The answer is a resounding yes! What type of life largely depends on you. The opportunities are plentiful for
those with well-honed regional skills and contacts. Frankly, considerable opportunities exist both in the more
traditional contractor positions as well as in the world of private business and industry. It should come as no
surprise to any of us that the business world holds significant promise for FAOs, mainly because of our skills and
discipline. I found that my own move to a publicly traded and totally civilian company was relatively comfortable.
The firm for which I now work has no ties to the military and except for having service members as our
clients there is virtually no contact with the defense establishment. Coming into this firm I experienced some
interesting reactions from my newly acquired peers. They had little understand-ing of what I had done as an Army
officer and my regional skills (such as my fluency in several lang-uages) seemed to scare them. My extensive time
living overseas was alien to them. What I discovered in the first month in the new job was that they found it
difficult to relate to me and in essence created psychological barriers between us. This was doubly hard on me as I
was faced with the prospect of reorienting my entire context of profession, working environment, and day-to-day
life.
After analysing the cause of my apparent isolation, I began a concerted campaign to reach out to my
new associates, employing the same techniques that we all have used in foreign assignments. Slowly my peers
warmed to me just as host professionals of my earlier foreign assignments had. The lesson here is that while the
business community is foreign and even its vocabulary is alien to us, it is no more so than Russia or China on the
first visit.
Obviously, there were other obstacles to be hurdled other than that of personal relationships. I found
that I had to learn a com-pletely new way of thinking when it came to concepts such as re-wards, benefits, and pay.
In my case, there was the added con-fusion of jumping from a salaried position to that of a commissioned employee.
I, frankly, suspected that such a jump would be both difficult and entail learning vastly different skills. In fact, I
found that this assumption was not to be true at all and that many of the same values that we hold as Army officers
are among the best ones for an individual engaged in sales. These include: taking care of the soldiers, or translated
into "businessese," the customers; displaying trust and competence; living your business; and doing the right
thing.
All in all, we have many advantages that we bring
to the table when entering the business world. The secret is to be cog-nizant of these advantages and to learn how to
make use of them to sell yourself in the civilian job market. Job counselors will rightly say that your job hunt is a
sale of yourself. To make this sale you must believe in yourself and in what you want. What I mean is that you
must know what you want to do, not just tem-porarily, but for your next career. This is the hardest step in the
process of civilianizing, because not until you have determined your goal, can you commit to that goal and look for
a job. If you are unsure of where you ultimately what go with your career then a possible solution is to take a
transitional job in a defense related field. Once you make your final commitment it will show in everything you do
and your job interview will go well. More importantly, when you get the job under these circumstances, I guarantee
that you will enjoy it. The Job Search -- How to Approach
It
One of the most daunting tasks we face as we approach the transition to civilian life is finding our
next job. We are accustomed to following orders, negotiating with our assignments officer, and hopefully landing
the job that will lead to success. With this background, many of us feel ill equipped to do battle with civilian human
relations managers who may ask unexpected questions and give no clear direction, let alone choices. In this new
life, assignments branch no longer gives us alternatives and the road to the top is not clearly discernible. Because of
this lack of clarity, many of my peers have taken jobs that are less challenging than their qualifications would merit.
In part, this was because they viewed their transition as seeking a job rather than starting another career. Since a
temporary job requires less resources and effort than a career, these people do not necessarily reach their full
potential. In part, the result was due to a less than outstanding presentation of themselves.
To ensure you land a job with the level of responsiblity you deserve, you must be correctly prepared
mentally. There are numerous resources available to help prepare you to travel the road of transition. The Army
Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) is a good start; they cover the basics and get you thinking. The Retired
Officer's Association (TROA) puts on a very good lecture as part of their Officer Placement Service (TOPS). This
lecture helps you establish a benchmark, it is given by people who have been there. TROA has a good program for
job leads and a number of other tips. Do not overlook state employment agencies, they often have good leads and
workshops. The concept that state employment agencies are targeted against blue collar type work is a myth. Last,
but certainly not least, use networking opportunities such as this journal, hoppies, and other rofessional
organizations. All these will assist you in establishing the correct mental framework so you can begin your
preparation.The concept that State employment
agencies are targeted against blue collar type work is a myth.
Most retirement preparation programs begin with the basics and the first building block is your
resume. While there are a number of types of resumes, there is no one perfect fit for you. The appropriate resume
is really whatever the company you are looking at is comfortable with. This is all part of G2ing the prospective
employer and can be determined by talking with them. Good prior research of the firm will ensure that you design
and write your resume in a manner they are accustomed to seeing and favor. As FAOs, we have a vast array of
skills, but we need to present these qualities in a way that best shows the employer how they can benefit his bottom
line. The method of presentation may be a chronological, skill based, or bullet resume, but in the final analysis the
best format depends on the market.
I have found that many of the stories about resume failures are due not to the rsume itself, but to a
lack of preparation and follow up. The job search is your most important sales job: you must sell yourself to the
employer. This takes proper preparation. Still, even if you have not presented the absolute best picture of yourself
in the resume, you can often correct this mistaken impression through your enthusiasm in the interview setting. The
trick is to present what the company wants to see in the resume in enough detail to get the interview and then sell
yourself in the interivew.. . . start your search with an idea
of type of job that you want -- this goal will focus your energies.
The next question is where to look for jobs. Despite what many experts say, newspaper
advertisements can be useful. While they may not hold the key to your next job, they can help identify trends --
who is hiring, what skills are being looked for, and what are the prevailing salary levles. The key here is to identify
a trend that matches your skills and inclinations. Once you figure out how your skills can be applied to the types of
jobs being offered, see who is hiring, decide who you want to work for, and GO AFTER THEM. I put strees on this
last purposely because in the end it is your enthusiasm that will make the difference.
Without making a blanket statement against headhunters, I will say that it does not make sense to pay
someone to market you when you know the subject better than anyone else. For very senior executives,
headhunters can often uncover opportunities that are not widely known. In this case, however, the searching
company should be paying the headhunter's fee, not you. For the rest of us, while the assurances and platitudes of a
headhunter may be reassuring, they will seldom land you the job you want.
Instead, start your search with an idea of the type of job that you want -- this goal will focus your
energies. Use the papers, your networking contacts, the internet, TROA, ACAP, and any other source you can think
of. Explore every lead initially until you have narrowed the field to positions you are seriously interested in. Make
this list small enough to manage, but large enough to keep you going. The exact size will depend upon what you
are comfortable with. Once you have this list, research the companies thoroughly using reference materials, phone
calls, and personal visits. Getting to know the company as well as its current employees will pay dividends in two
ways:(a) you will ensure that you are ready for your interview; and (b) you will learn if there is anything about
the company you do not like. Working for a company whose goals and philosophy run contrary to your own is a
losing proposition. Even if you receive
an acceptable income, you will not be happy.
The author, Mr. Alan Norris, is a retired FAO and works as a Financial Advisor at Legg/Mason Wood
Walker, in Alexandria (Member of New York Stock Exchange/Member SIPC) and volunteered to write the first in
this new series of articles in an attempt to pass along some of the lessons that I learned in my transition to civilian
life.
1997,
Foreign Area Officer Association
Springfield, Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve
Gotowicki
http://www.faoa.org
