Archives for November 2018

During his twenty years in the military, Adam Potter’s career path took him from starting as an Airborne Infantryman to his retirement as the Senior Army Guidance Counselor of Butte Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). Adam currently serves as Director of the Central Midwest Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) and as Senior Human Resources Specialist at the University of Iowa. 

Here’s why your military experience makes you a strong candidate for a job at a college or university:

Your military job likely has a counterpart in higher education. It takes all kinds of skills and knowledge to run a military operation—and the same goes for college campuses. Think of a college or university as a military installation regarding logistics: At the University of Iowa, we have a police force, logistics team, and facilities management staff. The other day, I spoke to someone looking for a job as a pipefitter. I was able to pull up twelve pipefitter jobs on the HERC website. In higher ed, we have to get past the stereotype that many job seekers (not just veterans) have of higher ed: We’re not just hiring professors, there are plenty of staff and administrative roles.

Apply the commitment and flexibility you honed in the military. Right now, employers are really pushing to hire people with soft skills. A lot of veterans bring this to the table. Veterans understand what it means to embrace an organization’s mission and know what it takes to get the job done. People who are used to working at a fast-op tempo are very flexible. They’re willing to embrace change in the higher ed workplace because they’re used to a constantly-shifting environment.

Seek out veterans’ preference at public institutions. Veterans’ preference won’t guarantee you a job, but it will open up certain venues to finding employment. Find out what veterans’ preference means at your particular institution. For instance, at the University of Iowa, if veterans are applying but not getting interviews, or are interviewed but not getting hired, they can contact our Equal Opportunity Office and ask why. This knowledge may prompt you to update your application materials or finesse your interviewing skills.

Multiple opportunities may be a good fit. I think veterans will be pleasantly surprised at the multiple types of higher ed jobs they’re qualified for. I was talking to a veteran who works for the FBI right now, and he’s looking for a new job opportunity. He could easily transfer to a security director role or become a risk specialist at a large university. Similarly, there are likely many jobs that could fit your specific expertise.

Download our free ebook, Veterans Transitioning Into Higher Ed (Revised Edition) for more information on your shift from military to civilian careers. Explore additional resources for veterans from HERC Jobs.

Tailor your resume so your military experience translates into the higher education realm. Ensure that your resume is understandable to a civilian audience. Eliminate military jargon and ask a friend to proofread it. Here at the University of Iowa and our affiliated institutions, we are extremely rigid with candidate screenings. We want you to clearly match all the required qualifications for a job, and your resume is the first place we screen for that fit.

Expect a collaborative and friendly culture. Higher ed tends to be a very collaborative environment, so expect multiple interviews, including interviews by committee. The culture in higher ed is warm and welcoming; when I first arrived at the university, we had a lot of celebrations and get-togethers for events. Overall, it was a fairly easy transition from navigating a large military installation to a large public university.

The levels of hierarchy can feel similar transitioning from the military to a large university, but there are fewer rules at the university (and no uniforms).

Practice telling your stories, with a focus on the lessons you’ve learned. I recently read about how a veteran was screened out of a job because of how they responded to a question. The candidate had been in the Air Force and, when asked a question about the value of diversity, said, “When everyone’s in blue, you don’t see color.” The candidate was trying to communicate that everyone in the military ought to be treated equally, but unfortunately worded an answer that seemed to erase the different lived experiences of fellow servicemembers. In the military you work in an incredibly diverse environment, but you may not be used to describing it in a certain way. For instance, if asked about the importance of diverse teams, you can speak about the espirit de’corps that you’ve developed working with people of diverse backgrounds towards the same unifying mission.

When I do job coaching, I encourage candidates to think about their stories. Your interviewers don’t care so much about the details of a particular situation so much as the outcome—how you handled yourself through adversity and what you learned. Focus on standard interview questions: Reflect on a time you had a disagreement with a supervisor or a time you led a team. Think of a story for each of these scenarios plus, most critically, be able to articulate the lessons you learned from your decisions.

Thanks to Adam Potter for the above insights. During his twenty years in the military, Adam’s career path took him from starting as an Airborne Infantryman to his retirement as the Senior Army Guidance Counselor of Butte Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). Adam currently serves as Director of the Central Midwest Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) and as Senior Human Resources Specialist at the University of Iowa.

Download our free ebook, Veterans Transitioning Into Higher Ed (Revised Edition) for more information on your shift from military to civilian careers. Explore additional resources for veterans from HERC Jobs.