Down Range E-Book

James D. Murphy

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Military veterans prepare for the next mission in their careers

Written by veterans who have successfully made the transition, Down Range offers career planning guidance to U.S. military veterans coming off active duty. This is NOT simply a guide to transitioning from the military to the civilian world. This is NOT a guide to getting a job. This book IS a guide to developing a post-military career, not just for the first few days, weeks, or months after active duty, but for the rest of your employed life.

This simple and effective planning process has been taught to more than 1 million business executives in companies all over the world.

• Explains how to build an adaptable long-range career plan called a Career High Definition Destination (HDD), across a spectrum of seven key areas
• Shows how business differs from military service, how to identify the resources needed to achieve the Career HDD, and how to develop strategic and tactical courses of action that drive you to executing towards your Career HDD on a consistent basis
• Author James Murphy is founder of Afterburner Inc. and is currently working with the U.S. Army at the highest levels to develop a transition program for the estimated 1.5 million veterans who will transition from active duty service to civilian careers by the year 2020

This book challenges veterans to change their mind-set and understand just how different the "wilderness" of civilian employment is from military experience. Down Range provides an appreciation for what's important to a business, helping you to become a valuable asset throughout your career.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction: You Have Everything They Need

Chapter 1: Transition Your Mindset: It's a Brand New Mission

Scale and Variety

Hierarchy versus Flatness

Mission-Driven versus Profit-Driven

Service versus Employment

Intrusion versus Privacy

Constant duty versus On the Clock

Learning the Language

Chapter 2: Translating the Values You Bring to Business

LOCKED

Chapter 3: Before You Step Outside the Wire, Determine Your Objective

The Six Steps of Planning

The Planning Horizon

The Career Key Areas

Chapter 4: Identify the Threats

Six Steps of Planning

Threat #1: You!

Threat #2: Your Virtual Signature

Threat #3: OPSEC and Recruiters

Threat #4: Flat Hierarchy and Fit

Threat #5: Language and General Knowledge

Threat #6: Civilian Misperceptions and Stereotypes

Threat #7: Resumes

Threat #8: Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs)

Threat #9: Interviews

Chapter 5: Identify Your Resources

Six Steps of Planning

Veterans' Benefits

Leadership Training

Dual Career Option

Networking, Mentors, Coaches, and Recruiters

Chapter 6: Evaluate Lessons Learned

Six Steps of Planning

Translating Job Titles

Researching the Opportunity and the Company

Consider Timing

Play the Field

Establish Career Progression

Go or No-Go

Chapter 7: Develop a Course of Action

Six Steps of Planning

Maria's Story: Getting Started

The Course of Action

Red Team Your Plan

Career Contingency Planning

Chapter 8: Selling the Most Important Commodity: You!

Your Value Arsenal—Demonstrations of Effectiveness

LOCKED—Leadership

LOCKED—Organization

LOCKED—Communication

LOCKED—Knowledge

LOCKED—Experience

LOCKED—Discipline

Draft Your Targeted Value Proposition

Chapter 9: Interview to Win!

Preparing for an Interview

What to Expect in an Interview

Interview Questions

Negotiating an Offer

Chapter 10: Down Range: Put Your Career Plan into Action

Rising Opportunities for Veterans

Appendix A: The Six Steps of Planning

Appendix B: Career Planning Worksheet

Appendix C: Example Career Plan

Appendix D: Resume Construction Template and Tips

Resume Tips

Appendix E: Cover Letter Template and Tips

Appendix F: Getting Noticed on an ATS Query

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Appendix G: Practice Interview Questions Bank

The STAR Method

Behavioral Practice Questions

Appendix H: Interview/Opportunity Preparation Checklist

Preparation for an Interview

Materials for an Interview

Interview

Follow-up

Appendix I: Men's Interview Attire and Grooming Checklist

Appendix J: Women's Interview Attire and Grooming Checklist

Appendix K: Summary of Veterans' Career and Transition Resources

Appendix L: LinkedIn Tips

Appendix M: List of Common Threats, Resources, and Lessons Learned to Consider While Planning Your Career

Appendix N: List of Action Verbs for Use in Demonstrations of Effectiveness

Appendix O: Additional References and Information Resources

Veteran Support and Benefits Websites

Books

Recommended General Business Books

Appendix P: Recommended Tasks to Include in Your Career Course of Action

Appendix Q: Tips for Preparing Questions to Ask an Interviewer

Index

Cover image: © Ariel Skelley/Getty Images

Cover design: Wiley

Copyright © 2014 by Afterburner, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

The terms Flawless Execution, Task Saturation, LOCKED on Teams, and High Definition Destination are registered service mark terms of Afterburner, Inc.

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ISBN 978-1-118-79015-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-82561-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-82571-6

Introduction: You Have Everything They Need

At long last, America has restarted her economic engine. Jobs are returning, revenues are growing, stock values are rising, but American business has moved past this century's first financial crisis only to face another—a crisis of leadership and values. When facing an asymmetric, constantly changing, networked marketplace, companies desperately need accountability, teamwork, and people with an ability to execute. In many ways, they need you!

Veterans have spent years—and often decades—learning how to execute as a team. We've operated under pressure, with limited information, in fluid combat scenarios. Our experience in the armed forces gave us an ability to adapt, while teaching us a process for planning and teamwork that leads to the pursuit of flawless execution. As we know, flawless execution is a pursuit, not a reality, and that mindset is what our business leaders are desperately seeking today. We may not yet possess industry vocabulary or a deep understanding of civilian business, but we have the skills modern companies need, and we can, with exceptional speed, learn to use them effectively in this new context.

