• In the military, you probably received evaluations during your service. This is a valuable resource in showing your worth; bring those evaluations with you so employers can review them.
• Also bring your honorable discharge certificate when interviewing. Interviewers may need to make a copy of the certificate and not having it readily available could delay the hiring process.
• In addition to the above, always bring a copy of your DD214 when interviewing. The DD214 lists all of your military information and, as with previous items, an employer may need a copy of it. Be sure you never give out the original.
• When interviewing for a civilian job, refrain from using military jargon. Interviewers could misunderstand terms that only other military personnel know.
• Be honest! As a military professional, you have skills that you can be proud of. But don’t oversell yourself, either. Many employers are happy to train you if you don’t have a required skill. Good employers hire ideal candidates based on attitude, aptitude and motivation, so there is no reason to lie.
• Don’t forget to network. In the civilian world, finding a job is often achieved through the network of people you already know. Join industry organizations, attend local career fairs, and visit the local workforce center. This will expose you to individuals with connections to the companies that are hiring and that you want to work for.
• Check out existing military job boards, tailored especially for individuals transferring out of the military.

The transition from soldier to civilian has its challenges, but they don’t have to be obstacles. Now that you are in the driver’s seat in shaping your career, there are many resources waiting to be tapped. Good luck with your job search and most of all, find something you love to do!

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1. Putting a picture on your resume. In theory, this may seem like a great idea. It shows the recruiter what you look like and may create a more familiar feeling during the interview. The problem is that it can also create an open case for discrimination. Many employers will not accept resumes with a picture on them for legal reasons, so it’s a good idea to leave it off. A picture sends up two warning flags – either you don’t know about current hiring practices or you are looking for a lawsuit. Either way, you will probably not get the interview.

2. Your inappropriate personal email address. Many of you have read this from me before, but I will stress it again because I still have students who submit a resume to me with an unsuitable email address. An employer doesn’t want to hire sexycarebear@… it is unprofessional and creates doubt in the employer’s mind about how you will represent the company.

3. Disconnected phone numbers. This is probably the number one way to miss an interview opportunity. Even though I have attended career fairs for many years, it is still shocking to see how many people hand out resumes with incorrect phone numbers. Recruiters will not track you down; you must make it easy for them to contact you. If you don’t have a valid phone number, or didn’t update your resume, regardless of your very good reason, your resume will likely hit the recycling bin.

4. Spelling and grammar errors. This is the number one pet peeve of most recruiters. Spell check your document and have a minimum of three friends proofread it. Then reread your resume before you hand it out – every time. Your resume is a reflection of you. Typos and grammar errors send the message that you don’t have a solid command of the English language, you lack communication skills, or you just don’t care enough to do your very best. Slow down, take your time with it and avoid having your resume sent to the bottom of the stack.

5. Too much personal information. Religious statements or affiliations, personal hobbies, birth date, social security number, number of children, or marital status are never expected or appropriate on a resume. Recruiters want to see a resume with information that shows your work history and skills, not what you like to do in your free time. Additionally, too much personal information can lead to discrimination (see point one above) and can cause an interviewer to halt the interview process. This is one time where less is more if you want to stay in the running.

Creating a streamlined, effective resume is like creating a work of art; it takes patience and time but is worth the effort. Finding a job is a full time job, so don’t waste a single minute by sending a resume that is anything less than perfect.

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1. TMI – That’s right … Too much information! An interviewer doesn’t need (or want!) to know about how long you spend at the gym, your addiction to military video games, your drinking habits or any other kind of not-so-professional fun we all have after work hours. Be aware that many interviewers check social networking sites to see what type of person you really are, so be sure to clean up your LinkedIn and Facebook pages before you start your job search. And when giving responses during the interview, be sure your body language and demeanor represent you as the same dignified professional your online presence portrays.

2. Not Researching the Company – There is nothing worse than showing up for an interview completely in the dark about your prospective employer. If the interviewer is going to take the time to get to know you and assess your fit into the company, you must do the same. Be sure to do your research at least three days prior to the interview. Read the information more than once so you can speak intelligently about the company in the interview. Information to gather includes how long the company has been in business, corporate culture, number of employees, and products and services offered by the company. Coming prepared with your own questions formulated in advance will show you’ve done your homework.

