon Circle Coffee House and Gallery which is a part of DMI here…

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To see more of the pics and vids from last night’s party friend us on Facebook here…

If you have pics, share them with us on Facebook!

November 5th Weekly Roundup

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Enduring FreedomIts Friday again, so break out those red shirts! R.E.D. Friday is here so remember everyone deployed!

Learn more about RED Fridays:

http://redshirtfridays.org/  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_our_troops

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Our-Troops-Wear-Red-Fridays/188809874489323

weekly roundup 22

Here is the weekly roundup.

Its been yet another busy week for us here at Forward March Inc. but we have put together some links for you to check out.

For Businesses:

We would encourage everyone who is even remotely entertaining the idea of hiring veterans to read the latest pro-veteran hiring article in Forbes magazine.

Why Every Company Should Consider Hiring Veterans: It Delivers Big Business Value 

Courtney Billington, the author of this article, makes some very good points on veteran hiring for businesses. Just read this section to get a feel for what Billington says veterans can do for your organization.

Across industries, we need to challenge ourselves to translate the military experience to the corporate environment. There is a level of education, awareness, and openness needed to better understand the value of veterans and the skills they bring. Consider a few examples:

  • “Distributed, accounted for, and transported mission critical equipment and supplies to over 20,000 personnel.” Now there’s someone who understands project and supply chain management!
  • “Taught Unit Operations personnel fire mission processing and single-channel ground-to-air radio system digital and voice communications.” I think this person could handle training corporate personnel on technical matters or could manage our information technology projects.
  • “Generated $2.3 million in savings, exceeding original objective of $500K, through management of 100+ high value commodities.” Financial acumen with an appreciation of business impact? No problem there!

For Veterans and Transitioning Military:

ATA sets 100,000-veteran, two-year hiring goal for US trucking 

Veterans Put Their Skills on the Line at Toyota Texas

5 Fortune 500 companies transforming the job market for veterans

Howard Schultz and Starbucks are trying to shift how veterans are hired

More than 30 employers, all hiring, seek out veterans

Recruit Military also has a nice list of veteran job fairs which you can find here… 

As always, if you hear of veteran hiring opportunities let us know and we will post them.

Are You a Great Military Talent Recruiter?

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Good recruiters are not born, they are developed. They are developed through formal training, professional development, and operational experience. Great recruiters, on the other hand, not only develop themselves, but they make a habit of routinely doing exceptional things. Perhaps the most exceptional thing a recruiter can do is have no fear when it comes to attracting and hiring military veterans.

RECRUITING

Whether you are a recruiter for a fortune 500 company or a small business, the fact is the military veteran population is a pool of highly qualified, well-trained, and motivated potential employees ready to work.

Here are some things that exceptional military talent recruiters have and do:

Passion. Recruiting is all about passion. It’s obvious that a great recruiter is passionate about the company he or she works for and they are passionate about the people who want to work there. A great military talent recruiter is even more passionate for our veterans and those currently serving. Thanking a veteran for their service is great, but what we should be doing is giving them opportunity. Move from words to concrete action. Making an extra effort to bring veterans to the team is true passion.

FMI Brochure

Competence. A great military talent recruiter understands the military culture. He or she understands what a Sergeant is and does. They understand what platoons, companies and battalions are. They understand military lingo and how to read a DD 214. This makes them great recruiters because they do not shy away from calling veterans in for an interview. Instead of funneling veteran resumes to the trash bin, they take action. They believe in supporting our troops by hiring them.

Compassion. An outstanding military talent recruiter does not necessarily need to be a veteran, but they definitely need to be sensitive and empathetic to the life experiences of our service members. Knowing what to ask and not to ask during an interview prevents barriers to communication. Understanding potential disabilities, but not letting them skew the hiring decision is not only the right thing to do, it’s the law. Compassion comes from listening. Great recruiters pay outstanding attention to the needs of a veteran applicant.

