Jean South's Posts - RecruitingBlogs2024-03-28T20:28:52ZJean Southhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeanSouthhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1527016123?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=2oh61wugbwlmw&xn_auth=noWhat Civilians Say About The Military Transition Conversation - Part 2 Of 3tag:recruitingblogs.com,2017-03-13:502551:BlogPost:20078562017-03-13T11:14:23.000ZJean Southhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeanSouth
<p><img class="align-center" height="254" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557613759?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="347"></img></p>
<h3>I feel so bad for them, they’ve done so much and then it’s so hard to come home and be normal again.</h3>
<h3>Why are we even having this conversation? Why do we have to differentiate between veterans and other people? It’s like we’ve created a victim class. </h3>
<h3>How is a veteran’s transition any different from when I switched careers? I had to start again at the bottom and work my way up too! Why should it be any different for a veteran?</h3>
<p>These are just a few…</p>
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<h3>I feel so bad for them, they’ve done so much and then it’s so hard to come home and be normal again.</h3>
<h3>Why are we even having this conversation? Why do we have to differentiate between veterans and other people? It’s like we’ve created a victim class. </h3>
<h3>How is a veteran’s transition any different from when I switched careers? I had to start again at the bottom and work my way up too! Why should it be any different for a veteran?</h3>
<p>These are just a few of the things I hear when I tell people that my company, <a href="http://www.hireserved.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Hire Served</a>, exists to change the lives of servicemembers and their families by connecting them with meaningful jobs at small/medium-sized businesses who would love to hire them but don’t know how to connect with them. Since I respond to these so frequently, it occurs to me many others may be thinking it but not saying it. For brevity’s sake, I have divided these into three separate posts. To go back and read the first, click <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-civilians-say-military-transition-conversation-jean-south?trk=mp-author-card" target="_blank">here</a>. Now let's dive into the second.</p>
<h2>Why are we even having this conversation? Why do we have to differentiate between veterans and other people? It’s like we’ve created a victim class. </h2>
<p>This is the second thing I hear frequently - <em>Why is this even a conversation?</em> This comes from well-meaning civilians who have a ton of respect for our veterans and seriously cannot understand the employment challenges they are facing in their transitions. It comes from a good place and tells me I’d love to send this person candidates because he/she sees the value vets bring to the workforce and to society. However, it also tells me a veteran may struggle to work for this person because he/she doesn’t see the gap that does exist between vets and civilians and may not work hard enough to create purpose and community for a vet in their workplace. </p>
<p>The answer is simple: <em>We have to have this conversation because vets spent the first part of their professional careers learning to speak a different language and when they transition, they don’t understand the language and culture of the civilian workforce. </em></p>
<ul>
<li>They don’t know what the workforce is looking for and they don’t know how to express it. </li>
<li>They don’t know what kinds of jobs exist in the private sector, what ranks and roles indicate, the industries that exist and differences amongst them. </li>
<li>They don’t know how corporate America functions and they have no experience writing a resume and articulating the value they can bring to an organization. </li>
<li>They certainly have never quantified their contributions in terms of revenue results and "value creation". </li>
</ul>
<p>Finding a job is hard for those who have spent their entire careers in the private sector, people with experience in job hunting struggle with these things. <em>How much more those who have never had any training or practice in this sector?</em> We discuss it because, during their time of serving the country, vets weren’t exposed to the same systems those in private sector were exposed to since graduation and, therefore, <strong>learning that system well enough to become meaningfully employed upon transition comes with a sharp learning curve that results in a large culture gap</strong>. </p>
<blockquote>Since the culture gap exists because of the service vets have provided to our nation, I don’t believe vets are victimizing themselves when they ask for help navigating the job hunt. </blockquote>
<p>Instead, I applaud their bravery for standing up and saying, “We don’t understand this, we need help.” And I believe the proper response to their request for help is to provide it in any way we are capable. Yes, <strong>service-members and their spouses are responsible for their own success. Those who sit around waiting for someone else to walk up and hand them a job are wrong and misguided.</strong> However, as a broader audience of Americans whose freedom was secured by these individuals' sacrifices and who have an understanding of the civilian workforce, it would be <strong>equally wrong not to find a way to reach across the divide when we know it exists and are we capable of closing the gap. </strong></p>
<p>At <a href="http://www.hireserved.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Hire Served,</a> we work with organizations who want to do just that - reach across the divide and employ veterans and military spouses. We provide <a href="http://hireserved.com/payitforward-career-coaching/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">pay-it-forward career coaching</a> to the military community to help them take control of their own job search and begin to learn to speak civilian. We partner with <a href="http://www.veterati.com/hireserved" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Veterati</a> to bring together military community members and citizens dedicated to their successful transition. These are the ways we are working to close the gap. What are some other ways civilians can reach across the divide?</p>
<p>*<em>This post is part of a three part series. Read it and the other two parts on the <a rel="nofollow" href="https://hireserved.com/connectors-corner/" target="_blank">Hire Served blog.</a></em></p>
<p>The Author: Jean South is a Marine spouse, daughter of two Army veterans, and former FBI Special Agent. During her career she has had the honor of working alongside our nation’s warriors. As the President and CEO of the Hire Served, Jean gives companies a competitive advantage to compete for veteran talent by helping bridge the culture gap between military candidates and HR.</p>What Civilians Say About The Military Transition Conversation - Part 1 Of 3tag:recruitingblogs.com,2017-02-23:502551:BlogPost:20050652017-02-23T01:33:40.000ZJean Southhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/JeanSouth
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<p><strong>I FEEL SO BAD FOR THEM, THEY’VE DONE </strong><strong>SO MUCH AND THEN IT’S SO HARD TO COME HOME AND BE NORMAL AGAIN.</strong></p>
<p><strong>WHY ARE WE EVEN HAVING THIS CONVERSATION? WHY DO WE HAVE TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN VETERANS AND OTHER PEOPLE? IT’S LIKE WE’VE CREATED A VICTIM CLASS. </strong></p>
<p><strong>HOW IS A VETERAN’S…</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557609298?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557609298?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="336" height="274" class="align-center"/></a></strong></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>I FEEL SO BAD FOR THEM, THEY’VE DONE </strong><strong>SO MUCH AND THEN IT’S SO HARD TO COME HOME AND BE NORMAL AGAIN.</strong></p>
<p><strong>WHY ARE WE EVEN HAVING THIS CONVERSATION? WHY DO WE HAVE TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN VETERANS AND OTHER PEOPLE? IT’S LIKE WE’VE CREATED A VICTIM CLASS. </strong></p>
<p><strong>HOW IS A VETERAN’S TRANSITION ANY DIFFERENT FROM WHEN I SWITCHED CAREERS? I HAD TO START AGAIN AT THE BOTTOM AND WORK MY WAY UP TOO! WHY SHOULD IT BE ANY DIFFERENT FOR A VETERAN?</strong></p>
<p>These are just a few of the things I hear when I tell people that my company, <a href="http://www.hireserved.com/">Hire Served</a>, exists to change the lives of servicemembers and their families by connecting them with meaningful jobs at small/medium-sized businesses who would love to hire them but don’t know how to connect with them. Since I respond to these so frequently, it occurs to me many others may be thinking it but not saying it. For brevity’s sake, I’ll cover these in three separate posts. Let’s dive into the first now.</p>
<p><strong>I feel so bad for them - they’ve done so much and then it’s so hard to come home and be normal again.</strong></p>
<p><em>I’m going to break this one into two parts: </em></p>
<p><em>I feel so bad for them</em> - Veterans appreciate your patriotism and gratitude for their service. What they don’t want is your pity. We have a volunteer fighting force and every veteran currently transitioning served of his/her own free will. They took an oath, much like the one we recently heard our new president take, and swore to protect and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. That oath was taken without any reservation. Don’t feel bad for a single person who has served this nation and don’t pity them for the sacrifices they have made. </p>
<p>On the other hand, don’t be the person who says, “You knew what you were getting into, suck it up.” There is no way that any veteran or spouse knew what we were getting into 100%. We’ve all lost things we didn’t expect to lose, but we did it for this great nation, for our babies who will come behind us, and for you and your babies. This was our choice. Thank us - both vet and spouse, but never ever ever pity us.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557613987?profile=original" target="_self"></a>- This statement assumes all veterans have seen intense combat, which is in itself a fallacy. What all veterans HAVE seen, is government bureaucracy, acronyms out the wazoo, and more policies and procedures governing more things than you could fathom. These are what make transition universally difficult for vets - the things that are so incredibly different between the corporate and government sectors. We’ll hit that more fully in parts two and three. But first, let’s talk about those who HAVE seen combat and what the heck “normal” is all about. In his book, Tribe, Sebastian Junger says that modern society differs from previous societies because it expects only its warriors to transition between combat and the civilian world, the rest of us don’t feel the impact of war on our daily lives. Only warriors transition from "normal" to "war" modes. But, funny thing, combat vets don’t necessarily consider civilian life “normal” - for them, combat zones quickly become the norm and many are more comfortable there than they are at home (much to the chagrin of their wives who struggle to fight for their attention against a mistress much more enticing than home life). </p>
<p>Inherent in this statement is the assumption that veterans are all damaged somehow from war. They are not. It is impossible to see the horrors of war and not be changed by it, but the assumption that this change is always for the negative is wrong. Most veterans I know are better people, better citizens, and better friends because of their time in service. They are also better employees - capable of stepping into leadership roles their peers couldn't possibly manage and able to handle intense stress without flinching. Many times I've been in situations I felt were stressful and had a veteran look over and give me perspective, "Hey - noone's shooting at us, we're good." I've sat at the feet of our nation's finest leaders and learned how to help individuals feel valued and build a connected team that is capable of accomplishing more together than individually. I've learned how to help organizations communicate more clearly, respond better to their customer's needs, and adapt to changing marketplaces. Those lessons were learned from veterans.</p>
<p>Yes, adjusting to civilian life can be a challenge once you’ve lived in a war zone for years, maybe even the bulk of your adult life. However, that’s not a reason to pity our vets. It’s a reason we should be motivated to better understand those adjustment challenges and figure out ways we can help them effectively transition into the workforce so we can all continue to benefit from their service. Instead of talking about how hard it must be for them to come home, why don’t we find ways we can help bear that burden instead of leaving it all on the shoulders of our servicemembers? I mean, haven’t they done enough to deserve our going out of our way just a bit?</p>
<p>*<em>This post is part of a three part series. Read it and the other two parts on the <a href="https://hireserved.com/connectors-corner/" target="_blank">Hire Served blog.</a></em></p>
<p>The Author: Jean South is a Marine spouse, daughter of two Army veterans, and former FBI Special Agent. During her career she has had the honor of working alongside our nation’s warriors. As the President and CEO of the Hire Served, Jean gives companies a competitive advantage to compete for veteran talent by helping bridge the culture gap between military candidates and HR. </p>