Veterans Transition HQ has a new home!

Thanks so much for following our blog, and you can expect great things from us in 2013 and beyond! As we grow and change with the times, we have moved this blog over to our new site MilitaryResumeWriters.com. You can simply go there and click on the blog tab, or follow this link to go straight to the blog.

Until next time, in support of you –

 

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Happy Veterans Day 2012

“The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”

– General Douglas MacArthur

 

Thank you for your service, and unti next time, in support of you –

Making the Connection

I’ve been home from Iraq for 6 years now, and I relinquished company command in 2007. Since then, I’ve become a professional resume writer, career coach, trainer and transition expert.

After working closely with people from all branches, and from enlisted all the way up to General officers, I’ve learned a lot and my respect has grown even deeper. I am so proud to stand among the ranks of  America’s veterans.

But beyond all the career stuff, I’ve learned some very personal lessons along the way too. One of the main things I’ve learned is how important it is to be open about our feelings and emotional issues. That’s right, you heard me. As a former Captain, company commander, airborne and air assault qualified Iraq war vet, I am saying that we should be MORE in touch with our feelings, not less!

Listen: in Iraq, my marriage fell apart, my mom lost her struggle with breast cancer, and Hurricane Katrina devastated my home town. That was the personal drama I was dealing with, and I’m sure you all had yours. Meanwhile, I was in Ramadi as a Battalion Communications officer (S-6). Not only did my 18-person section rely on me for leadership, but my 600+ person Battalion relied on me to ensure they had communications during combat ops.

Needless to say, balancing these personal, emotional, and operational issues and staying focused on the mission wasn’t easy.

As a writer, I did work through some of it in my journal and my military blog (here’s one of those blog posts from the time). But that only scratched the surface. Mostly, I kept it to myself, and very few people knew just how much I was suffering inside.  I had buddies going to visit Combat Stress to get some support with similar issues, maybe get some Ambien to help them sleep. But I refused to admit weakness, or that anything was wrong inside. I just compartmentalized it until I could get home safely to my kids, and then I would deal with it.

Looking back now I can see how much additional heartache and emotional fatigue I caused myself. It took me a few years after getting home, but I opened the locked doors and started dealing with all of it. While transitioning back into “normal” life, I finally grieved the loss of my mom, got divorced within a couple of months, was granted full custody of my two kids, and put us all in family counseling.

I’ve been on a very deep personal (and spiritual) journey ever since, and my experiences in Iraq were the catalyst for an amazing new perspective on life. I won’t get into all that personal stuff here, but I did want to share one message, so that you can learn from my mistakes:

Don’t try to be superman or woman just because your job requires you to be mentally and physically tough. Being mentally tough means having emotional resilience, and you can’t have that if you don’t work through stuff. Yes, physical fitness is very helpful and therapeutic too. But that’s not going deep enough. Being open and honest about your feelings is one of the healthiest, most therapeutic things you can possibly do for yourself, and to help your family and friends to understand what you’ve been through.

Keep a journal. Write a song or poem or book about your experiences. Call the help hotlines. Talk to a professional therapist, coach, or counselor. Reach out. Look into VA programs. Talk to and help out other vets. Do yoga. Get into meditation. Go to church. Do whatever works for you, but just don’t try to keep it all in and isolate yourself physically or emotionally.

It took a lot of courage to do what you’ve had to do. Now, if you can just be brave and vulnerable enough to open up about your experiences, you will also realize that even if you think you’re all alone, millions of people (like me) are ready and willing to listen, and to help …

Along those lines, do yourself a favor and check out what the folks at MaketheConnection.net are doing for transitioning vets.

Until next time, in support of you –

Best Employers for Vets

I found this great resource that gives a lot of information on companies that hire vets. But it goes a lot deeper than that, and lets you know things like: do the hiring managers get training on dealing with vets? Are the recruiters veterans? Are there special training or programs for vets?

The article is from the Military Times Edge magazine, and even though it says 2011 on it, I think the information is still valid here halfway through 2012.

Basically, this is some good stuff, so I wanted to share… Click here to access the article

And please don’t forget to pick up a copy of our new book Roadmap to Job-Winning Military to Civilian Resumes. You won’t find a better book on the subject, especially not one that was co-written by an Iraq war vet (me) and the president of a leading career management services company!

Until next time, in support of you –

New Book on Writing Military to Civilian Resumes

We are launching a new book this Memorial Day weekend!

Look. You’re part of a special group – the millions of Iraq and Afghanistan vets flooding the workforce, and there are lots of things we can teach you to be better prepared for your transition from military to civilian life … such as having the right attitude, positioning yourself in the right ways, and having an effective resume.

Yes, the resume is only one part of the puzzle, but it’s an extremely important part, and can be the only first impression you get to make.  Imagine trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces!

We’ll have many more training opportunities in 2012 and beyond, but for now we are proud to release the third title in our 21st Century Career Series. You can order our new book, Roadmap to Job-Winning Military to Civilian Resumes at this link.

Over the past several decades, CareerPro Global has helped over 30,000 veterans from all branches to develop their resumes and achieve their career goals. So, what happens when an Iraq war vet becomes a professional resume writer and career coach (me!), teams up with the leading company in the career management industry?

This book!

We’ve leveraged all of our collective knowledge in a current, 5-check point format that will educate and empower you to take the next steps. You will learn about writing military to federal, defense contractor, and corporate resumes that are proven to earn job interviews. We’ve also included over 100 resume samples, and a Vet’s Toolbox CD, which contains tons of useful information and resources, including more resume samples and easy to use templates.

So again, please follow this link and order your copy now, or click on the book below!

Finally in honor of you this Memorial Day, we’ve created some free online training… check it out below and leave us some facebook comments at the bottom of the page.

Also, why not pick up a copy for that vet in your life? Or at least share the link below so they can get the free training?

Five Steps to Writing Strong Accomplishments

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Until next time, in support of you!

Exciting Career Opportunity for Vets!

In the next couple of weeks, we are launching a new online certification program called the Master Federal Career Coach (MFCC). This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in expanding their professional horizons, and as a vet and federal career coach myself, I am excited to let other vets know about this.

Here’s the deal: Many people don’t realize it, but with 2.8M employees, the federal government is the largest employer in our country. They post up to 20,000, that’s right, 20,000 jobs EACH day on the USAJobs.gov website.

And guess what? here at CareerPro we work with people every day who want in! These people come from all backgrounds and experience levels, including new college graduates, federal employees who want to climb the ranks, private sector employees, and vets.

That’s right, there are many, many people out there who want to work for the federal government. Let’s face it, regardless of our personal opinions about the government of politics in general, to a job-seeker it can be pretty enticing.

The average salary of a federal employee is over $81K a year!

There are tons of great benefits, medical, savings, and retirements programs.

And there are a growing number of programs catering toward vets.

Even with all these great benefits,  job-seekers are frustrated with the economy, stressed out by the hiring landscape, and overwhelmed and confused by the amount of information required to apply for federal jobs, and how to “qualify” for those jobs.

In other words, they don’t know where to start, so they turn to career coaches for help.

Six years ago, I was in Ramadi, Iraq as a Signal Officer for a U.S. Army Artillery Battalion. But since then, I’ve reinvented myself as a professional resume writer, executive ghostwriter, and federal career coach (among other things).

One of the most fulfilling parts of my job is informing and empowering people in making career transitions (especially fellow vets). I do that by sharing my knowledge, advice, and expertise.

And if I can do it, you can too.  This is a great way to supplement your income, or start your own career coaching service while helping others to achieve their career goals. With another 1M vets getting out in the next years, how many of them do you think might want to land a job in the federal government?

You can position yourself as a coach, join the growing community of coaches out there, and be the person who helps then make that important transition.

I always tell people that being a career coach IS a career … and with our new online course, we’ve made it easier than ever before to become a certified federal career coach now.

Follow this link to learn more, and to get instant access to a free online video training series (by yours truly). You’ll get some great value and insight, and find out exactly how to sign up for the new program!

Until next time, in support of you-

Working with the Best!

It’s a good day to be a senior writer at CareerPro Global! And it’s mainly because of all the amazing vets I get to work with.