Despite what too many military transition courses seem to tell us, we are not square pegs destined for a limited number of stereotyped roles. Too often, we're told we're stepping outside the wire, going into hostile territory. We must shed the fear and burden of that false mindset, and instead seize the boundless opportunity before us.

A decade ago, we were in your position, leaving the military, hearing the naysayers, and searching for a career. We soon found a home in business because of—not in spite of—our years of service. Now, we work with business leaders across the country, the very people who want to hire you. These men and women regularly tell us they want accountability, and an ability to adapt, innovate, and act in an asymmetric world; they need everything you've learned as a soldier, sailor, marine, or airman. You have all the skills necessary to prosper, if not dominate, in civilian business. If you're an E-6, never let anyone say you can't be an entrepreneur. If you're an O-6, don't think people don't want to hire you because you might be perceived as high maintenance. American business needs what you have—so be proud of your background, get to work, and execute in this new world just like you did so successfully in the military. But first, you must understand a new battlespace.

Because less than one percent of Americans have served in the military, many business managers won't initially understand the values and hard skills veterans bring. They only know what they've heard or read, and that's often not accurate. You bear some of this responsibility in overcoming this gap. Selling is the lifeblood of any business, and it'll be the lifeblood of your next move because you'll be selling the most important of commodities: you. To sell yourself, you need to understand how to navigate this new battlefield, and communicate in a new vernacular so you can position yourself properly with the credibility and respect you deserve. Your job becomes showing these businessmen and women what you can offer. You've got the background and the capabilities; you have to make sure employers know it. This becomes job Number One, and we're here to help.

Nobody can predict the future, but you can design it. You've served your country, and now you deserve not just a job, but a meaningful and prosperous long-term career. That takes careful planning, and making the wrong choices at the outset can cap your potential to achieve your long-term aims. So let's start your transition with one of the first things you learned in the military: develop a plan.

This book is intended to provide career planning guidance to U.S. military veterans transitioning off active duty. Although a list of general veterans' benefits is provided in the appendices, this book is not a guide to the many resources provided by military, government, and private businesses to assist transitioning veterans. This is not a guide to getting a job. Getting a job is easy; getting one that you will enjoy, while also providing for you and your family for many years, is the true challenge that lies ahead. With this in mind, this book is a guide to developing a post-military career, not just for the first few days, weeks, or months after transitioning from active duty, but for the rest of your employed life. We will discuss how to build a successful civilian career by leveraging the skills and abilities acquired in the course of a military career.

As the authors, we are passionate about helping you and can specifically relate to your current situation. Not only are we veterans with 35 years of combined active and reserve military service in the U.S. Air Force and Navy, but our collective professional experiences include work: as a hiring manager and human resources professional in a U.S. Fortune 500 corporation; in sales and business development roles in small and large companies; as an entrepreneur and thought leader who has consulted and trained managers and executives in 30 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 and many Global 1000 companies; and as a senior leader with command responsibilities in the military. We have also created a highly acclaimed career-planning seminar for U.S. Army transitioning veterans. Our perspective is unique. We have experienced the challenges that veterans face as they transition to civilian careers from every perspective: that of veterans without a clear career path; employers; highly active members of the military reserve force; corporate trainers; and employees in large for-profit corporations, a mid-size not-for-profit corporation, and a small for-profit company. As consultants, we have been inside the walls of companies in many different industries, witnessed the challenges modern businesses face, and recognized the great value and skills that veterans possess to meet those challenges.

This book follows a proven career-planning process, one born of military planning principles that we at Afterburner Inc., our training and consulting firm, have been teaching to business executives all over the world since 1996. The effectiveness and popularity of that planning process is due, in part, to the principles of planning commonly practiced in all the military services. These are skills that veterans possess and businesses need. This book will help you tap those principles to develop a career and to demonstrate your value to potential employers.

It All Starts with a Plan

One of the most significant skills that you possess, even if your military experience is as a junior enlisted soldier, sailor, marine, or airman, is your ability to plan.

In this book we apply the fundamentals of planning to achieve a set of career objectives. To do that, we need to introduce some greater detail about the six-step planning process that we will be utilizing for the rest of this book. The flawless execution planning process proceeds through the following steps:

STEP 1 Determine the objective.

STEP 2 Identify the threats (or challenges) to accomplishing the objective.

STEP 3 Determine the resources available or needed to achieve the objective.

STEP 4 Evaluate lessons learned.

STEP 5 Determine the course of action.

STEP 6 Plan for contingencies.

This book provides a structure for defining, planning, and achieving your career objective. We will, as we proceed through each step in the planning process, provide guidance, recommendations, considerations, new knowledge, and lessons learned that will help inform your planning. We will address the many common threats and resources that you need to consider that will inform the actions you will need to take to achieve your career objectives. We will help you develop your own personal value proposition that will enable you to sell your skills and abilities to any perspective employer. We will provide guidance on interview preparation and conduct, and address how to leverage social networking as a highly valuable resource in your career development. Perhaps most important of all, we will show you how to create a clear and measurable career high-definition destination (HDD) that will act as the driving force behind achieving the career that is right for you.

But, first, you need to prepare yourself mentally for your transition. You need to change your mindset. In the first chapter, we will help you do that.

Let's begin!

Chapter 1

Transition Your Mindset: It's a Brand New Mission

Who are the most influential people in your particular military community? Is it the chief of staff of your respective service or the leader of your military branch or community? Perhaps you closely follow the activities, blogs, broadcasts, or other messages of the senior enlisted member of your service, such as the sergeant major of the army or marine corps. These are individuals who you would recognize instantly if you were to meet them, but would you recognize a similar leader in the business world? Be honest with yourself. Can you name a single chief executive officer (CEO) from any one of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies?