U.S. Special Operations Forces recognize a few guiding principles that are inherent to mission success in the community. The first SOF Truth is succinct and incisive: “Humans are more important than hardware.” Tech Qualled also recognizes that people—not equipment—make the critical difference, whether on the battlefield or in high tech sales, and is proud to welcome two tech sales executives Chris Hurst and Dart West to the team. Chris and Dart bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in the high tech sales industry to an already talented team focused on helping veterans find successful careers—not just jobs—in the dynamic and exciting tech space.

Chris Hurst brings over 35 years in technology sales, sales leadership, strategy and planning with Sun Microsystems, Juniper Networks, and Cisco Systems. Chris met Tech Qualled CEO and Co-Founder Jim Sherriff while at Sun Microsystems, and was excited when he heard about Jim’s idea to help transitioning veterans. His father a WWII veteran, and himself a longtime supporter of the USO, Chris hoped for an opportunity to contribute to Tech Qualled. With his recent retirement from Cisco Systems as Vice President of Sales Strategy and Planning, that goal has become a reality.

Chris will join Jim as a primary sales instructor for Account Executive Candidates during the culminating 2-week boot camp, where candidates integrate what they have learned about the high tech industry and the sales process during intensive and demanding role-playing scenarios. In addition to his focus on teaching candidates how to successfully prospect and build their initial 30/60/90 day sales plans, Chris will alternate primary sales instructor duties with Jim, enabling Tech Qualled to further scale operations and help an increasing number of veterans transition to successful and rewarding careers in the high tech industry—a mission that Chris passionately supports. Chris lives in Austin with his wife and 15 year old son.

Dart West joins the team as Technical Advisor following his retirement after a 40-year career in the high tech industry. Dart enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 17 as a Data Systems Technician on nuclear submarines, including the USS Spadefish, USS Dallas, and USS Baton Rouge, where he developed his passion for technical systems. Following his time in the service, Dart worked as a sales engineer, culminating in 16 years at Cisco Systems working in the sales organization as a Senior Systems Engineering Manager helping Cisco’s largest enterprise customers build world class infrastructures.

Dart credits the Navy with teaching him not just the technical skills to be successful, but most importantly the fundamental discipline, organization, and people skills to be effective in the business world, sales in particular. As a result, Dart feels an obligation to utilize his skill and passion for teaching to help other veterans make a successful transition out of the military and into the high tech sales. In his role as Technical Advisor, Dart will evaluate and help revise Tech Qualled’s curriculum to maintain relevancy in an ever-changing and dynamic industry, while continuing to distill and explain key technical concepts to maximize learning value and subject matter retention for Tech Qualled Candidates. Dart lives in the Dallas area with his wife.

Tech Qualled is excited to start 2017 with such strong additions to the team who share a passion for helping veterans. If you are a transitioning veteran looking for a challenging and rewarding career, are passionate about technology, and have a strong desire to help people solve their toughest problems, contact Tech Qualled and apply today!

Transitioning veterans are slowly approaching a critical point in history where they may no longer be directly hirable by the private sector. With technological innovation over our nation’s history, veterans traditionally transitioned seamlessly from a role within the military to a civilian career of equal pay and responsibility. However, as the world continues to innovate, our military and defense forces are still operating and training with Cold War Era technologies. This lack of organizational and operational innovation may have huge repercussions on our transitioning veteran community.

A sizable impact will be seen in the automotive and mechanical industries.  Traditionally, the veteran community was able to translate military mechanized skills to civilian markets. However, as companies such as Google and Uber transition their business models to self-driving automobiles, the Department of Defense writ large has done little to address techno-mechanical innovation.  This lack of innovation and implementation is not only damaging to national defense but to our transitioning service members as well as they lack critical civilian-equivalent skills.

