The federal government offers a vast array of career opportunities, unparallelled job security, and extraordinary benefits. In addition, a large percentage of current federal employees are now eligible to retire. Because of this, the federal government is planning to hire 600,000 people in the next two years, and to do that, they will need to make the hiring process much easier for outside (non-federal) applicants. Many job-seekers from outside the federal system have complained for years about the difficulty and complexity–not to mention the inscrutability–of the federal hiring process (the “competitive” hiring process in particular).

The President issued an executive order in May to improve the process, and this order is supposed to be implemented by November 2010. The new directive is designed to (hopefully) speed up the process, allow applicants to see where they are in the system, get hiring managers involved in hiring, and generally make the process less cumbersome. I’m sure not all the changes are going to happen right away, but it seems promising.  Until these reforms are implemented, though, there are many tips job seekers should be aware of when applying for federal jobs.  For example:

• If you put in your job seeker profile that you only want a permanent job (and don’t check of temporary or term positions), many of your applications won’t be viewed by HR at all because you are screening yourself out for many positions. Many temporary positions are eventually converted to permanent posts, so be sure to select all options when searching.
• Understand the jargon. Many positions ask for “one year experience at a GS 7 level” or something similar. GS 7 is for candidates with a bachelor’s degree, and GS 9 is for those with a master’s. Higher levels are difficult to qualify for unless you have some years of service in the federal government.
• The federal government typically can’t hire for potential, but instead seems to hire only based on demonstrated experience, and you have to demonstrate it in your application clearly.
• You have to re-write your entire (non-federal) resume and focus on keywords in the job description– rephrasing something in your own words can mean you are not found best qualified.
• You will have to write essays, and sometimes fax in your transcripts, or even mail (!) in your application. (These “Knowledge, Skills and Abilities” essays will be disappearing in Nov. 2010). 
• “Status candidates” mean people who already work for the federal government and/or have special hiring consideration due to recently finishing Peace Corps or AmeriCorps or something similar.
• It can take months, even up to a whole year, to get through the hiring process. Take a look at this actual flowchart of the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development’s process and you can see why. (This is supposed to be improved in the new system).
• Even if you apply and are best qualified, it is unlikely that your resume will be seen by the hiring manager unless you are a veteran, because of the rule of three–only the top 3 candidates can be forwarded. (This rule is ending in Nov. 2010).
• Many jobs still aren’t posted on USAJobs, because they are federal career intern program or excepted service positions– and the name “career intern” is totally misleading because it’s a full-time, trainee-ship, two-year job, designed to turn into a permanent position. Consider calling federal agencies in your area to inquire about fellowships or career intern positions. These can be some of the best ways to break into the federal government.

Military professionals, with their in-depth knowledge of the Federal culture and their experience in responsible jobs, often tell me they want to continue to serve, but in the private sector.

What better way than to join a contractor’s team dedicated to a Federal contract?

If they are still on active duty or recently retired, it’s important to check their service’s ethical guidelines as a first step.

Huge Federal spending initiatives attract thousands of companies all across America. In response, the government has improved a powerful website that can work for job seekers and their coaches.

While much of the private sector may be unsure of how the economy is going and thus be reluctant to hire, a Federal contract is a serious offer of work.

Consider tapping into Federal Business Opportunities website https://www.fbo.gov/ to find this information:

- Which companies might boost their chances of winning a Federal contract by benefiting from the skills military professionals have?

- What are the contract decision makers’ names and contact information?

- When will this opportunity expire?

- Who are the target companies’ competition (by name)?

- How much is this contract worth?

As always, jobseekers look to offer value. In this case, helping with the dilemma those contractors face. Companies who bid on a contract must convince the government they have the resources (people) to do the work. But companies cannot afford to hire those people before the contract is awarded.

Transitioning military professionals may be able to help, if they begin their campaigns before their last day on active duty. When they go beyond the usual value in their resume to show they understand a contractor’s unique challenges, they open the door to building relationships that land jobs.

Considering the average job search can easily take up to a year, this strategy can help lock in a committment even before people leave active duty.

This article is dedicated to Jean Haldane who passed away last month and to her husband Bernard Haldane (deceased) for their lasting legacy of the Dependable Strengths® Articulation Process (DSAP). Today DSAP is in use worldwide in schools, colleges, churches, businesses, correctional facilities, human services agencies, and more.  The Bernards left behind two organizations that continue to carry out their work: Center for Dependable Strengths (CDS) in Seattle, WA; and Dependable Strengths Foundation in South Africa that fosters job creation, worker motivation, and enhancement of skills.