3. Arriving Late – If you can’t make it to the interview on time, you are better off pulling over to the side of the road and rescheduling for a day when you can be punctual. Arriving late to an interview is a sign that you are either irresponsible or chronically late, neither of which looks favorable. By calling, before your scheduled arrival time, you still may have a chance at saving face and landing the job. Better yet, to avoid this whole scenario in the first place, make a dry run the day before your interview to be sure you know the exact interview location and traffic conditions along the route.

4. Bad Hygiene – A sure way to ruin a job interview is to show up less than, ahem, clean. Think of a job interview as a first date and put your very best foot forward. Even if you usually go three days between hair washes, nothing says clean and tidy like a complete shower just before your appointment. Make sure your fingernails are presentable and your breath is fresh. If you are a smoker, be sure to wash your hands and arms after smoking and to bring mouthwash and a toothbrush to rinse your mouth of any lingering odor. And finally, give thought to your attire by wearing professional and clean clothing that flatters you, keeping in mind that it is always better to be overdressed than under.

5. Watch Your Mouth – An interview is no time to get lazy with your language. Human resources people often try to make an interview a comfortable and calm experience. Even so, if you find that you share a love of the same crazy comedian with your interviewer, it’s better to be safe than sorry and keep the racy quips to yourself. While you should be yourself and avoid being stiff, don’t get too comfortable. Never use profanity and don’t ever speak poorly about a previous job or supervisor.

A first interview makes a first impression – avoid cutting corners and trust in the basics I have outlined above. Not only will you feel more confident, you’ll have more time to worry about what really counts – showing the interviewer you are the right candidate for the job.

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Being the good friend that I am and knowing this wasn’t the right time to enlighten my friend, I gave her my best ra-ra, you can do it, cheer up, you’ll get’em next time speech and told her to call me if she needed anything. I went back to work. My friend really said something that just didn’t sit well with me. She didn’t realize it, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. “If it weren’t for men, women would rule the world.” I started thinking of the different people I have worked with over the years, the various customers I have helped achieve their goals, even the targeted jobs that my female vs male customers are always asking for help achieving. I couldn’t get over it and then it hit me. Get ready, because you’re about to see it, in writing, from a woman! The truth is, my friend was partially right, but reality is, if it weren’t for women, women would rule the world! That’s right….I said it!

My friend had called out, from work, at least twice that I knew of in the last month just because. It wasn’t uncommon for her to go to work in rather tight, short, unprofessional clothing. She was always complaining about other women in the office. During lunch, I didn’t think that’s what she wanted to hear, but maybe that’s the problem. We, as women, need to hear the truth!

Ready for another truth? Only 25 companies in the Fortune 500 are run by a woman. In case you didn’t do the math, that’s 5 percent! Come on ladies, we can do better than that! And it gets worse, Pew Research Center polled men and woman asking which gender they thought made better leaders. A whopping 80% said they think both are equally qualified to be leaders. So what’s the problem? Why only 5%?

The problem… is other Women! That’s the problem! Now before you get upset, I’ll warn you that I’m about to make some pretty general statements. But ultimately, I believe that women stand in each other’s way more than men. Be honest, when’s the last time you heard a man judge a coworker based on his outfit? Or accuse him of sleeping his way to the top of the corporate ladder? The answer… not to often. What about a woman? Probably within the week. Now, I’m not saying men aren’t competitive. I’ve been to my share of football games. But men have a very different outlook when it comes to their careers.

Statistically, men are more goal oriented than women. Men are more likely to create a structured career goal strategy and stick to it. Men are more likely to start their careers in lower level positions and work their way up to senior or executive level status. This is the “traditional” path to success. In addition, men are less likely to take it personal when they don’t get the “big promotion.” They take it on the chin and get back to their grind hoping the next one has their name on it.

Women on the other hand are more reward oriented. We see a task, tackle it and expect immediate praise. If and when praise isn’t given, we take it personally. If another woman is praised for doing the same thing, we immediately try to figure out what she did right and what we did/didn’t do. One of two things tends to happen at this point. One, we start to doubt ourselves, or two, we start to criticize the other woman.

When we start to doubt ourselves, we’re getting in the way of our own success. Women accept failure very differently than men. Men often have the ability to quickly move on to the next task, sometimes as if they didn’t even fail, while women want to know and understand what they did wrong so they can ”fix it.” The problem with this is women become so focused on fixing the problem that may or may not have been there in the first place, that we’re leaving the road open for someone else to come in and take control of the next task or assignment. Women can be their own worst enemy when they start to doubt themselves.