Elon Musk’s fossil-fuel revolution furthers this gap as the Department of Defense has yet to adopt a formalized plan to implement solar and battery technologies. The private sector is responding and reacting to consumer demands for clean, efficient and scalable energy solutions yet the DoD has failed to make the leap. Musk’s Tesla, in partnership with Solar City, is leading the charge and laying the foundations for a potentially all electric future. In response to this competition in the marketplace, companies such as Daimler, Chrysler, Ford, and Volkswagon are all building battery production facilities. The outcome is still unclear but will almost certainly rely on a highly trained and knowledgeable workforce. Unfortunately, without such technologies, some may question the employability of our transitioning veterans and how they will be able to bridge this knowledge gap.

When addressing the issue of bridging the carbon-to-electric or mechanical-to-technical, civilian models exist. Companies such as SAE international and EVITP provide training programs to those who are interested in making the technological leap and are willing to pay a fee. Though available to the general public and ultimately veterans, these programs carry hefty price tags and are not necessarily covered under the G.I. Bill. Furthermore, these programs do not have formal placement incentives for military veterans. In other words, there is no guarantee or even a healthy track record of employment upon completion.

Another area of concern for future transitioning veterans is career placement in technology management and sales careers. Traditional placement companies have held onto a large share of the transitioning military population because of their unique ties to the private sector. However, as industries become more technically advanced, they will require their management and sales teams to have the same understandings of such technologies. Therefore, placement companies may have a difficult time finding good jobs for veterans without transitional training. Bottom line for veterans: breaking into tech is not easy — and it’s only getting harder.

A potential bridge for the civilian-techno gap is illustrated in companies such as Tech Qualled, Coursera and Udacity. These organizations provide tech-centric training programs that address the critical tech-training to employment gap. Coursera and Udacity are not specifically designed to support the veteran community but have teamed up with some very prominent players in the tech space to develop innovative curriculums for those interested in careers in virtual reality, artificial intelligence and self-driving vehicles; basically, the jobs of tomorrow. In contrast, Tech Qualled takes a slightly different approach by focusing solely on military veterans. They train selected veterans over a period of 8 weeks, both online and in-residency in Fort Worth, Texas. Tech Qualled also provides the benefits of placement at the conclusion of its formalized training program with a 95% placement rate.

Whether a traditional placement company, a training-only company or a combination of the two, the veteran community requires greater assistance in developing technological-centric business acumen. Companies such as Tech Qualled may be the future standard for private-sector veteran employment assistance. Requiring veterans to train with one company and place with another, with no continuity between the two, may be too great of a burden to place upon our nation’s finest.

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Jason Tebedo is a retired U.S. Army Major and graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School.  Jason holds a Bachelors in Sociology and a Masters in Information Strategy and Political Warfare.  He has three combat rotations and is a recipient of two Bronze Stars.

Dart West is newly retired from a 40-year career in the high-tech industry. He spent the last 16 years at Cisco Systems working in the sales organization as a Senior Systems Engineering Manager helping Cisco’s largest enterprise customers build world class infrastructures. Dart began his career in technology as a Data Systems Technician (DS1/SS) serving aboard nuclear submarines including the USS Spadefish, USS Dallas and the USS Baton Rouge. The Navy provided the education and experience which formed the foundation for a successful and fulfilling career. Dart is excited to be a part of the Tech Qualled mission to help fellow veterans along that same path.

If you’re transitioning out of the military, there are a number of valuable resources at your disposal. In addition to your standard military-issue transition class, there are countless non-profit organizations, headhunter companies, job boards, and career fairs that could open doors. However, the trend is moving toward online and social recruiting. Every single hiring process you encounter will take into account your digital footprint. Often, those digital outlets can produce the best leads for you as you progress in your civilian career.

Where you go when you leave the military is a decision that will greatly impact your career for the rest of your life, so take time to research, network, and consider all of your options. There are many free resources available on websites like this one to guide you in your personal brand as a whole. Once you do some soul-searching and crystallize your brand, publicize it!

The most powerful professional online platform is LinkedIn. Veterans are entitled to a free LinkedIn Job-Seeker Premium Account. Sign up, and take the advice below to maximize your options as you transition
from the military.

There are many important aspects of a LinkedIn profile. Hiring managers and other desirable contacts may look at hundreds of profiles a day. Here are some ways to help you stand out from the rest, and land the job that is the right fit for you:

Photo: This is your first impression. Your profile photo should be high resolution, you should be dressed professionally, and it should invite the viewer to want to get to know you. Everything in the photo will send a message. You won’t be docked for a photo in uniform, but wearing a business suit sends the signal that you’re ready for what’s next. Ensure a neutral or complimentary background that does not detract from your profile picture. If in doubt, invest in your next career and get professional headshots.

Headline:  Keep this brief and very polished. Inform like a news article and market like an ad. Are you top-ranked? Are you a proven leader? Key phrases like “transitioning military veteran,” “seeking,” and “looking for” will help you be discovered. If you’re not sure what you want to do when you get out, keep it generic and focus on the outcome you desire from your first job. Is it rapid growth opportunity? Is it a job in Birmingham? Let employers know your focus upfront.

Summary: Keep written content to one paragraph. You may also include short bulleted lists, contact information, or other easily digestible and valuable soundbites.

• One approach to writing the summary is to pretend you are introducing yourself to someone. What is the one most impressive thing you’ve ever done professionally? Where are you know? What are you looking forward to in your career timeline? Where do you want to live ideally, and are you flexible on geography?
• A secondary approach is more literary. In this one paragraph, you have an opportunity to be unique as well as relevant. Keep it professional here, but a few sentence story about what makes you different can be a welcome respite for readers who see hundreds of profiles a week.
• Finally, put the “ask” at the end. What can you offer to people looking at your profile? Encourage people to reach out to you.
  

Experience: Most employers will look at this in tandem with your resume. Make sure they both match perfectly and are 100% accurate. Include keywords and phrases that employers will be looking for in the industry or role you desire.

• Keep each section to no more than a couple of sentences and a bulleted list of quantified people, resources, or tasks you managed or impacted. What was the result of your work? What was the delta between the time you arrived and time you left each duty station? These facts will help tell your story.
• Include photographs that illustrate what you did, where you were, who you interacted with, materials you were responsible for, etc.
• Filter out all military jargon and specialized terms, and if you must use an acronym, spell it out. Once you’re done, scrub it again by asking a civilian to read it and tell you if there are any words or phrases that they don’t understand.

Recommendations: Ask for recommendations from former bosses, coworkers, and subordinates. Think about these testimonials as telling a 360-degree story of what it’s like to work with you.

Companies You Follow: This portfolio of companies will tell a hiring manager how informed you are, and where your interests lie. It’s also an easy way to keep tabs on what’s happening in your desired industry. Research and engage with leading companies in your industry of choice, as well as companies you just enjoy keeping up with. If your profession has any regulatory boards or networking societies, make sure you’re connected to them.

Your Network: Expand, expand, expand! Search and connect with people of similar backgrounds (same alma mater, military branch, or geographic location). Find people you feel you can offer value to, as well as people you would love to learn from. Pro tip: turn off your activity alerts while aggressively populating or overhauling your profile so you’re not a nuisance to your network.

Finishing Touches: The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White is one of the best primers on writing. Also, use Grammarly to check for spelling and grammar errors. Use these tools to put the finishing touches on your profile. Finally, ask 10 close friends, other transitioning veterans or personal mentors to review your profile and offer their impressions. Do these impressions match the messaging you desired to communicate?

For further information on getting the most out of LinkedIn, click on the Learning tab on your LinkedIn home page. Here you will find many “courses” and articles on how to maximize your account. The course called LinkedIn For Veterans should get you started.

Here’s to your success!

___________________

Meredith Davis specializes in educating active duty military members who are transitioning into the high-tech industry.

Transferring a veteran resume to be readable to an employer is not an easy task. The resume is your first impression with a company.  And we all know how powerful first impressions are.  It’s also typically the only shot you have at being considered further, so you have to stand out.  

When crafting your resume, it’s important to stay focused on this simple goal:  capture their attention so they want to talk further.  

The following mistakes make a resume difficult to read, giving the hiring team more reason to push it aside.  If they do continue reading, these mistakes also make the resume ineffective, distracting the reader from seeing the simple, clear story of how you’d be a perfect fit.  

These mistakes can be avoided with the tips that follow.  Ultimately, understand that no one writes a clear, concise, and effective resume in one pass.  It takes time, educated effort, and assistance if you want a resume that’s going to open the door to those first conversations.

Too long  – The average resume is read in less than 1 minute.  Keep it to one page.  In business especially, you have to be concise.  It’s not easy, but it’s more effective if you can communicate in less words.  Only include up to 10 years of professional job history, if you happen to have more than 10.  The exception would be if you have relevant experience from earlier than 10 years ago, and you feel it would be impactful to include.

Too dense with irrelevant content – To get the hiring team’s attention, the resume must first be an easy read.  If it’s too dense, it’s overwhelming and maybe not worth the time or effort to read.  Secondly, it has to make sense – connect the dots for them.  They need someone who can best do this job.  If that’s not obvious by reading your resume, you’ve lost them.  You have to show how your background matches with the qualifications for the job.  In other words, stay relevant; don’t list every single accomplishment you can possibly think of.  Less really is more in this case.  Tailor your resume to the job:  prioritize the most relevant content from top to bottom, and cut out anything that doesn’t speak to the role.

Fluff – In addition to cutting the fat on content, avoid using filler words, typically “fluffy” adjectives like “superbly led a team of 20”.  Frankly, it’s distracting and annoying.  Additionally, these embellishments could appear as stretching the truth, which could lead to concerns of dishonesty, which no company would tolerate.  The hiring team simply wants to know, objectively, what you did, how well you did it, and overall, whether your background aligns with the qualifications of the job.  Don’t make them wade through opinions of yourself.  Unless you quote or summarize feedback from a credible source (e.g., performance review feedback), avoid verbiage that appears as pumping yourself up.  Get to the point.  Use facts.

Speaking more about job responsibilities than accomplishments – Simply providing a job description stops short.  “Managed a team of 20” doesn’t tell me much – how well did you manage them?  That’s what a hiring team wants to know.  You could have been a mediocre manager for all they know.  Instead, speak to the role:  what about your performance in that position demonstrates you are qualified to do this next job?  First, focus on results when describing your experience.  Did your team receive special recognition, were your people promoted?  Second, be as tangible and concrete as possible in describing accomplishments, quantifying where able.  The idea is to paint a clear picture in the reader’s mind, leaving no room for second-guessing.  They should walk away from the resume wanting to learn more.

Not speaking to the audience – Pay attention to what the company values, the language they use on their website, how they write the job description.  Aim to speak their language.  You need to connect.  If writing about military experience, translate it so civilians can understand.  There are multiple websites out there that can assist, but at it’s simplest, get a civilian friend to read it and provide feedback.  Use Veterati.com, a veteran mentoring network, to find an HR professional to consult and maybe even review your resume.

Not speaking to the role – if you’re applying to different jobs, why would you use the same resume for every one?  Unless they’re similar enough, a failure to speak to the specifics of the job is like saying you’re not interested, that you didn’t care enough to take the time to do it right.  Pay attention to the job qualifications and tweak the resume so that it speaks specifically to that job.  

Errors – The resume is THE one thing you have no excuse to make a mistake on in the hiring process.  You have the time and lack of pressure to get it right.  A lack of attention to detail signals a lack of interest, work ethic and overall professionalism.  Spelling, grammar, formatting, tense are all important.  Use tools like Grammarly and have multiple people review.  As a veteran, use mentorship networks like Veterati to find an HR mentor or professional in the desired career field to review and discuss the best layout.

Personal information such as age, marital status, number of children, pictures (these may be required in some countries) are a no-no.  First of all, they’re irrelevant to the qualifications of the job, so they are unnecessary.  Secondly, it’s against the law for hiring teams to consider this information in most cases.  You should include your basic contact information: street address, appropriate email address (e.g., jane.doe@gmail.com vs. awesomejane@gmail.com), and phone number. You can also include any relevant URLs (e.g., LinkedIn profile).

For more details on building your veteran resume, visit these resources:

• Resume Writing Basics from Columbia University Center for Career Education
• Sample Resumes from Columbia University Center for Career Education
• How to Write a Resume that Stands Out from Harvard Business Review
• www.resumeengine.org – create a base resume with military experience translated into civilian terms plus other helpful tips
• Translating Military Experience to Civilian Terms from The Military Wallet
• 10 Ways to Civilianize Your Resume from GI Jobs

___________________

Katie Goossen specializes in advising active duty military members on how to successfully navigate their transition into the high-tech industry and how to successfully translate their veteran resume.

Brian Wiktorski is the newest member of the Tech Qualled team! On the cusp of the 117th Army-Navy game, Tech Qualled grows its fleet of former Naval Officer ‘s by one. @TQualled is trending up!

Brian served 4 years in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer and his spouse is currently an active duty SWO. Brian transitioned from the Navy in 2015 to pursue high tech sales at Technology Integration Group (TIG) and Randstad Technologies. His unique perspective of personally transitioning from the military to high tech sales is why he joined Tech Qualled. He understands the challenges associated with this transition and enjoys working with veterans so they can successfully break into the high tech space. Brian is a graduate of Tulane University where he received his Bachelors of Science in Finance; was the ROTC Battalion Commander, and is proudly a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

Brian lives in Southern California with his wife and daughter. He enjoys playing pretty much any sport, especially golf and snowboarding, and if not on the links you can find him with his family at the beach with his Newfoundland, Joey.

When I transitioned out of the military, I had everything going for me. I had two college degrees, my physical and mental health, and a clear vision of what I wanted to do in my next career: Break into the high-tech space. I was a best-case-scenario transitioning veteran—one of the lucky ones—yet I still struggled to land on my feet. I didn’t have a technical background from my time in the Navy, so my shortcomings could be summed up in one phrase: I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

That proved a major obstacle, but it’s only one of many that veterans like me face every day in their efforts to transition into the workforce. The past three presidential debates leading up to Tuesday’s election produced almost 300 minutes of politically packed content, yet the word “veteran” was only heard three times. This is surprising, given that 21 million Americans are proud to call themselves veterans, accounting for about 9% of the total U.S. population. Veterans are crippled by suicide and have unemployment and poverty rates unmatched by any other demographic in the U.S.

As Donald Trump prepares to enter the White House in January, those millions of veterans will be watching to see how well he delivers on his campaign promise, not just to reform the Veterans Affairs Department but to help the many veterans who supported him go on to secure high-paid jobs in growing fields.

WHAT VETERANS FACE NOW

Unfortunately, it simply isn’t the case that all companies love and want to hire military veterans. As one employer or another didn’t hire me, I was repeatedly told, “You’ll be fine—you have leadership skills.”

Those reassurances rang empty. Worse, they’re unintentionally cruel because they distort veterans’ expectations for post-service employment and set them up for massive disappointment. The first thing employers can do is simply be honest: Tell them it’s going to be rough, that they’ll feel out of their element, and that they’ll most likely take an initial pay cut. Tell them anything other than that it will be easy.

The Trump Administration will have an opportunity to change this. Effective policies and programs to address career challenges for transitioning veterans must be a priority, even though those issues garnered little recognition over the course of the campaign. Here are three things the president-elect can do to help veterans secure good, high-paying jobs in industries that will power the U.S. economy in the years ahead after they’ve completed their service to our nation.

