MOAA Helping Veterans Find Jobs

LinkedIn Groups

Group: Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Career Networking

Subject: Moving Beyond Networking

This week’s career building note comes from Jim O’Keefe, MOAA’s newest Deputy Director for Career Transition Services, who recently sat in on a group strategy session for unemployed professionals. The group was comprised of mid-level and senior-level managers and executives from a variety of industries. 

Continuing in Jim’s words: Some were laid off recently, and others had been out of work for months. It’s a sign of the times – good people looking for work in a very competitive market.

During the strategy session, the attendees share their elevator pitch/30 second commercial; their progress with interviews and any lessons learned; let others know of job opportunities they discovered; and share leads on upcoming networking events and career fairs. It is a friendly and supportive environment. 

As the session unrolled, I saw anxiety in some faces and confidence in others. I quickly drew a correlation between the length of time being out of work and the level of confidence. Those recently laid off were the most anxious ones in the room. 

It was evident that as the session continued, the real value gained by all in the room was one of mutual support. Those who were new to the job search gained confidence from knowing there were other people like them searching for work – they weren’t alone. And the other experienced participants had gained their confidence by sharing their experiences with one another which helped reduce the fear of the unknown. 

Whenever a person faces a major life event like losing a job, it is important to keep moving forward. And some of the principal steps to regaining your footing are facing your fear, looking ahead to the future, putting a plan together and taking action. “Mutual support” from others can help you formulate and execute your plan, make adjustments along the way and, most importantly, keep you moving forward. 

Job seekers transitioning from the military may want to consider forming their own support groups. You will meet other job seekers at networking events and career fairs, and you may find a few like-minded people who you can meet regularly for coffee or lunch and share job search experiences. This can help you gain confidence, and this confidence will increase your optimism – and guess what? Optimistic job seekers are more likely to get the job. 

This is the model adopted by MOAA’s Pikes Peak Chapter in Colorado Springs, where members meet regularly to share best practices, provide mutual accountability and grow their networks. 

MOAA can also provide “mutual support” to transitioning senior military officers in their job search through our Military Executive Transition program (MET) on 14 May 2013 in Alexandria, VA. 

This one-day transition acceleration workshop is focused on key aspects of a successful military-to-civilian transition, including: 

 • Cultural and psychological components of the transition into civilian life.
 • Building a stronger and broader network to accelerate your job search.
 • Strategies for using retained and contingent recruiters. 
 • Identifying mentors and developing professional relationships.
 • Key lessons designed to engender success during the first three months in your new job.
 • A moderated panel of successfully-transitioned peers who are now either self-employed or are working in the public, private, nonprofit and academic sectors.

In addition to the one-day workshop, your registration fee also gives you access to:

 • MOAA’s Job Search and Resume Bank
 • Resume development assistance
 • On-line interview preparation services
 • Hands-on social media job-search training session
 • Follow-on personalized career management, financial and healthcare decision coaching with MOAA staff subject matter experts. 

 For more details, visit www.moaa.org/career; call 800-234-6622; or e-mail met@moaa.org.