9547808574_734a2263c8_bMatch people, not paper. I understand military resumes are sometimes confusing and do not always capture the true value of the veteran.   As I have said many times before, our separating military members need to do a better job at military to civilian skills translation. While this remains an uphill battle for our military, great recruiters do two exceptional things here. First, they do not automatically dismiss military resumes. Second, outstanding recruiters can see past the jargon and are willing to give veterans a chance at an interview where the service member can truly highlight their skill-sets.

Not letting a computer do the recruiting. RECRUITING IS A PEOPLE BUSINESS! Allowing software to run key word obsessed recruiting for an organization is the wrong answer. Great recruiters understand this. They interact with people, not machines.   A great military talent recruiter, is aware, however, of key words such as, Company Commander, Platoon Sergeant, Squad leader, Senior Chief, First Sergeant, Wing Commander, etc. These are the key words that identify true leaders and outstanding candidates.

meetingHonesty. Within the military culture, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines are provided initial counseling at the beginning of each new assignment. This counseling lays out all expectations from personal performance to what to expect on the job. Great military talent recruiters do the same thing. Outstanding recruiters are honest about the job they are hiring for. The job description is going to list the duties of a warehouse worker, but it’s up to the recruiter to tell the veteran that in the summer time the temperatures on the warehouse loading dock reach 95 plus degrees. The applicant needs to know that overtime is the norm and so is being called in on short notice when demand increases.   The veteran needs to know it’s a high stress job with a high turn-over rate. Just lay it all out and the veteran employee will step up and make it happen.

Follow-ups. As I talk to many transitioning veterans and listen to their stories, I am completely baffled at the amount of recruiters who do not return a phone calls or e-mails. A great military talent recruiter understands the fighting spirit of our military members and understand that an aggressive follow-up by veteran applicants are par for the course. While I understand recruiters are extremely busy, that is no excuse for ignoring those who gave so much of themselves to protect the freedoms we enjoy. Outstanding military talent recruiters are never too busy to return a phone call or an e-mail and always keep the applicant informed.

FMI TENANTS LOGOGreat recruiters are not born, they are developed. Let Forward March Inc. train your recruiters to be exceptional military talent scouts. We have a comprehensive Military Talent Hiring Guide and we can help develop a pipeline and hiring strategy for success as well as train your HR department on all the best ways to recruit military veterans. We will take your company from good to great!

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Forward March Inc Military Hiring Guide

Forward March Inc Military Hiring Guide

~ Article written by Jason Caswell, Forward March Inc – Director of Training and Talent Pipeline Services

Hiring Our Heroes Hiring Fair – December 9 – 10

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ATTENTION ALL MILITARY VETERANS AND TRANSITIONING MILITARY – Next week the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation will be holding their Hiring Our Heroes Hiring Fair. Forward March Inc. will be attending this hiring fair. Make sure you do not miss this event and be sure to stop by and meet with us as well.

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San Antonio Hiring Fair

Tuesday, December 9, 2014 – 5:30pm to Wednesday, December 10, 2014 – 3:00pm
Hiring Our Heroes
AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Pkwy

San Antonio, TX 78219

United States
Resume and Interview Tips and Suggestions
If you are attending but want to make sure you are putting your best foot forward be sure to read our three part series on preparing for a job interview. This series covers interviewing tips, social media tips and resume suggestions. Read more here…
Don’t forget to check out our tools and resources page for veterans and transitioning military here…
For a really comprehensive list of military hiring fairs around the country check out Military.com here…
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Veteran Employment Opportunity

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CERTIFICATE FOR APARTMENT MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN TRAINING

JANUARY 20 – FEBRUARY 6, 2015

GOODWILL GOOD CAREERS ACADEMY 12332
“IH-10 WEST AT DE ZAVALA

Seminar hours: 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

For information on how to apply for this opportunity call 210/924-8581 (ext. 5907).

Happy Birthday to the Civil Air Patrol

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Civil_Air_Patrol_sealHappy Birthday to the Civil Air Patrol. In the late 1930s, more than 150,000 volunteers with a love for aviation argued for an organization to put their planes and flying skills to use in defense of their country.  As a result, the Civil Air Patrol was born one week prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Read More Here….