1. INVEST IN EDTECH FOR VETERANS

Veterans are all required to attend a slate of transition assistance programs designed to prepare them for the next phase of their lives. This typically involves resume and interview prep, dressing for success workshops, and general advice from supposed “experts.”

But regardless of what you did in the military, if you’re truly honest with yourself, you’ll recognize a
fundamental gap in your knowledge and relevant work experience. You probably don’t have the hard skills that recruiters and hiring managers expect—particularly in the most competitive high-tech industries. In those sectors, you’re almost certain to face an uphill battle that can only be mitigated by higher education.

Many veterans go back to college or graduate school, but that isn’t the only path we should be pushing. There’s also growing momentum behind edtech training, which can give new hope to those for whom a conventional degree isn’t an option. Companies like Coursera and Udacity are making it easier to gain the knowledge and formal training required to break into high-paying jobs in industries that suffer from talent shortages. And while pure capitalists may never admit this, the CIA-funded venture capital firm In-Q-Tel has been a blueprint for success.

The first of its kind, In-Q-Tel is a nonprofit, government-backed fund that infuses capital (tax dollars) into startups that focus on national defense. This type of strategy could prove a model for other initiatives for helping transitioning veterans into the workforce. Not only that, but a captive venture-capital firm like this one may be an effective way to encourage more edtech innovation that can help veterans without having to get bogged down in bureaucracy. The learning economy is here to stay, so we may as well put it to good use for veterans.

2. FOCUS ON RETENTION FIRST, JOBS SECOND

When I read about government-sponsored initiatives like the White House’s Joining Forces Initiative, it’s hard not to cringe. In 2016, over 40 major corporations made a promise to hire and train 110,000 veterans. In actuality, many of these companies had already hired veterans in high volumes, and this pledge resulted in pitifully few new net hires.

Despite the PR effort, Joining Forces failed to significantly change most employers’ hiring practices. More to the point, there actually isn’t a veteran unemployment problem—at least not anymore. The unemployment rate of young military veterans ages 18–24 reached 29% in 2011. Today, post-9/11 veteran unemployment has dipped to 4.4%, or slightly better than the overall national unemployment rate of 4.9%. Studies show that the real problem is in retaining veterans in the jobs they’ve been hired into.

VetAdvisor and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF) recently conducted a survey that found that nearly half of the veterans who left their first post-military jobs did so within 12 months or less, and over 65% left within two years. The Trump Administration will need to develop policies and invest in resources that incentivize retention. One idea: creating a rating system for companies that deliberately track the retention of veteran hires, then making those rankings public.

3. TAKE A CUE FROM UNIVERSITY-FUNDED VETERAN PROGRAMS

Outside the federal government, there are many great programs that help train, repurpose, and encourage veterans to pursue career paths they’re passionate about. Stanford University’s Ignite and Syracuse University’s Veteran Career Transition Program are two great examples of programs designed specifically for veterans to gain an edge at a very low cost.

Both bring together academic and professional resources to help veterans pursue career options they may not have known to be available to them. Programs like this don’t require a huge investment in public funds, either; policymakers just need to help promote and direct veterans toward them. For all its faults, the American university ecosystem has created a successful template that the Trump Administration should tap into in order to help match transitioning veterans with jobs in fields suffering talent shortages, like data science and cybersecurity.

President-elect Donald Trump shocked the world this week. For better or for worse, let’s all hope that he and his administration surprise us by focusing far more attention on service members than we saw during the campaign. That won’t be good just for veterans, it will be good for the fastest growing parts of our economy, too.

Justin Ossola is the co-founder of Tech Qualled and a 14-year Navy veteran. Justin is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, received a Master in Business Administration degree from Georgetown University and a Master in Public Administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.

To read the full article, visit FastCompany.