If you go the other route and start criticizing the other woman, you may lose an opportunity to look at the situation for what it is. An opportunity to actually learn and grow. Honestly, men don’t care if their male colleagues start coming to work in skinny jeans or a cape and leotard. They care that this person is able to do their job and not interfere with their own tasks. It’s that simple. If women could accept that not everything is fair and that sometimes, no matter how hard you worked, or how much you deserve it, you still may not get that promotion. We’d be unstoppable! Men take the opportunity to turn the situation into a positive. Women take the opportunity to spend 45 minutes complaining to another woman about “that woman…”

So my career advice is simple. Work hard, always do the right thing, help your fellow men and woman to achieve their goals as you work to achieve yours, and eventually, you’ll be where you want to be. What you give out you’ll get back. It’s the law of reciprocity.

Understand it will take an extraordinary amount of hard work and effort that hopefully will allow you to gain invaluable experience and knowledge and never allow another person, including yourself to stand in the way of achieving your goals.

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My experience has been there is a time and place to “flex” your knowledge. You can always flex without insulting or coming off arrogant. The Profit, Marcus Lemonis, does a great job in each episode of his TV series demonstrating excellent leadership without being a know-it-all. He helps failing businesses, all with very proud owners, whom he needs to reassure he has the solution they need, but not insult them because he needs their buy-in for the business to turn around.

Below are four tips for being a solid leader without being a know it all.

• Don’t pretend you know more about a subject than you really do. As a leader you are expected to make good decisions. This includes hiring your team. If you have a Master Engineer on staff and engineering isn’t your background, then call on them to inform you, so you can put all the parts together and make informed decisions.
• Deliver true and meaningful compliments to your team. However, if you don’t mean it… don’t say it. People can see through a false compliment, faster than they can see through most things.
• Practice being silent. I know this is a hard one for some people, but one of the best pieces of advice I was given when starting out, was “you don’t always have to answer.” This advice helped me in so many different situations.
• Leaders must look to their teams for the knowledge they have.

The old saying “people start working for companies and leave managers is true.” I’ve never had anyone quit because the company was bad. I’ve had people stay at bad companies because of good leadership.  Practice the above four and let me know how it goes.

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I started off just observing. I often find you can see the real issues just by sitting back and observing each role within a company. Although observation is sometimes very difficult to accomplish, it is often where you find what is truly going on. You do have to balance what you write down, your facial expressions, etc. while you observe. You need to see what is really going on and if team members see you writing or making faces they will often try and hide the truth.

In addition to observations, I collected all of the data available on each position within each location. How many leads were being generated, how many appointments, how many closures, how many phone dials, how many incoming calls, etc.?  Then I collect data on the other positions in the company as well. Were other positions being productive? Had their statistics fallen as well?

My findings…. In both companies…the sales people were given interruptions by senior management, which meant they weren’t doing sales. And, if your sales people aren’t doing sales then no body in your organization probably is. I know… GASP… but it was true. Early on in my career one of my mentors told me to make sure I always “let sales people do sales.”

So, what does that really mean? Sales people, especially those in non-commission roles, will always look for something to do other than make phone calls, follow up, have appointments, etc. especially when times are rough. You’re probably wondering why? Sales is their job. Why would they do something different? The answer…. It’s human behavior. Sales is hard work. Getting told no is hard work. If you give your sales people an excuse to not do sales then they will not do sales. I found one sales person spending an enormous amount of time doing “research.” Research is a code word for “I don’t want to do sales.”  Another sales person was interviewing for other positions within their location. A different sales person was promoted to manage their location and was now managing, which means no one was doing sales. A different sales person was helping get caught up on bookkeeping.

As a leader, it is our job to eliminate all obstacles for our sales people. Don’t give them tasks outside of sales and then wonder why sales have fallen. If you find yourself in a situation where your sales are falling, step back and observe. What are your sales people really doing? You will be shocked, most of the time,  your company’s issue is because sales people aren’t really doing sales.

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The Pros

1. Gives you a dedicated time and place to be so you have no excuses to not show up and learn
2. Gets the information transferred within a set time period
3. Has the highest success and completion rates of all types of training
4. Interaction with trainers and like-minded students

The Cons

1. Generally, more expensive then self-paced online learning options
2. Requires homework and studying be completed on a rigged schedule
3. If you miss class, makeup is more difficult unless the class has a taped class or make-up schedule available
4. Moves at the pace of the average class member

Personally, I prefer traditional classroom training. It ensures I get the education within a dedicated time frame. Be realistic when selecting training options that fit your needs and lifestyle.

