Top "8 Things" Tip #8: Politics, Politics, Politics

During my 6 years in the Army, to say that I never experienced organizational politics would not be truthful.  As a matter of fact, as I progressed through my career, I guess I saw more of the politics, which was a contributing factor to me eventually deciding to move on to the civilian world. Unfortunately, what I would say I was less prepared for, maybe naively so, was the fact that my experience in the corporate world would be filled with dealing with politics.  

All I can say is to be prepared.....I guess we will all deal with this differently and the most important advice I can give is to be true to yourself.  In my career, I have tried my best to resist the temptation to play political games.  I just don't like them because playing the political games has always seemed a bit "dishonest" to me. I have instead focused on just trying to do the right things for the businesses I have worked on. I am sure at times this has held my career back, but at the same time I also think it has differentiated me as a leader within my organization. I think that once people see that you make decisions with the objective of doing the right thing for the business, versus just doing things that make you look good personally, or get personal accolades...you will have the trust of those people.



I write this post only to challenge you to think about how you will handle this as you enter the corporate world.  It is something to be aware of, as you have likely never experienced quite as much "office politics" in your military career as you will in your civilian career.  Obviously, the extent to which playing politics is effective in the workplace will differ by company. so it may be something that you want to be aware of as you talk with different companies about jobs. You will likely not get very direct answers from those who are interviewing you, but you can certainly ask questions about the company culture with respect to accountability, or what traits make leaders successful in the company.  If you ask enough people these types of questions in the interview process, I think you will quickly get a feel for what type of people the company values as leaders.  If you sense that the answers indicate that the most effective leaders are those who talk a good game and shirk accountability.....personally I would recommend running as fast as you can. On the other hand, if they talk about those who are willing to make tough decisions or take ownership of the good and the bad...or leaders that are willing to accept mistakes to help develop its people.....than I would say that this company may be a good fit for someone coming from the military.

Top "8 Things" Tip #7: Understand Career Progression

As you think about your transition into the corporate world, you are likely thinking about potential jobs, roles  and companies that you think could be a good fit.  When you do find jobs or companies that seem to be a good fit, you certainly want to ensure that the job is the right role, but you should also think about what comes after that first job.  I know what you're thinking..."I don't even have a job yet and now you want me to also think about what comes next...Geesh!" I bring this fact up because you will want to understand what a career path might look like in your company of interest and to determine if this seems like a good fit with your own personal interests.

The reality is that as a junior officer, I feel like the military does a good job of giving you a good balance of both command roles and staff roles, which can keep you interested in your job and help avoid burnout.  My experience in the Army was that just when I got tired of dealing with soldier's problems, I had the opportunity to move to a staff role. Then when I was just getting tired of doing paperwork and wanted to get back to working with soldiers, I was given the opportunity to serve in command/"green tab" type roles.

In the corporate world, there is less awareness of this concept.  When I left the Army, I went to work as a production supervisor (a typical JMO job opportunity) for about 3 years.  Initially, it was a good fit, but at about the 2.5 year mark, I was ready for something different as I was getting burned out running my production department.  In the company, most supervisors were in their roles for 5, 10, 15 and maybe even 20 years.  I knew that this would not work for me and started to look at opportunities both internally and externally.  I had an interest in transitioning into a more corporate role (sales or marketing), but the company didn't really view this as a realistic job progression because I had no experience in sales or marketing.  Within about 2 months, I had a job offer from P&G to do market research, enabling my desire to move into the corporate world and do marketing-type work....so I left the company.

There are different expectations on career progression in the corporate world than there are in the military.  My advice is to at least ask a few questions in your interview process to understand what the company could offer in a career progression.  If they want to hire you, they will likely also be interested in keeping you around, so questions should not throw them off.  Just make sure you don't ask so may questions about the next job that you make them think that you don't even want the initial role.

The key here is to understand how they see someone like you developing in their company.  Ask them if they have ever hired other JMOs and what career paths looked like for them. Ask them how long is typical for staying in a role within the company and how they view moving around in the company.  These are all things that I wish that I had better understood when I left the Army and accepted my first job.  Not thinking about this did eventually contribute to me leaving this first job, so learn from my mistakes and you may put yourself in a better job/career situation from the start.

Enjoy the search!

Greg

Top "10 Things" Tip #8: No Sergeant Horvaths

Sergeant Horvath taking care of a problem

In the oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan, Tom Sizemore played Sgt. Horvath....right-hand man of CPT Miller, played by Tom Hanks. I always loved this character because he was so representative of so many NCOs I had the pleasure and honor of serving with when I was a junior officer in the Army. He was tough, dedicated, loyal, asked tough questions when needed, but ultimately supported the captain's orders and took care of business.

