Refining My Skills
I am refining my nose for bullshi’ite lately and my imminent departure from the Marine Corps has given me a chance to further improve it. This isn’t sour grapes just a few observations.
Where do I start? Well, maybe in the job search department. I was buying a suit today and talking to a man who has dealt with quite a few departing Marines over the years. He was very knowledgeable in clothing and what went with what department. We talked for a while and I think that a little bs was emitted. He said something like, “You’re the type of person that companies are looking for.” Hmm, I thought, “oh, yeah. You have proven abilities, experience and they know that you will stick with it.” Really? How true is that?
It’s hardly true at all. I am certain that there are quite a few success stories out there from retiring military men and women. As a matter of fact I will be going for an interview in a few weeks with a company that has a good reputation and my prospects look pretty good, but when you look at the entire picture you have to wonder if the guy was just trying to sell me a suit.
Take the federal government job market. If you look at all the jobs they list you notice that quite a few of them say they are open to current federal employees only. A while back a law was signed that said people with military service, that met certain criteria, were eligible to apply for those jobs. I applied for a few of them and was promptly rejected because I didn’t meet the criteria. Why? Well the one that said only open to current federal employees. I explained to the person that a law was passed quite a while before that said… Oh, I never heard of that she said. Now I wonder how many other people have been turned down for CONSIDERATION for a federal job because the person doing the screening didn’t know the rules.
There are a few other things I learned like if you apply for a job with the US Army there is criteria that isn’t listed anywhere on the application or web site. It isn’t even listed in any of the links from the site. When you ask why you aren’t qualified they say that army regulation blah, blah, blah says you have to be such and such qualified. Isn’t that supposed to be readily accessible information?
I had a friend that got a job with a branch of service I won’t mention ☺ He told me that while he was on active duty he held the position and that the hiring official wanted him for the job. But, there was a pesky thing called competition. So what did they do? They asked him if he did such and such. He said yes, you know I did, but what does that have to do with this job. The answer was that they were making the job so specific that only he would be eligible. Well good for him.
The civilian market is just as fickle. I posted my resume on a few sites like Monster.Com and I applied to a couple of companies. One answered back that they didn’t have anything that met my skills. A few days later their hiring man emailed me that he saw my resume online and I am exactly the type of person they are looking for. Really? Well last week you said I wasn’t. Once again, it’s not sour grapes. It’s just my nose for bullshi’ite.
Oh, yeah, I bought the suit.
Bratty Brother, Navy Veteran says:
With your qualifications, you’d make a good he-bitch for some man-pimp.
(inter-service rivalry will never die on this blog)
:mrgreen:
Mark says:
Larry, I do not know much about you. I don’t know what kind of job you are looking for. If someone said to me “You are just what we a re looking for.”, I would consider my BS meter off the scale. Military service is a plus to many employers. It means you are capable of doing what you are told and can make it to work. Regretably, in many cases, it means they wish to offer substandard pay, long hours, and expect you to pick up after incompetents. You will have to sort this out for yourself.
FWIW, I have sworn I will never again use another “headhunter”, or employment agency again. They are pimps. I would caution using Monster, or other online resume databases, as you have no idea who will approach you. Look for a job you want. Research the company, and target them. There are lots of shi’ite jobs out ther, and lousy employers. Good jobs with good employers are more difficult to come by. Good luck.
cranky says:
Larry, thanks for serving our country and good luck in the job search. You confirmed for me, about the unnamed branch of service job (sounded like an Air Force trick - I spent 20 years with them) that I saw the same thing happen with. There could have only been one person qualified for the GS position and that was the retiring service member who had actually developed the software specified as knowledge criteria for the job. Surprise - I wasn’t qualified.
Anyway, best of luck. You’ll do well.
Beth says:
You know, Larry, a whole LOT of people getting out/retiring from the military turn right around and do the same job as a civilian (and naturally, make more money as well). I did it too, sort of–I came back into a different job, but the same organization, and they wrote the position description to match my resume. It just kinda depends on where you are and what the mission is.
If you don’t have the book “What Color Is Your Parachute,” GET IT. When you don’t have personal contacts in a company, the resume is the only thing you’ve got on your side. It has to be PERFECT. Forget everything you’ve learned in the Marine Corps about resume-like things–there is absolutely no resemblance whatsoever between military paperwork (evaluation reports, etc.) and civilian resumes (or at least the ones that don’t get tossed out). Also remember people pay a lot of lip service to veterans, saying in a generic sense that they love hiring them/us. It’s all about the bottom line in the real world, and you have to show them how YOU can strengthen that bottom line. Think in dollars.
If I were you, I’d be hitting the big contractors HARD for interviews. Booz-Allen, SAIC, etc….I dunno who’s located in your area, but I know there are some. You want to find companies that do a lot of contract work with DOD–they’ll have work that suits you, and they pay well too (as long as you ASK!–far too many retirees get short-changed because they don’t have any idea how much to ask for in the real world!!!)
Shoot me an email with details and I’ll see if I can steer you in a good direction. I’m not bragging, but I’ve done it before, and my piece of shi’ite ex-husband owes his job and progression to me, because he’d be still sitting as a GS-11 pushing paper (rather than a highly-paid contractor) if I hadn’t written his resume (!) and given him the guidance he needed. (Really, I’m NOT bragging–more like bitching because he’s got all kinds of money now and I don’t have shi’ite!)
Beth says:
And…LOL @ Cranky! (Air Force here too!)
Basil's Blog » Blog Archive » Blogrolling 2007-03-19 says:
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