With unemployment skyrocketing around the country, things can look pretty bleak for a new job seeker. They can look especially rough for someone coming out of the military with very little experience looking for a job. The job market might even force some to reconsider leaving the military at all.
For the estimated 200,000 veterans who will separate from the military this year, getting that first big job is hard enough. But there are a few things they will need to know about just how difficult getting hired can be.
Even before the coronavirus outbreak shut down economies around the world and before unemployment was at an all-time record low and before unemployment benefits paid more than most wage work, jobs could still be competitive. On average, 1,000 individuals would see a job post, 200 began the application process and around 100 completed the application, according to John Sullivan, a Silicon Valley talent acquisition expert.
Those were the numbers before unemployment spiked past 20%. Today, the market could be even tougher.
Yet that's not a reason to be deterred from applying. If anything, it's a reason to celebrate a little harder when you land that first big job.
But it's also important to be prepared. Here are a few more things to keep in mind when looking for your first post-military job. Take this information, then improvise, adapt and overcome.
1. You Will Get Rejected.
A lot, as it turns out. But while not the best feeling, just hearing a "no" shouldn't keep you from trying again. If anything, there's a logic to marching on. The average job seeker will be rejected 24 times before landing a job, according to career coach and author Orville Pierson.
So it stands to reason that, as long as you're really putting the effort into your cover letters, resumes and applications, you must eventually get the job. The numbers don't lie, even if they are averages.
2. A Stellar Resume Can Mean Very Little.
You might want to try making your resume a little eye-catching, because you're not just trying to get a recruiter to read it. You're trying to get them to give it more than a six-second look, the average time a typical recruit looks at each resume, according to multiple studies. And that look doesn't even happen until after the company's software sorts through most of the resume pile. (That's why it's so important to use the right keywords in your resume.)
And if there's even one tiny error ... forget about it, according to job posting giant and Military.com parent company Monster.com. You better use spell check, Grammarly and maybe even ask a half-dozen people to proofread it, too.
Related: 3 Top Tips on Handling Resume Keyword Filters
3. Networking Is More Important.
A Forbes study found that even among millions of open jobs in an economy that is booming with low unemployment, only 20% of jobs were ever posted to find a candidate. The rest went to people who were close to the job and knew someone who needed to fill it.
And no one keeps your resume on file. If you apply for a job that doesn't exist, your resume and cover letter may go into a corporate database that almost no one looks at. Human resources managers refer to these databases as "The Black Hole."
You won't ever escape.
And that's why networking and personal relationships are more important. By building those, you tap into that web of insider knowledge, even circumventing the posted job process. It really might be all about who you know.
4. Your Military Service Might Hurt You.
This is a tough one to swallow after so many years of selfless service. But public perception of military veterans is overall a positive one, so it's not that civilian employers are against hiring veterans. Perception of veteran stereotypes just colors what they'll hire veterans to do.
In one Duke University study, restaurant managers were found to be much more likely to hire veterans to be kitchen staff, rather than for customer-facing positions. The manager just thought the kitchen is where veterans would thrive.
The best way to overcome this is to tailor your resume to the job for which you're applying and describe your relevant military experience for that job. That means you'll need to know how to translate your military skills and training into terms civilians will understand.
Read: Translating Your Military Resume for a Corporate Audience
-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.
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