Bernard created the DSAP in 1945 to assist WW II Veterans transition to civilian life. Dependable Strengths® (DS) represent people’s special talents for excellence and are discovered through a peer-assisted group process. Participants identify good memories of what they did well and which gave them a sense of pride and/or accomplishment. In dyads and/or quads, they share their stories of what they did as they were making it happen. Then, their peers give them feedback. Through a process of prioritization, participants walk away with clarity and ownership of their DS—“a skill or talent that shows itself three or more times in the person’s top seven Good Experiences”—and know how to demonstrate their value to employers.

I interviewed Carmen Croonquist, a Dependable Strengths® facilitator and career coach. She said, “The main difference between DS and StrengthsFinder 2.0 is that DS are generated based on people’s memories of life experiences and to which they’re emotionally connected. Whereas, the StrengthsFinder 2.0 provides test takers with data on their top natural talents and provides them with further information to confirm them.” Carmen has applied her knowledge of DS with college students, career clients, and career workshops/classes. She feels it equips them to demonstrate their value to current and future employers.

CDS offers DSAP 5-Day Facilitator Training and public workshops. Through CDS you can purchase resources to learn more about DS. I have found the following three books authored by Haldane/s to be valuable:

1. Gifts: Dependable Strengths for Your Future is a great resource on DS and contains activities to discover one’s DS;
2. Job Finding Power is for lay leaders and has useful information for them to assist the unemployed; and
3. Ministry Explorations: A Total Ministry Support System is a total ministry support system.

CDS, along with Center for Learning Connections and WOIS/The Career Information System, just launched the initiative “Coming Home: Dependable Strengths for Veterans.” You can donate to this cause online.

Wishing you success as you assist your clients in discovering their Dependable Strengths®!

Copyright 2010. Nancy Branton.

Those who leave the military can easily miss one of its greatest benefits: free transition (career) assistance. In the past, there were several reasons for this.
Sometimes, service members thought their training and high standard of ethics would be enough to make them very attractive to employers.

Those retiring after a long career faced another barrier. Their organizations wanted to get the most from their corporate knowledge and experience right up to the day they retired.

For many, their dedication to the mission made it easy to shift the transition assistance sessions further down the schedule.

Now, however, the services seem to be taking a greater interest in the program. Over the last few years, DoD has funded hundreds of career transition specialists’ attendance at professional development conferences and memberships in professional career development organizations.

Career focus seems to be folded in to more service events. For example, the long-running Air Force Information Technology Conference will integrate a career fair. Some of the nation’s top IT thought leaders are present at the event which draws some 6,000 service-connected people together for the three day meeting.

Veterans aren’t the only ones who benefit from this new focus. If you are a résumé writer or a career coach working with veterans, be sure to ask what they took away from their transition assistance program. The new knowledge these special clients have can make the work we do more efficient and effective.

The military was linked in long, long before Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO, was born. All military clients are linked in to the military community and use it much the same way LinkedIn is used by their civilian counterparts. In fact, that aspect of service is so ingrained many servicemen and women may not recognize its role in their transition to their new civilian careers. Yet it’s beneficial to review the parallels.

The network’s role in military hiring: No, that’s not a typo. People on active duty use networks to “hire” or to be “hired,” especially for the best jobs. Perhaps a personal example will help.

When I served in the Pentagon, we often received copies of personnel folders from people who wanted a sought after headquarters position. We routinely ignored them. We knew how the system worked.

It usually started with a call from a general officer. He or she wanted to hire someone with specific experience. Like most of my peers, if I didn’t know anybody personally and well, I apologized for not being able to help.

Then a call came from an assistant chief of staff who wanted someone with operational flying experience and a master’s degree in operations research. I had the perfect candidate.

I had flown with a most capable officer. She was hand-picked to attend MIT on a full scholarship to get a master’s in operations research. She would graduate soon with a 4.0 GPA. I recommended her because I knew her well. By the end of that phone call, she was hired.

Military people should think about those who know their work at first hand and ask for LinkedIn recommendations from them rather than request a more rarely used letter of recommendation.

They should also reach out to those for whom they worked on active duty. If those individuals may have already made the transition they can be the perfect gateway to a civilian career. They can offer great LinkedIn recommendations as well.

