With Veterans Day coming up, I wanted to write about one of my favorite topics - veterans. Trying to collect my thoughts, I realized I’d probably written about this topic on Memorial Day. I checked back in the archives and saw that indeed I had--my feelings are, if anything, stronger now.
The reason veterans are so important to me is that I’ve learned so much over the past 12 years at Columbia Business School working with many incredible students who served in the various armed forces. This was a new experience for someone who'd had limited contact, over a lifetime, with military people-- except to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. For those of us who were draft age in the ’60s, attitudes were considerably different then.
This holiday is a good time for me to mention, again, why veterans are among my favorite clients--and have been for years. I’ve seen how well they do at Columbia Business School. They’re disciplined, tenacious, resourceful and financial services organizations (among others) love to hire them. The success rate is unusually high. Is this a surprise? Not to me.
Many of the officers I work with have come from tough backgrounds and have fought hard to make it. While they value individual strength, they also understand the value of team work. That’s just one of the reasons why they do so well in the job market.
I've had clients who have done several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but have never held a job outside of the military. I’ve seen them start from scratch, build networks, pick up the skills they’ll need for success in civilian life. It's great to watch. One of our current students, a West Point graduate and veteran of THREE one-year tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was still in the military when we met, and during his first semester, found his first job outside the military--through his remarkable West Point network. He’s already working on his next options. This is one determined guy.
But the sequester is taking a bite out of tuition remission, along with a lot of other services for veterans, making it harder for veterans to get the education they need. It's outrageous that they have to even partially pay for an expensive education after what they’ve been through.
No one’s ever accused me of being a super patriot, but maybe Veterans Day is a good reminder that the rest of us need to pay special attention. Not just for today, but every day.
Behavioral Interviewing - How to demonstrate your skills in an interview (video)
What to Expect in a Career Transition
Okay. Let's get something straight. Career transition is NOT fun. It's NOT a spiritual quest.
Every time I read something--anything--that talks about a job search in terms like “journey of self-discovery” or some such drivel, it makes me feel ill. Aside from personal taste, I find this kind of commentary misleading.
If you’re in transition, you need to realize, up front, that it’s a part of life that compares in many negative ways to dating. You’re being judged, frequently in arbitrary ways, and sometimes the judgment is made after five minutes. There is rejection, bad behavior, immaturity, and random decision-making.
In dating, it’s tough to deal with. That’s why few will say they enjoy the overall experience. (Unless they see it as a spiritual quest.)
In career transition, it might even be worse. Add in that your livelihood is on the line, and somehow that provides an extra, toxic edge.
I won’t carry the metaphor further. There are so many other directions in which this can go.
One of the best-selling books, ever, on the subject of careers, is almost a religious tract. Not only is the book unreadable, I think it’s also destructive in some ways. After so many years of experience in corporations, outplacement firms, private practice, and universities, I have rarely seen anyone actually enjoy a transition. Sure, the payoff is sometimes terrific and exciting, sometimes anticlimactic, and even sometimes a letdown, but the process itself is, well . . . awful. Thinking it should be something other than that is simply not true for most.
I heard the author of the above-mentioned book speak at a professional conference several years ago, and he, indeed, ended up talking about religious precepts. I walked out, not only because he was shoving his religion in my face, but also because he was wasting my time--the topic was supposed to be career management. I wasn’t alone in leaving the room. The conference was not supposed to be about religion.
My main point here is it’s critical to understand that if you’re going into a transition there will be several aspects which will be discouraging, sometimes painfully so. Someone not returning a call. An organization saying you are the first choice to fill the position, and then never calling, despite your consistent follow-ups. Reading tea leaves is a big part of it, i.e., why didn’t they call? Why didn’t I get a response to that great email? Why am I not getting any traction?
Of course, there are good parts--when you have a terrific, encouraging meeting, maybe several in a row. But, then the great meetings may lead to nothing, not even a good contact. And so the roller coaster continues, until the serial “no’s” turn into “yes.”
I think understanding, up front, that this experience involves a great deal of rejection, and major ups and downs, will emotionally prepare you to handle it intellectually. This preparation, plus the necessary discipline and consistency you bring to your search, will make you more effective and will result in better and quicker outcomes.