RE: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,181447,00.html

Great article! I have seen this several times with veterans applying for federal positions. They typically undersell themselves and never make the interview. Too bad...they were likely the best candidate for the job.

After going through the Military to civilian conversion I found the most important tool for a successful transition is preparation and fore sight.
Preparation begins with sitting down and building a bullet point list of your skills then a list of strengths and skills.

Then write a cover letter presenting you to yourself then find a friend to present the cover letter and Resume' too.

Remember a Resume' is not an application but a story that tells your career history in a straight logical order. Note: I worked for many years for a fortune fifty company after my military career ended without filling out an application until after I was hired.

Remember always translate or define military jargon to your readers. Why? Most civilians don't understand it. Rarely, They don't want to understand it and Hiring Managers are always looking for people with good communication skills. Now is the time research comparative skills: Military to Civilian. Key idea; research and study on the internet is so important right now.
Remember this application is representing you not the military. So give it all the strength you can without a large amount of padding and don't Lie.

Results-I found a new long term career within two weeks of my retirement paying three times my monthly take home. My new title was Data/Voice Communications Architect.

Now if any veteran is looking for a new career in telecommunions I will be glad to help you with advice and direction. Just reply to this article.

I am a Veteran currently looking for a job in the Telecommunications field (ET,Navy) and find this information very valuable. Applying for civilian job and translating military jargon make worlds of difference.

Also, gerhardII, if you have any info to pass along, feel free to let me know

What are your your long term goals?

Are you lookinng for a career in the software or physical end the field? Very very important.

Where do you want to live?

Future Salary needs? VIP

Training and education- VIP

Example: I know of a Telecommunications Specialist, who makes $250,000 a year with some fantastic benefits. He prepared himself by taking college courses and attending specialized seminars before he left the service as an E-5.

So what are your dreams??

Having been on both sides of "the fence" as an applicant and a federal government Human Resources Manager; I can appreciate all the information this article is trying to impart to others. I have even recommended it to my own children as they leave the service. I used to spend hours trying to elicite enough information out of some applicants to ensure they had enough supervisory experience to qualify for the position they were applying for. Too many times they quoted me "military speak", which thankfully I knew coming from a military background. I had to show them the way to offer the same information in "civilian speak" so others could understand what they were saying.
All I can say about this article is WELL DONE and THANK YOU for it.

I’m looking at taking a temporary (not to exceed 2 yrs) GS-11 position. It is the same job (command and location) I spent three and a half years performing prior to my retirement from the army. I have over 18 years experience in that career field. I just found out that they want to start me at Step 1 and was told that all new GS employ starts at Step 1. My question is do they discount all of my experience on the job and career field while in the army? It’s quite a bit less at the top of the scale than I would be paid as a contractor.

If you are starting at GS-11, you are given credit for experience. Steps are for pay raises for years in grade. The job probably is one that is GS-7/12(or 13), and they are hiring in near the top of the range.

General Schedule System
The General Schedule (GS) System is a pay system used to set pay for employees who work in positions classified in the administrative, clerical, professional and technical occupational categories. The pay plan designator is "GS". The GS system is comprised of 15 grade levels – GS-1 through GS-15 and each grade level has a salary range of ten steps. Employees can advance to a higher step within the grade if they meet time and performance requirements.

GS Steps

Under the GS system, the average step increase is roughly equivalent to 3 percent of your basic salary. If your performance is rated as "meets expectations", you will be granted within-grade step increases at specific intervals. Following are the waiting periods for GS full time employees:

For advancement to steps 2, 3 and 4 – 52 calendar weeks
For advancement to steps 5, 6 and 7 – 104 calendar weeks
For advancement to steps 8, 9 and 10 – 156 calendar weeks

With todays economy and job market (granted I'm in Flint MI) it would be crazy for a Vet making a transition from Military-Civilian not to look into Federal Positions.

If I could only go back in time...

Another great resource that wasn't mentioned in the article is the SMART transcripts (NAVY) These detail all of your training and have the college equivalence. Not only do they provide you with the training, but they go into detailed course description that you may over look when expressing to HR your skills and back ground.

SO, before you get out into civ land and run into problems with the men in blue (2 DUI, misdemeanor gun charge so I can't get a clearance)..get your qualifications detailed and secure that long term position.

Great article and the other website regarding KSA is excellent.

I really appreciate your explanation of the GS pay scale. I'm in Afghanistan so information is a little harder to access.

With this position it was only advertised as GS-11, a temporary position, not to exceed two years. So no matter who they selected the person hired would start at GS-11. Based on what I'm being told, the only way I would start higher than Step 1 is if I was previously in a GS position. To me the 18 years experience in the career field would qualify me to be hired. And the 180 weeks filling this very same job would qualify me to start at a higher step level.