What I have learned in my 10 year career in the corporate world is that there are NO SGT Horvath's in the corporate world. For me, this has been one of the most difficult things for me to adapt to outside of the military,  In the Army, I had competent NCOs with lots of experience who often needed little guidance and oversight to make things happen.  As a matter of fact, in many cases the most common response to a request was "don't worry LT, I got this." While in the military, you have to lead and guide and set a vision, people are generally eager to take direction and go execute to make things happen.  Outside the military, you will rarely find someone waiting and revved up to execute your plan.  It is much more about getting people bought in and aligned to doing something…and they often want to know what is in it for them. In the coporate world you will have to be part officer (Planner, leader) and part-NCO (executor, activator). Sometimes I pine for the days in the military where you spend a lot of time planning, but then there is a lot of assistance with the execution.

Enjoy the search,
Greg

Top "8 Things" Tip #5: Get to Know the Work, Not Just The Idea of the Work

      This one may sound odd....so let me explain.  The idea of being an accountant, a graphic designer, a production supervisor, a teacher, a marketing manager, a park ranger, a police officer, a politician or an advertising executive, etc may all sound sexy and exciting to you.  

As you think about what it is you think you want to do, it is important to dream a little bit....maybe 

even create a list of these occupations that seem to draw your attention...BUT the next important 

step that people often overlook is to really envision and imagine the types of tasks you will likely 

have to do each day working in each of these jobs.  The key here is to really understand the work, 

NOT just the idea of the work. 

I'll give you an example:

If you are thinking about wanting to be a park ranger because you love the outdoors, that is 

definitely a great start; but take it a step further.  As far as job tasks you may have to perform you 

might be expected to enforce laws, clean up trash and bathrooms, conduct interpretive 

presentations for visitors, do trail maintenance, "man" the desk at a visitor center and work on 

evenings and weekends. At first glance, this job may sound great and may really touch on an 

interest area of loving the outdoors, but maybe you don't really want to be a "cop" or be away from 

your family all summer or on weekends, or only have seasonal work, since most jobs are not full 

time. This is what I mean when I say, you need to really understand the work.

If you don’t have a really solid understanding of what the work is for each of the potential job 

fields/careers that you have listed, then do RESEARCH. This thing called "the world wide web" or 

"internet" is a great source and a perfect place to start. Search for professional organizations that 

may apply to the career field you are interested in and reach out to members of these organizations.  

Tell them what you think you are interested in doing, and ask them lots of questions about what 

they really do on a daily basis. If you are truly interested in learning, they will typically be willing to 

help. It's not like you are asking them for a job (nor should you!), but you never know where things 

can lead. 

Grow your network and continue to network your butt off! You can never do it enough. Get on

ISABRD (for you Academy graduates, http://www.isabrd.com), go to your school alumni websites or 

go to alumni happy hours if the area you live in has them.  LinkedIn (http://linkedin.com)is also a 

place to connect and find people, since you can search by companies, job titles, or cities, etc. Read 

job listings on sites like www.monster.com, or www.indeed.com or any local jobs sites and see what 

types of tasks and responsibilities the posting says you should expect to do in the role. It is not 

enough to just read about a type of job and conjure up in your mind what you think the work is. 

Find someone who is actually doing it and ask them lots questions. Then be honest with yourself 

about whether you think this type of career could be a good fit.

Find fellow veterans and JMOs who have already made the transition, and I am sure they will be 

very willing to help you...if you approach them in the right way (ie, with respect and not just saying I 

want a job like yours). Remember, people will be more likely to help if you are interested in their 

career field, as opposed to just wanting them to give you a job.  In this economy, good jobs are not 
easy to come by, you will have to do work. 

If you truly understand the work and not just the idea of the work, you will have a much better 

chance of putting yourself on a career path that could be a good fit.  Trust me on this one, as I 

have made this mistake myself by falling in love with the "idea of a job." If you look at my LinkedIn 

profile, you can probably figure out pretty quickly which job wasn't a good fit for me as a result of 

me not doing enough research.  Please learn from my mistakes and you will save yourself a lot of 

time, wasted energy and maybe even money.

Enjoy the search,

Greg

Top "8 Things" Tip #4: Strongly Consider Graduate School

Sorry it has taken me a few weeks to get to this next post....my day job has been keeping me busy.