Beware the beltway bandits: Some excellent, well-respected companies have the military as their primary customers. Naturally, military professionals leaving the service can be attractive candidates as long as DoD ethics rules are followed.

However, there are a few organizations who try to take unfair advantage of that most sought after military person: the one with a high-level clearance and an up-to-date personal phonebook (network).

These firms try to make offers they think people can’t refuse. To them, it’s a lot cheaper to hire the right people, work them very, very hard then release them just before they qualify for expensive benefits and perks. Those tactics are their undoing. Separating military people should remember: if it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true.

The “new” networking has always been basis of military life. The traditional definition of networking describes a mutually mortifying process whereby the job seeker imposes on friends, relatives, and total strangers to ask for something none of them can give: a job. No wonder most recoil from the idea.

The new definition aligns perfectly with the military culture: offer value and help with no immediate expectation of return. In short, to serve is to network. If more military professionals recognized that simple truth, their job searches would be easier, faster, and more effective.

There are many parallels between how key military jobs get filled and how civilians build their careers. Let’s hope many who hang up the uniform get to use them well.

Military people don’t think often about deferred compensation. I’d guess military people don’t think about compensation much at all while on active duty.

But compensation is more than money. Compensation means time…time to take care of personal and family matters. That is a major factor for people on active duty. They are concerned about the “tempo of operations” (for which you may read number and frequency of deployments and remote tours).

When they reach the end of their active duty service commitments, those day-to-day military concerns fade. After all, they can see the day when they will be civilians. That’s not a time to let down one’s guard when it comes to getting the time they need for that life-changing transition.

The services claim to make time for military members to take advantage of their transition services. But too often, the military member and her culture intrude on that time. Let me explain.

Those who separate, particularly senior members, aren’t easily replaced. They have corporate memories. They have networks they’ve built over years.

Some commanders try to tap into those powerful benefits right up to the day members retire or separate. Given the press of military business, that’s understandable.

The members themselves may be drawn in to the process. Many are reluctant, even anxious, about the change to civilian life. How attractive it is to hang on to the familiar and important right to the last. Some even consider it their duty.

While I admire the dedication, my standards as a career coach require me to relate an almost certain conversation among those who remain on active duty after their colleague separated: “Who was that guy? I can see his face. Boy, he knew everything there was to know about IOT&E.” My message is simple: it’s time to leave, time to let others you’ve mentored take over.

Military people willingly miss anniversaries, their kids’ soccer games and birthdays. The mission required it. But when retirement or separation approaches, it’s time to let the services deliver on their “deferred compensation,” giving people time they need to plan.

Over the years, nearly all the O-6s who have attended my Executive Career Transition Program say they wish they had started no less than year before they hung up the uniform. That sentiment is reinforced when I remind them the typical job search takes about a year.

If you are a retiring or separating military member, take the time the services owe you. I know your schedule is busy. But if you start a year or more out, you can fit in what you need to do with your mission requirements without stress.

If you are a coach working with military members, remind them their personal, career needs are important. After all, many can look forward to 20 years or more in a second career.

The nation needs them just as much out of uniform as they did when wore the green, blue, or “purple” suit.

“Only when the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the aircraft you are ready to fly.”

That inside joke tells you a lot about the role of paperwork in the uniformed services. But of all the forms in use today, most military people will tell you one carries uniquely powerful weight.

For Navy and Marine Corp members it’s called the FITREP (Fitness Report). The Air Force and Army rely on the OER and APR (Officer Effectiveness Report and the Airman Performance Report). The Coast Guard uses an Officer Evaluation Report. Since promotion boards rely on these reports, since one “bad” report can ruin a career, it’s natural for your military clients to offer them as tools to help them transition into civilian life.

As a careers professional, it’s important you know how to use them well.

Effectiveness reports are written by and for a very informed readership. Their primary purpose is to help evaluate a military member’s fitness for promotion to the next highest rank or grade. I put those words in italics to make two points.

First, the services seek to promote those who display exceptional leadership and potential as officers and NCOs, not necessarily the best “pilot,” “carrier air group commander,” or “drill sergeant.”

Second, most service people serve in a wide array of different career fields.

Every supervisor is very aware how few words he’s allowed on a report. So jargon is as useful and necessary for the planned audience as it is confusing and frustrating for civilian hiring officials.

However, you can help your clients get the most from their reports. Obviously, the most recent ones carry the most weight. Beyond that, ask about the highest level at which the report is endorsed. Generally, the higher the level, the greater the quality of the performance.

