????最近，有位年輕的海軍退伍軍人到美國電話電報(bào)公司（AT&T）去應(yīng)聘。他在簡歷上稱自己是“技師”。接待他的是克里斯?諾頓，他在該公司的頭銜是“軍事人才招募經(jīng)理”。

????“我開始向他提出一些較為深入的問題，得知這位應(yīng)聘者曾經(jīng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)過一支由10位直升機(jī)技師組成的團(tuán)隊(duì)，并且管理過價(jià)值近2億美元的裝備，”諾頓說。諾頓本人也是一位參加過伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭的退伍軍人，擔(dān)任過16年的美國陸軍軍官，現(xiàn)在仍然是陸軍后備役軍人。他說：“他20歲出頭就肩負(fù)起了所有這些職責(zé)，說明他具有出色的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力。但從他的簡歷上完全看不出這些。”

????“我們這些退伍軍人不知道如何向雇主推銷自己，”諾頓接著說。“我們也不知道應(yīng)該如何看待自己的個(gè)人成就，因?yàn)檐婈?duì)里永遠(yuǎn)都是在強(qiáng)調(diào)團(tuán)隊(duì)。因此，應(yīng)聘者和面試官說起話來往往是雞同鴨講。”

????這種脫節(jié)是個(gè)大問題，而且可能會(huì)變得更加嚴(yán)重。在過去6個(gè)月里，有10萬名軍人從伊拉克回國，此外還有約9萬名軍人將在2014年底前撤離阿富汗。伊拉克和阿富汗戰(zhàn)爭時(shí)期的退伍軍人的失業(yè)率從4月份的9%飆升到了5月份的接近13%。一年以來，年輕男性退伍軍人（18至24歲）的失業(yè)率達(dá)到了驚人的29%。

????難怪聯(lián)邦政府會(huì)啟動(dòng)眾多的計(jì)劃來幫助回國的退伍軍人尋找平民工作。美國政府的一個(gè)新舉措是：到今年11月，國防部（the Department of Defense）將為所有的退伍人員提供一對一的培訓(xùn)，內(nèi)容包括如何用非軍事人員能夠理解的語言來描述自己的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

????這是個(gè)好主意。招聘網(wǎng)站Monster.com在去年進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，77%的雇主說應(yīng)聘者需要用招聘經(jīng)理能夠理解的語言來更好地描述他們的軍事經(jīng)驗(yàn)。非盈利調(diào)查組織新美國安全中心（Center for New American Security）最近的一份調(diào)查顯示，60%的雇主把這種溝通上的差距視為擴(kuò)大退伍軍人招聘規(guī)模的最大障礙。

????美國電話電報(bào)公司在克里斯?諾頓的監(jiān)督下推出了自己的軍事技能翻譯器，一種可以把軍事職業(yè)代碼與該公司職位空缺一一對應(yīng)的在線工具（Monster.com也推出了這類工具，所有雇主或獵頭都可以使用）。但作為奧巴馬政府退伍軍人就業(yè)儲(chǔ)備計(jì)劃（Veterans Jobs Bank Program）的成員，美國電話電報(bào)公司所做的遠(yuǎn)不只如此。

????比如，美國電話電報(bào)公司提供了Careers4Vets老兵就業(yè)培訓(xùn)計(jì)劃，至少有700名近期退伍的軍人已經(jīng)從該公司的約200位員工那里得到了職業(yè)指導(dǎo)。這些員工以前也都是退伍軍人。美國電話電報(bào)公司還贊助了“退伍軍人人才網(wǎng)絡(luò)”（Veterans Talent Network）計(jì)劃，參加這個(gè)計(jì)劃的退伍軍人都可以收到有關(guān)職位空缺和招聘活動(dòng)方面的簡訊和短信。

????When a young Navy veteran applied for a job at AT&T recently, he described himself on his resume as "a mechanic." Then he sat down with Chris Norton, whose title at the company is Military Talent Attraction Manager.

????"When I started to dig a little deeper and asked him some questions, it turned out that this candidate had led a team of 10 helicopter mechanics and was in charge of approximately $200 million worth of equipment," says Norton, himself an Iraq veteran with 16 years' experience as a U.S. Army officer who still serves in the Army Reserve. "All this responsibility placed on a person in his early 20s demonstrated great leadership ability. But you would never have known that from his resume.

????"We in the military are horrible at selling ourselves to employers," Norton adds. "We don't learn how to think of ourselves in terms of individual achievements, because the emphasis [in the military] is always on the team. So it's common for applicants and interviewers to be talking past each other."

????That disconnect is a big problem, and likely to get bigger. In addition to the 100,000 soldiers who have arrived home from Iraq in the past six months, about 90,000 more are due to return from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. In May, the unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans jumped to almost 13%, up sharply from 9% in April. For young male vets, ages 18 to 24, the jobless rate has stood at a staggering 29% for over a year now.

????Small wonder, then, that the federal government is launching a plethora of programs designed to help returning vets find civilian jobs. One of Uncle Sam's new moves: By November, the Department of Defense will provide all departing military personnel with one-on-one coaching on how to describe their experience in terms that non-military types can grasp.

????Good idea. In a survey last year by Monster.com, 77% of employers said job seekers needed to do a better job translating their military experience into language that hiring managers recognize; and a new study by the nonprofit research group Center for New American Security reports that 60% of employers see the translation gap as the biggest obstacle to bringing more vets on board.

????On Chris Norton's watch, AT&T (T) has come up with its own military skills translator, an online tool for matching military occupational codes with job openings at the company. (Monster.comalso offers one that any employer or job hunter can use.) But the company, which is a member of the Obama Administration's Veterans Jobs Bank Program, has gone much further.

????For instance, AT&T offers Careers4Vets, a coaching program where at least 700 recent veterans have gotten career advice from about 200 AT&T employees who are veterans themselves. The company also sponsors a Veterans Talent Network where veterans can sign up for newsletters and text messages about job openings and events.