When you transition out of the military, many of life’s simplest things change in significant ways. No more uniforms, so you have to decide what you’re going to wear everyday. No more commissary, so you have to scout out the grocery stores with the best prices. No more housing allowances, so you have to put extra thought into how you’re going to pay your rent or mortgage each month. And the list goes on, and on, and on.
But the greatest thing about being a veteran is that you don’t have to tackle those trials and tribulations by yourself. As a veteran, you have an amazing network of fellow vets who are eager to support you at the drop of a dime.
The Hired Veteran is part of that network and we’re excited to help you navigate one of the biggest transition challenges: finding a new career for yourself when you can’t count on command-directed job assignments anymore.
Over the next few weeks here on THV, I’ll offer some insight into how veterans can write better resumes to increase their chances of getting interviews in the business world. We’ll dig into how long your resumes should be and how you should format them, but the main focus will be on what information you should include in them.
Before we dive into all that, however, I should probably help you understand why you should listen to me in the first place.
So hello! My name is Patrick and I’m an Air Force veteran who’s now the Director of Human Resources at InvitedHome.
From
Air Force...
I spent nine years on active duty and four years in ROTC before that. In that time, I was a Services Officer, a Personnel Officer, and an Executive Officer. (To simplify that for the soldiers reading this: I fed you bland food, I screwed up your job assignments, and I messed with your performance reports.)
Seriously though, the Services/MWR experience introduced me to the military’s “business world” (restaurants, fitness centers, hotels, etc). And the Personnel/Exec/Adjutant time means I’ve seen thousands of military records and have a knack for processing paperwork of all kinds. I also worked in Joint environments in Iraq and Central America, so I’m probably a bit more familiar with the Army, Navy, and Marines than your typical Chair Force bubba.
...to
Human Resources.
Now on the civilian side, I’m the HR Director for InvitedHome, a company with 75 teammates in seven states who manage high-end vacation rentals at over 200 homes in 10 destinations. In 2015, Inc. Magazine named us the fastest-growing company in Colorado (28th fastest in the country) with 8000% growth over three years. That kind of growth means we’ve had a lot of open jobs these last few years, and in 2016 alone, I personally reviewed over 1800 resumes.
The bottom line is that I’m a veteran who’s made a successful jump into the civilian world and hopefully, I’ve learned a thing or two along the way that can help you do the same. I look forward to sharing those insights with you over the coming weeks.