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Some people are natural born leaders. The rest of us… well… we need to work on it, and to become a good leader requires you work on it daily.  It’s impossible to become a great leader in a day. John C. Maxwell, a premier author and speaker in Leadership Development writes and speaks of a concept he calls “The Law of the Lid.” Basically, the lid is your leadership potential. If you have low leadership skills then you will hit the lid and not grow and not provide adequate leadership and this lid will restrict your ability. If you have high leadership skills than the lid is high and thus allows you to become more successful, before hitting your max.

Most leadership experts agree you can develop leadership skills. Personally, I wasn’t one of the few that was born a natural leader. I am, like most of us, the one that has to work on my leadership ability every day.  So what do I do to become a better leader? Great question. J

1. You want to lead, you have to read. I am an avid reader of personal development. I don’t generally read fictional novels. All of my reading are books that help me grow as an individual. I read books on leadership, management, success stories, concepts, sales strategies and more. I have to admit… I don’t finish every book I start… GASP… If I get to a point where I feel it’s repetitive, not applicable, or boring… I move on. With no shame. My time is limited (as is everyone’s) and I want to make sure I get the best ROI I can. I strive to read a book each week. That means 52 books per year. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don’t. However, it’s been years since I have gotten to December 31^st and felt unaccomplished, in my book reading.




2. Practice, practice, practice. I put into motion the things I read about that I think will help me be better at leadership, sales, management, whatever. I try them. My rule of thumb is at least 30 days. Sometimes 30 days doesn’t make sense, so you have to use some common sense with the application of the material. After my assessment period is over, I evaluate and make a decision based on my experience. Did the tactic or strategy work? Based on my experience can I make it better? Can I tweak it?




3. Don’t beat yourself up ever– If you go for a stretch not applying, not reading, or you realize the tactic or strategy you tried is or was a big mistake don’t dwell. Change your ways and move forward. If you look back you’ll fall back. I consulted for a company, and the President once said “If you’re going to fall, try and fall forward.” How do you fall forward? Another great question J By minimizing the impact. If you tried a technique and it starts to make sales decline, then go back immediately to the prior tactic. If the prior tactic isn’t the one you want to stick with, then use it while you regroup.

Leadership development is important for career and life success. Whatever or however much leadership skills you decide you want to develop be sure you add some type of leadership development to your daily to-do list. Signing up for motivational quotes is one way to get started, another is committing to reading 15 minutes a day about success strategies, leadership, etc. Everyone has an extra 15 minutes for development. Don’t forget audio books are a great way to fill commute times.

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With the holiday weekend fast approaching I thought this might be a useful topic to discuss. Every opportunity to meet new people or catch up with friends and family can be a learning opportunity.  Learning opportunities don’t just present themselves in formal educational settings. If you’re looking for a career advancement, enhancement, or looking for a change, conversing with friends and family members may give you the idea you weren’t really looking for, but the ones that set you on the path you desire.

1. Remember this is a party. Be sure you aren’t just talking business. Opportunities don’t just present themselves in business conversations. Sometimes asking a friend you haven’t seen in a few months what there up to gives you all kinds of great “Intel” for your career. For example, I was recently at a social event. When I started talking to someone I hadn’t seen in a while I learned they were taking a new Project Management course. As a certified project manager and a trainer, this was really good information for me. That night I was able to research, learn, and grow based on what I discussed earlier that day. At a different event, I learned a friend had taken a job as an HR Specialist at a company one of my customers wanted to work for.
2. Move around the room. Many people have specific friends they like to chat with at every party. Take the opportunity to join in on conversations with people you don’t usually sit with or converse with. You’ll be amazed what you can learn from new friends.
3. Listen, Listen, Listen – As Dale Carnegie said “remember that the people you are talking to are a hundred times more interested in themselves and their wants and problems than they are in you and your problems.” Ask engaging questions, so you can learn more. Don’t tune the conversation out. Even if you don’t understand fully, you’ll be amazed at what little tid-bits of information can be turned into.
4. Most importantly have fun. Nicholas Sparks said, “In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance, when you least expect it, sets you on a course that you never planned, into a future you never imagined.” If you hear something that interests you, go home and research the topic.

Have a safe and healthy July 4^th!

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