I spoke to this topic of business school in an earlier post (See post on Tip #2).  If you even think that you want to enter the business world, I highly recommend going back to school full-time to get an MBA. Whether you want to be an operations leader, a marketing manager or even a small business owner or an entrepeneur, going back to school to solidify your business acumen can never hurt you.  It will strengthen your resume and can often give you opportunities that you would not have with only a BA or BS. When I worked at P&G, the majority of Associate Brand Managers that were hired into Marketing, all came from business school.  (If you have other career interests outside of business, look into what graduate school can enable as well. Maybe you have an interest in working outdoors, so a Masters in Forestry might be of interest.  Maybe you want to be a politician or work for a non-profit...a Masters in Public Administration could also be helpful. In all cases,  research what opportunities in your field of interest an advanced degree might enable).

Now...back to B-School....the other advantage of going to business school full-time is that it will give you more time and opportunity to really explore career opportunities, while you are still in school.  You will have the ability to take advantage of internships and network with other students.  I really recommend going back to school if you have a strong geographical preference, because it gets you back to where you want to be quickly AND gives you the opportunity to make yourself a part of the community.  The other benefit is that it will help you re-civilianize yourself...as you can get more accustomed to life outside of the military and a more typical social life.

The last reason I mention school is that most of you who have served post 9/11 , should have school benefits to utilize.  You will have to do your own research on the Post 911 GI Bill (http://www.gibill.va.gov/benefits/post_911_gibill/index.html),  but it would be a shame to not utilize this wonderful benefit that the government offers you for your service. If you are married with kids, I know it may sound more difficult to become a full-time student, but find a way to make it happen. You may have to downsize, or be poor for a few years....but in the end, I guarantee that this will be worth it. If you can’t convince your wife, send me an e-mail….I will help you convince her, as this is one of the bigger regrets that I personally had when I think about my transition.

I did end up getting my MBA, but it took me 3 1/2 years part-time to complete and it was a GRIND...especially when I did most of it with a newborn in the house. I was also 5 years into my career, by the time I started school. Trust me, if you can make it happen, before you settle into a full-time job, a mortgage payment, etc....I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it.

Best of luck in your search...more posts will be coming soon!

Top "8 Things" Tip #3: JMO Recruiters can be a great resource

JMO Recruiters can be a great resource…but just remember, it is your life and

your career that you are making decisions about. I've worked with some really 

good recruiters who have prepared me well for interviews...and I've worked with

others who treated me more like a meal ticket. Some are better than others and

some care more about you and take the time to work with you and make sure you

find a good employer and a good job fit. I would say that you will get a pretty

good sense as you work with a recruiter if they care about you or just care about

getting paid. In either case they may get you a job, but I always felt more

comfortable working with someone I felt cared about me personally, because I felt 

like they cared about making sure that I found the right situation. If you feel like a

recruiter is pressuring you, they are likely just looking to get paid.  

Recruiters want to work with you because, for the most part, you are pretty easy to

place because of your marketable skills. You have great skills, lots to offer, are

well-educated, understand the meaning of hard work and sacrifice, are likely a

team player, and(last but not least) your relocation is paid for by the military. This

can be a big expense for companies, so this can be a nice aspect of hiring a JMO.

When you meet with a recruiter, feel free to interview them....ask questions.  Don't feel like 

you are obligated to use the person you meet with or their particular company if you don't 

"hit it off." There are lots of JMO recruiting companies out there.

Ask lots of questions:

What is their success rate of placing JMOs?

What sort of preparation will they do to help you assess what sort of career you are best 

suited for?

What sort of interview/resume preparation will they do with you?

What types of companies do they typically place JMOs with? Are these companies truly of 

interest to you? How long did past JMOs stay with the company they were placed with ?

Ask if you can talk with any JMOs they placed previously, so that you can understand their 

experience?

Understand whether the companies they are working with have hired JMOs before or if you 

are the first? (This may not matter to you, but I was the first JMO at a company I worked for, 

and it was somewhat difficult for me to adjust to an environment where there were NO other 

people like me in the company. This may differ for everyone, but I liked my work 

experiences better in situations where other veterans were around for mentorship, help, etc)

I know some companies require you to sign exclusivity contracts. I don't really have an 

opinion either way. I never signed an exclusivity contract and I got plenty of job offers.  I've 

had some classmates who did and found jobs.  Obviously there are pros and cons of 

"signing" an exclusivity contract with a recruiting company. I would just recommend that you 

explicitly understand what the terms are. If you feel like it's the right thing to do for you 

individually, then go right ahead. If not, feel free to move on.