The job search for people moving from the military to the civilian work force can be a difficult one. Most important, career advisers say, is identifying skills and how they relate to a job you want. Leaving the military is like leaving the womb.

That’s how Tom Rawlings recently described it to a dozen soldiers at a Fort Lewis seminar who are getting ready to leave the Army and find jobs in the civilian work world.

Rawlings is the state Department of Personnel’s veterans outreach coordinator, and he counsels people leaving the military to start thinking about a new career, what it might it be and how to find it.

Making the transition from the military to the civilian work force can be tough.

Veterans face the same the challenges as any job hunter – getting their résumé to the right people and learning how to sell themselves – combined with the added complexity of finding a new career and translating the skills they’ve learned in the military into language hiring managers can understand.

“I do think it’s harder,” Rawlings said.

He knows from experience. Rawlings retired from the military in 1987 after 19 years. His own job search took six months and wasn’t easy.

He took the rejections personally and felt depressed about being unemployed. Now he’s helping others avoid the same pain.

“If I can emphasize anything, it’s that we are here for them; we’ve been there, and we know what it’s like,” he said. “We’ll help them carry that rucksack of concern, because I don’t want them to have to do that alone.”

DEMILITARIZING THE RSUM

“Calling in indirect fire support.” “Setting up landing zones.” These are some of the skills Mel McLaughlin was putting on his résumé when he started searching for civilian jobs in 1994 following 22 years in the Army. McLaughlin, 54, was applying for office manager positions, but employers weren’t getting a clear picture of his skills or what he did as a first sergeant.

“A big piece is just changing the vocabulary to say ‘business operations manager for a 1,500-person company,’” McLaughlin said.

It’s what Rawlings calls demilitarizing the résumé.

“Most of us have a great résumé for getting a job in the Army, but that’s what we’re trying to get away from,” he said. “Put yourself in the position of a hiring manager.”

That means recognizing the skills that veterans have and phrasing them in a way that people can understand.

Rawlings uses his own résumé as an example. His initial résumé out of the military notes his positions as a mobilization and plans officer and Army ground liaison officer with responsibilities that included “coordinating and assisting in the review of plans affecting war time mobilization and deployment” and “briefing air crews on matters dealing with airlift support of Army forces.”

That might not make much sense to a hiring manager outside the armed forces.

His revamped résumé gets at the basics of what he did and how those skills might apply to civilian jobs. He eliminated position titles and divided his résumé into sections, such as management and administration, and personnel management. He described his former jobs in terms of “successfully managing the administrative and personnel planning efforts of 35-mid-level managers located in a seven-state region” and “consultant to a 5,000-person complex organization.”

“I call it including yourself, rather than excluding yourself,” Rawlings said.

For McLaughlin, it took reworking his résumé five or six times.

The process helped him see the project management and people skills he learned in the military. Those skills helped him eventually land a job as a clerk at the state’s Department of Labor and Industry. He’s since earned two graduate degrees and is now a risk manager at the Department of Personnel.

IT’S THE NETWORK

Mark Ackerson retired this October after 21 years in the Air Force. He treated his job search like a job, putting in eight hours a day researching on the Internet and retooling his résumé. He knew networking was important, but questioned who he actually knew who could help him find a job.

“I was definitely one of those people who thought, ‘I don’t know anybody,’” said Ackerson, 39. “But the bottom line is that networking is really vital.”

Ronald Krannich is co-author of dozens of career books, including a series on transitioning from military careers. He, too, notes the importance of networking.

“Unfortunately, most people have a traditional view of how to find job. They look online or at newspaper ads,” he said. “What we found is that people who get the good jobs use their personal networks.”

And veterans have often developed large networks of friends and acquaintances in the military. Krannich advises veterans to put those networks to work during their job hunt.

“Start with your Christmas card list, former teachers, people who have worked in the military, neighbors,” he said.

Make contact with people, ask them about their jobs, about open positions and other people they know. You never know what might turn up.

“I would never have gotten in contact with Tom (Rawlings) if I hadn’t told my story,” he said. “That led me to a couple of other opportunities, and I wound up getting a job.”

Career counselors see veterans going into many fields, including law enforcement, security, oil, transportation, technology, military contracting and government jobs. Krannich said that although getting that initial job offer can be a relief, people shouldn’t necessarily take the first position that comes available.

“If you jump at the first job that comes along, you may not be happy,” he said.

If veterans have the financial means, waiting for the right job can lead to less heartache and more professional success.

GETTING HELP

Resources for transitioning veterans are available. They just need to take the time to use them.

Roger Shepard, chief of the sixth region Army Career and Alumni Program at Fort Lewis, has been involved with the Army’s transitions program since it started 17 years ago. It offers a three-day course that Shepard calls basic training for soon-to-be veterans embarking on a job search. It’s not mandatory, and only about 60 percent of the people transitioning out take it.

The course includes the nuts and bolts of job hunting, such as how to write a résumé.

The program also offers advanced training and specialty workshops on finding a job with the state, starting your own business and contracting with the government.

“These guys have great skills; they’ve got things employers are just begging for,” Shepard said. “It’s educating the soldier on how to assess their skills and present their skills.”

He encourages people to start the process early.

“If they start less than six months out, they are already behind the power curve,” Shepard said. “It can take six months to a year to make a total transition.”

Shepard’s challenge now is keeping up with the crush of people returning from deployments and leaving the Army and the general growth of Fort Lewis. His office saw 800 people in November and will serve about 5,000 this year. He anticipates the alumni program will serve 6,000 to 7,000 the following year.

CATCHING EMPLOYERS’ EYE

When it comes to veterans, many employers also need education on veterans.

At Fort Lewis, the Army Career and Alumni Program brings businesses in to meet with people transitioning to civilian life.

“We do all kinds of employer events,” Shepard said. “We have them come to the center and get a chance to interact with transitioners and sit down and talk with them.”

He noted that railroad companies often visit looking for prospective employees.

Linda Rix, CEO of Avue, a Tacoma-based technology and human resource company, said it’s a two-way street: Veterans need to know how their skills transfer into the civilian world, and employers need some of the same information.

Companies and even government agencies looking to hire often have questions about veterans, such as what training they received and how it compares with training that people receive outside the military.

Avue recently created a Web site with the American Legion aimed at connecting veterans with jobs in the federal government. And jobs there are plenty. Rix noted that federal agencies post 15,000 to 20,000 jobs per day.

The Web site is a service for veterans, but it also introduces some of Avue’s clients, such as the Forest Service and Department of Justice, to a market of qualified job candidates.

“It’s a public service and it helps our clients hire more returning war fighters,” Rix said.

COMPLETING THE TRANSITION

Rawlings may wear a Hawaiian shirt and fire a steady stream of jokes during his presentation to transitioning soldiers, but when it comes to getting them ready to tackle the work world, he is nothing but serious.

Willie Burnett waited for Rawlings after a recent course to get some advice on writing a résumé.

Burnett has been in the Army for 10 years, and though he has a job waiting for him when he leaves, he also plans to go to back to school.

Rawlings handed him a card.

And, as with the rest of the class, told Burnett to contact him anytime.

“Us old soldiers take care of the young soldiers,” Rawlings said. “My role is to help make this transition as painless as possible.”

Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573

Kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com

Finding a job after the military

 • Do a self-assessment of your skills.

 • Learn how to describe your skills in a way hiring managers can understand.

 • Ask your friends, acquaintances and neighbors for tips on open positions and places to apply.

 • Start your job search at least six months before you transition out.

 • Involve your spouse early in the process.

 • Take advantage of the resources available to you.