Job search can be difficult; especially when your 'technical' capabilities may not be so obviously well-aligned with job opportunities - as is the case for many military veterans.
Most veterans however come with experience and capabilities that are great value-adds for many jobs. These capabilities are often viewed as "soft-skills" (which we all know are some of the hardest things to do well).
I suggest there is a "mental model" employers employ use when considering people for their open jobs. It is rooted in the need to be convinced the candidate can achieve the job's 'core deliverables'.
Further, I'll suggest that most often, employers first consider 'Technical Capabilities', then they consider the 'Soft Skills' (with notable exceptions from situation to situation).
So what does this mean in transition and job search?
You need to know and leverage your soft skills/capabilities, but you absolutely need to know the jobs' deliverables and the technical capability expectations.
•Note your soft skills
•Explore jobs that are interesting
•Identify those jobs’ core responsibilities and technical capabilities
•Check your experience to find technical correlations – then translate them to civilian-ese
•Network to build relationships
•Make the case that your experience/capabilities (technical and soft skills) are the best fit for the job!
If you'd like to learn more, give me a shout!