Ask your clients to use their reports as memory joggers so you can capture all their success stories. Because the reports often contain numbers, you can add power by quantifying results. But dig deeper to get the full impact.

Was your client new in the career field reflected in the report? Was she chosen “by name”—sought out by a higher ranking officer for special assignment? Did your client serve in a position that called for a much higher rank?

Lastly, don’t be shy about using or paraphrasing quotes from reporting or endorsing officials. Be sure you indicate which level the praise comes from. The endorsers’ name won’t be familiar to civilian hiring officials. But their spans of control can add significant power to a résumé.

Service members sometimes gripe about military promotion systems. But it’s a rare civilian organization that has as many checks and balances in how they promote their best.

Now that you know their unique strengths and weaknesses, please use effectiveness reports well to position your client best.

Conventional wisdom tells laymen that military and civilian cultures are different in many ways. But as career professionals, we must dig deeper if we are to help our military clients well and establish trust with them from the start.

Perhaps the largest difference goes to the heart of how the uniformed services evaluate and promote people. It’s all about leadership.

When a civilian asks a military person what he or she does, the services want the military person to say “I am a commissioned (or non-commissioned) officer on active duty.” The services want their members to think of the rank or grade they hold first.

Of course, people in uniforms have different MOSs (Military Occupational Specialty for the Army), AFSCs (Air Force Specialty Code), or Ratings (Navy).

These indicate the kind of job each person is holds now. My career is typical. I was, at different times, a flight instructor and examiner, an air operations staff officer, a curriculum designer, a public relations officer, an educational instructor, and an education administrator. But the Air Force, and I, always thought of me as a commissioned officer. And the system used to promote me measured my effectiveness as a leader.

Military professionals know leadership is not the euphemism used in so many parts of the civilian world where it is confused with financial support, political gain, or winning a marketplace advantage.

The military leader feels his responsibility very deeply, and personally, to those who help him or her do the mission. Therefore, it’s completely natural for military clients to say their career field is “management” or “leadership.”

What they don’t realize—what may come as a shock—is there are no such specific career fields in civilian life.

Employers create jobs based on a capability they need. They describe that capability with a job title or career field. Helping our military clients find the one career field (from the many they may have worked in on active duty) that is right for them is our responsibility.

If we don’t guide our clients, they will chase one disconnected “opportunity” after another. That’s because job announcements almost always talk about “leadership,” “people skills,” “problem solving,” “strong communications skills,” and the like. But the military client may miss the skill sets unique to each career field.

For example, a non-profit executive director needs all the skills listed in the previous paragraph. But if she isn’t practiced in cultivating the donors, if she cannot build and enlarge upon a market brand, she won’t succeed.

As a result, our military client will always feel unprepared. Endless “tweaking” of the résumé follows. In the end, even if that person does find a job, how satisfying it will be is open to chance. And since so many Americans are unhappy, or very unhappy, in their work, the chances aren’t good.

You have many tools to help military clients match up with the right career field—as they define “right.”

As you use those tools, reassure your military clients their leadership and management will make them successful in their new careers just as it did when they are on active duty.

It’s natural to assume the high esteem in which the public holds the military today should give transitioning military clients an edge. It does…but three, persistent stereotypes held by hiring officials about veterans dull that advantage.

These stereotypes have persisted for 35 years. That’s how long we’ve had the all-volunteer force. Before the end of the draft, one in four Americans either had served on active duty or had an immediate family member who served. The ratio is 1 in 400 today. Most people’s view of military life comes from the entertainment industry.

Many transitioning military aren’t even aware of these stereotypes. When I list them, veterans are astounded by what they see as laughable perceptions.

Since they do exist, let me introduce you to the major ones.

Military people don’t have to think. They just give and take orders. While that may have been true 60 years ago, it just isn’t so today.

I think I am typical because, in my twenty six years on active duty as a commissioned officer, I gave precisely one direct order. Our military members are smarter than they have ever been. They insist on understanding how they contribute to the mission.

Military folks always have unlimited resources. If only that were true. Doing more with less is a phrase that came from the uniformed services first.

Military people don’t understand profit and loss. It astounds civilians to learn that military organizations buy and sell goods and services to other military organizations. And I suspect not many civilian managers could survive the constant evaluation senior officers and NCOs get in their ability to manage every kind of resource.

For career professionals, our challenge is to counter those stereotypes, not just in the résumé, but in the cover letter and social network profiles we help build.