Is working for the government that much different than contractors? I was recruited as a technical instructor, instead of offering the normal starting salary of 60K I was offered 70K due to my extensive experience and knowledge in the field.

Not sure if the GS career field is for me, perhaps the 250K to stay here for another year would be the smartest thing to do.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dave_M,

I am so glad I read this article. For the past year, I have been applying for positions that I knew I was qualified for, but not getting the top candidates spot. I didn't realize that listing everything single thing I did was required in order to get the system to flag my resume. I have now revised my resume and hope that my position changes.

quote:

Originally posted by 9091197:
I really appreciate your explanation of the GS pay scale. I'm in Afghanistan so information is a little harder to access.

With this position it was only advertised as GS-11, a temporary position, not to exceed two years. So no matter who they selected the person hired would start at GS-11. Based on what I'm being told, the only way I would start higher than Step 1 is if I was previously in a GS position. To me the 18 years experience in the career field would qualify me to be hired. And the 180 weeks filling this very same job would qualify me to start at a higher step level.

Is working for the government that much different than contractors? I was recruited as a technical instructor, instead of offering the normal starting salary of 60K I was offered 70K due to my extensive experience and knowledge in the field.

Not sure if the GS career field is for me, perhaps the 250K to stay here for another year would be the smartest thing to do.

Again to be clear, the only way you start at a step above 1, is to already be a GS-11 in another job and meet the time in grade (GS-11) for the next step. It is not about experience. It is a way of increasing the pay for people who do not get an increase to GS-12 or GS-13. My son is a GS-12 and at his old job, he could only get step increases. When he becomes a GS-13 hopefully this year at his new job, he will start as a Step 1 again. Steps equal years in grade.

A resume should be tweaked, absolutely. However, the Resumix system does not allow for it without ruining your chances at other jobs for which you are applying. Let me explain. Resumix allows you to have only one resume. So you see a job, say project manager, and tweak it with the buzz words and self nominate. A week later you see another job, this time marketing manager, and tweak the resume for that one adding tons of marketing terms and perhaps having to delete some of the proj mgmt words since there is a character limit. You then self nominate for that job. A week later the first job closes. The resume which is there is the one pulled- that's right, the Marketing resume gets pulled for the Pro Mgmt job. I have talked with CPOL about this and they say be more general. Well I know the computer gives you a score based on key words so being general makes you lose the game too. Resumix either needs to be changed to allow for more than one resume or it needs to be done away with and USAjobs be used for everything. We have plenty of veterans who have 20 years in in doing one main job and have started a degree towards something totally different. When they leave they are either looking for an entry level in the new career or very high level in the old career. There is no such thing as a general resume for this, Resumix does not allow for this.

The jargon translation was one of the biggest issues. Most State Unemployment Offcies and maybe the Libraries have a book that translates AFSCs/Rates/MOSs into civilian career terms. use that well.

Another issue is perception that military people are too rigid or inflexible and dicatorial especially career folks. I had one fellow tell me that he not known me and saw I was a military retiree he would not have hired me. Since a lot of managers are as young as early 20's and into Feng Shui and laid back atmospheres they don't want a DI in the mix so there may well be some prejudice there as well as political issues. If their politicals lean Left they may not want a GI as he represents the GWOT and Bush. Dumb, yes but no one said life was fair. As a Nam Vet, I know that kind of folks. Just keep at it and you will find your niche and a place where they appreciate your skills and character.

One thing I KNOW FOR SURE is be PERSISTENT! "Don't give up and try not to get too frustrated"! I know from PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. I retired from the U.S. Navy in 1998 and was trying for SEVEN YEARS to get in to Federal Service. Finally, in 2005 I got in! You might not get what position you were were orginally looking for, but be flexible. Remember, you WANT to get a Federal Job! So apply for a variety of positions. When you get in you can always keep applying for the type of jobs you really want. I started out as a WG-06 and now I just got promoted to WG-10.

Keep your cool, just stay with it you will get in. The Federal Government is slow....NO HURRY TO DO ANYTHING!

One thing that IS VERY IMPORTANT: MAKE SURE RESUME HAS EVERYTHING IN IT THAT PERTAINS TO THE JOB YOU'RE APPLYING FOR. Usually, the region that you are applying in, the MAIN HUMAN RESOURSES OFFICE has the FIRST SCREEN ON ALL RESUMES! If they do not see KEY THINGS AND KEY WORDS IN YOUR RESUME they WILL SCREEN YOU OUT!

Hope this advise and information HELPS! "Good Luck"!

- AD1(AW), US Navy (Retired)
- WG8602-10, Aircraft Jet Engine Mechanic & Inspector

One of the big problems in applying for jobs as a vet is that many specialties in the military do not necessarily have a smooth transition into the Fed employment or private sector. Try to have a good editor read any materials before you submit them. Not everyone has the same vocabulary as some vets do.

Having a friend on the, 'inside,' always helps too!