For example, right now I am working with a retired Marine Major, and two Air Force Colonels!

Last week, another Air Force Colonel I worked with called me with some great news: He is retiring on May 1st, going on terminal leave, and then reporting directly to his new senior executive position in the federal government in Washington, D.C. Talk about a seamless transition!

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to pick up a copy of our new book Roadmap to Job-Winning Military to Civilian Resumes. it is a treasure trove of great tips and information, decades of combined expert advice, and over 100 sample resumes!

Click here to get some free training and buy your copy today!

Until next time, in support of you –

“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” – Colin Powell

Great New Infographic About Vets and the Top Tech Jos

First of all, let’s thank the team over at www.payscale.com for this awesome infographic. I think it speaks for itself, but here’s the bottom line:

There are still hundreds of thousands of vets seeking employment, and this graphic illustrates some of the top tech skills and top jobs being filled by those vets. Maybe this will give you some ideas for your own career search? Did the military train you in one of these technical fields? If so, how can you leverage that experience to land a job in this challenging economy?

Until next time, in support of you –

Armedzilla: An Exciting New Community for Veterans

We live in a world of social networking… and considering the amount of people on Facebook, Linkedin, and now Google+, we must think it’s pretty cool.

Well, I recently learned about an exciting new community for vets. It’s called Armedzilla, and it seems to share elements from all of these social networks, while creating a unique experience for vets and organizations that provide services and support to vets.

In other words, they are all about vets, and we like that!

Here’s an excerpt from their site:

ArmedZilla is a social network. But it’s more than that. ArmedZilla is a movement around fundamentally changing our connection with America’s armed forces by creating a social platform that’s never existed before. It’s a never-ending conversation you control based on your own unique needs and interests that will help you gain direct access to the opportunities you deserve.

Specifically, ArmedZilla was designed to rally veterans, service members, families, friends and supporters around:

• finally bringing the military community together in one secure place;
• creating a support community to help ease transition from service into civilian life and “mainstream” culture;
• using the power of social media to provide better access to veteran benefits, veteran service organizations (VSOs) and veteran-centric brands and other entities that support them;
• showing pride in and public recognition for military service contributions;
• connecting with people, issues and causes our community deems important.

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Okay, so I hope you can see why I like this site so much. But I haven’t even told you about my favorite part… it’s called “Keypoints.” You can put in keypoints to create a visual history of your military experiences.

You can populate each keypoint with pictures and text, telling everyone your story from that time in your life. When they hover over the keypoints, they get a preview of what’s in there, or they can click on it to read more. This was so much fun, and I really enjoyed creating my own keypoints. It brought back a lot of good (and some not so good) memories.

Check out my Armedzilla profile and timeline here.

Finally, Armedzilla has a growing number of “channels” from various non-profits and businesses geared toward the veteran community. You can check out our channel and join here.

We’re always looking for great new tools and resources for vets, and I’d say keep your eyes on Armedzilla!

Last thing: I want to remind you about our free online transition training called “Five Steps to Writing Strong Accomplishments.”

Get the free training here …

Until next time,

In support of you –

Free Transition Training to Kick off 2012!

At any given moment, there are so many vets out there, cycling through the process of finishing their military commitments, clearing post, and moving into a civilian career.

With 2012 approaching, where are you in the cycle?

Are you an enlisted service member who is just about to hit your ETS date, or are you an officer who has decided to hang up the uniform?

Have you been out for a few months of a few years, and you are searching the internet for help in landing a job?

It can be a bit overwhelming, we know.

So just let me take this opportunity to tell you that you’re not alone. CareerPro Global has been assisting veterans since 1989, and in 2012 we’re expanding our support to entirely new levels in the form of free training, books, and other exciting products and programs.

Please have a fantastic and safe New Year’s Eve… you’ve earned it!

In the meantime, please enjoy some more free training. It’s called Five Steps for Writing Strong Accomplishments, and the training is adapted from our new book Roadmap to Job Winning Military to Civilian Resumes. At the end of the training, you’ll have a chance to pre-order you own copy, or you can click on any of the images of the book on the blog.

Get the free training here, and when you’re done, please leave us some Facebook comments below the video …

Until 2012, in support of you –