FINDING HELP TO SCALE THE ‘CAREER WALL’.

For anyone considering a career transition, planning the journey from where you are now to where you want to be reveals myriad challenges and tasks; all of which require significant effort to complete successfully. Whilst each individual undertaking might seem easy enough to tackle, the collective burden can feel overwhelming. To draw a physical analogy: if each of these endeavours were represented by a single house brick, the sheer volume of them would be sufficient to construct a high wall between you and the ‘new pasture’ you hope to migrate into.

For any military person hoping to secure a job in the civilian world, the process of scaling that wall might seem an even more daunting prospect, because of one complicating factor – business language.

In common with most career transition aspirants, the ‘to do’ list for Service leavers is significant and many of the tasks must be repeated many times over. The extra challenge for veterans, is that all of these enterprises lie behind an unfamiliar and obfuscating layer of business language – which can seem impenetrable.

Consequently, when military leavers arrive at the foot of ‘the career wall’, they are unlikely to be successful in scaling it alone. The language barrier means that, as the ambitious veteran begins to clamber upwards, they will find that their grip slips unexpectedly or that certain bricks seem to crumble in their hands.

Like their medieval predecessors attempting to storm a castle, more prepared military climbers might arrive at ‘the wall’ with a plan or a few tools to help them. Yet, despite having invested effort in learning certain elements of corporate language, these pioneers can be reminded quickly that ‘no plan survives first contact’. Because military experience is often bespoke and specialised, civilian recruiters struggle to translate it into recognisable corporate credentials. Hence, through no fault of their own, even well prepared veterans are victims of the language barrier. Therefore, without help, even the most determined climber must anticipate that they might falter at a critical stage - resulting in them slipping abruptly back to the foot of ‘the wall’.

It is perfectly reasonable that this prospect might temporarily dishearten some Service leavers. However, if they use their apprehension to build self-awareness, then they can spot their own blind-spots and address them more quickly. As they consider how they can improve their chances of success, they should take heart from 5 key factors:

1. Individual Purpose. Military service teaches people to have the confidence to imagine and pursue whatever vision they believe to be worthwhile. Because Service personnel are taught to tackle problems head on and to be motivated by success (not failure), the majority of them have the mettle to suffer adversity when it occurs and to learn from setbacks. In the words of Henry Ford, 'whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right'.

Maintaining a clear sense of purpose provides motivation and development, no matter how many times the veteran falls from ‘the wall’.

2. Shifting Narratives. Some military retirees fear that the term ‘veteran’ is associated with the image of a Service person in their twilight years, whose greatest productivity and achievements are behind them. Even if this bias was once true, powerful global forces are driving a positive shift in the definition of ‘veterans’. Originating from the United States, where the military is regarded as a source of deep national pride, there is a growing recognition that veterans have a great deal to contribute to society and industry - from the moment that they remove their uniform. Hence US recruitment markets have been headhunting veterans actively for some time. Because many of the biggest companies in the world are American, we are beginning to see global momentum behind recruiting ex-Service personnel. In addition to traditional defence industries like Lockheed, Babcock, Thales or Boeing, huge international companies like Amazon, JP Morgan, Deloitte, Salesforce, KPMG, Barclays and Jaguar Land Rover are investing in programmes to recruit talent deliberately from the military, because they recognise that most veterans have many years of productivity and achievement ahead of them. Meanwhile, in the UK, the establishment of a Minister for Armed Forces and a Government Office for Veterans Affairs, along with the proliferation of the Military Covenant across the commercial sector continue to raise the profile and efficacy of military veterans transitioning to the private sector. Hence, whilst there remains work to do in helping recruitment systems to understand how military service can be translated into recognisable business language, the label ‘veteran’ is becoming an increasingly powerful aspect of personal branding. This should provide Service leavers with a boost as they contemplate climbing ‘the wall’.

3. Free Training. In the modern digital world, it has never been easier to find and utilise free support in preparing for a career change. Practically anyone can access thousands of low cost, or even free, online training and education resources, which can help them to learn the language of business and to gain recognised qualifications that lead to future employment. Futurelearn.com and the Open University are two leaders in personal development content online. Meanwhile, mobile applications such as iTunes-U, Coursera, Udemy and Khan Academy provide a rich seam of learning across scores of professions. Finally, of note, Salesforce’s Trailhead is the exemplar of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, which provides free access to outstanding training for anyone seeking a career in the expanding digital marketplace – the certificates available through this programme are in extremely high demand by scores of businesses around the world.

4. Supporting Organisations. Most veterans are aware of the ample support that the military provides to retirees. In the UK, every veteran has access to a plethora of courses, grants and mentoring – all of which can be accessed via the Career Transition Partnership. In addition, the free advice offered both by service charities and national agencies provides a huge ‘tool set’ that can assist. The British Legion, the Officers Association, the RAF Benevolent Fund and the White Ensign Organisation are familiar to most Armed Forces personnel. However, by widening their scope, veterans will find assistance from less obvious agencies, such as the Chamber of Commerce, LinkedIn, alumni groups or local business networks. Adding self-help books and the vast array of free information available online, the resources available for learning the language of business is phenomenal.

5. Veterans Network. At any given time, there are hundreds of Forces personnel around the world who are attempting to scale ‘the wall’. Given the potency of social media and the enduring camaraderie of the military family, it has never been easier to connect with a wide network of colleagues who are enduring similar trials to you. Moreover, with thousands of former military personnel already established throughout the civilian sector, it is highly likely that someone has already blazed a trail to any company or job that a new veteran might gravitate towards. Almost without exception this community will provide superb support, often to complete strangers, with no agenda other than helping kindred spirits. Most importantly, however, because these entrepreneurs understand life on both sides of ‘the wall’, they are extremely effective in assisting helping others to scale it. As well as providing their own time and advice, the global veterans network can provide superb referrals and connections to thousands of other influencers who are keen to assist military leavers in any way they can - even if they have had no previous exposure to the Armed Forces themselves.

I don’t mind admitting that I have slipped from the wall recently. When it happens, it is natural to feel confused or frustrated. However, in my efforts to get to the top and leap into the new pastures of corporate employment, I am invigorated by the fact that my status as a veteran is more of a help than a hindrance. Also, by remaining focussed on my purpose, I have the confidence to know that I am becoming increasingly fluent in the language of business, through the vast spectrum of free information and training available to me.

More importantly, when I have faltered, by reaching out to my network I have been reminded quickly of the vast community of service and civilian people who really want to help the next veteran to scale ‘the wall’. These words are dedicated to their generosity.

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Watch out for Translating Service Chapter 4, which is all about Risk and Decision Making.

© All text belongs to - Andrew J Wright – Translating Service