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????親愛的安妮：我對您在6月10日的一篇關于如何在漫漫求職路中保持昂揚斗志的專欄文章非常感興趣，因為我最近一直在幫助一位好友找工作。五個月前，他剛剛退役，從阿富汗回國。他在部隊中接受過高級計算機培訓，但這似乎并不能幫他找到工作。我認為，或許他需要改寫一下簡歷。
????還有另外一件事：他服役前曾有過一份工作，但在他服役期間，老板竟然把這個職位安排給了別人（居然還是他的親戚）。我記得，我曾經在哪里讀到過，我的朋友應該有權要回之前的工作。如果真是這樣，那就太好了，不過，真的可以嗎？——憂心忡忡的平民。
????親愛的C.C.：毫無疑問，對于參加過伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭的200多萬名老兵來說，重新回到私營部門確實困難重重。畢竟，到目前為止的一年多時間里，這一群體的失業率一直保持在11%左右。
????獵頭馬克?賴登表示：“目前仍在服役的軍人和已經退役、不得不離開部隊的軍人數量龐大，為他們創造就業機會的問題非常嚴峻，尤其是在就業市場普遍低迷的情況下。”馬克?賴登著有《老兵求職金玉良言：一書在手，工作我有》（Veterans: Do This! Get Hired! Proven Advice for Veterans Who Need a Job.）一書。
????他指出，退役的老兵都面臨著一個障礙。民企雇主“總是按照既定的程序，希望能夠發現某種素質，但即便是最符合條件的老兵往往也無法按雇主期望的方式展示出這種素質。換句話說，老兵們說話的內容和方式不符合公司招聘員工的腳本。”
????既然你提到你朋友的簡歷需要徹底修改，賴登提出的四條建議可以使他的簡歷更合雇主的胃口。
????1. 明確寫出服役時的工作時間。賴登表示，大部分招聘經理“根本不清楚軍人每周工作多少個小時，所以應該在簡歷中提出。在描述履歷的部分，可以加入下面一些內容：‘每周平均工作60個小時’。這表明，如果公司有至關重要的任務，需要一周工作60個小時，你是可以承受的，所以你能夠勝任這項任務。”
????2. 數字至關重要。賴登指出：“雇主喜歡求職者的履歷中帶有數字說明。因為這表明，求職者也能為他們做到這些。所以，求職的老兵應該在簡歷中加入節省的時間和成本等內容，并詳細列出每周、每月或每年節省的小時和費用金額。”另外一個重要的數字是：下屬的人數。
????使用阿拉伯數字。賴登補充道：“如果有兩份簡歷，其中一份寫著：‘節省了十萬美元’，而另外一份則寫著：“節省了100,000美元”，相比之下，便能發現阿拉伯數字更搶眼。”
????3. 把履歷擺在簡歷最前頭。賴登認為，最近，用“目標宣言”開頭的簡歷在一些招聘經理那里已經失寵，不過，他認為老兵們還是需要簡短的自我介紹。
????他說：“個人目標部分可以迅速確定整份簡歷的基調，所以，求職者可以在這里寫出自己的目標，以及自己有多少年的經驗。比如，可以這樣寫：‘希望求得全職項目經理一職，以便充分利用本人八年的豐富經驗’，這樣可以直觀地告訴招聘經理，求職者認為自己哪些方面適合這家公司。”
????4. 單獨列出忠誠度證明。賴登發現：“許多老兵都有某些方面的忠誠記錄，但卻并未在簡歷中提及，或者只是把它們埋沒在簡歷的某個角落里。”相反，求職老兵應該在簡歷中用單獨的小標題，專門用來說明自己的忠誠度。
????“這樣，如果所申請的工作有忠誠度方面的要求，雇主一眼就能發現，并把求職者歸入‘適合’一類。即便工作未對忠誠度有任何要求，明確表明自己獲得了忠誠度證明，也能讓求職者脫穎而出。另外，這也表明，求職者值得信任，足夠忠誠，否則也不可能得到此類證明，” 賴登說。
????另外一點：由于軍隊生活中充滿了首字母縮寫，而這些縮寫對于普通民眾而言非常陌生，所以老兵們需要確保在簡歷中把他們的職責和成就轉換成通俗易懂的語言。
????話說回來，你的朋友完全有可能不必四處奔波求職——也就是說，他有權要回屬于自己的工作。美國聯邦法律《軍事征召人員就業與再就業權利法》（Uniformed Services Employment & Re-Employment Act）規定，雇主必須恢復退役軍人原先的工作職位，前提是他們必須服役超過180天，并在退役后90日內通知前雇主（最好以書面形式）其目前處于國內，希望能重返之前的工作崗位。
????你并沒有提到，你的朋友是否已經通知了他的雇主，或者公司是否已做出回應。但即便超過了180天的限制，你朋友依然享有USERRA的部分權利。芝加哥費舍爾&菲利普律師事務所（Fisher & Phillips）的勞動仲裁律師史蒂夫?米勒建議，可以與當地的退伍軍人事務部聯系，說明具體情況。他說：“有時候，他們只需要一個電話，就能讓老兵拿回本屬于自己的工作。”
????米勒補充道：“大部分雇主都希望能讓退役的老兵重回工作崗位。通常情況下，老兵可以與雇主通過對話解決問題。所以第一步是要開始對話。”
????反饋：如果你是一名招聘經理，你會給求職的退役軍人什么建議？如果你是剛剛退役的老兵，哪些建議會對你的幫助最大 ？歡迎留言評論。
????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓 |
????Dear Annie: I read with interest your June 10 column on how to stay upbeat during a long job search, because I've been trying to help a close friend who has been out of work since he came back from active duty in Afghanistan five months ago. He got a lot of advanced computer training in the Army, but it doesn't seem to be helping him find work, and I suspect that's partly because he needs to rewrite his resume.
????Another thing: He had a job before he left, but his employer gave it away (to a relative, no less) while he was gone. I think I remember reading somewhere that my friend has a legal right to get his old job back. It would be great if that were true, but is it? — Concerned Civilian
????Dear C.C.: No question about it, returning to the private sector is proving difficult for the roughly 2 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among whom unemployment has been hovering at around 11% for more than a year now.
????"With so many servicemen and women doing their duty and then electing to leave the service, the problem of getting vets jobs is huge, especially in this job market that is terrible for almost everyone," notes Mark Lyden, a job recruiter and author of Veterans: Do This! Get Hired! Proven Advice for Veterans Who Need a Job.
????One obstacle for returning military personnel, he points out, is that civilian employers "are programmed to look for certain things, and even the most highly qualified vets often just don't give employers what they are looking for in the way they are looking for it. In other words, what vets say and how they say it doesn't match the script that companies are using to find employees."
????Since you mention that your friend's resume may need an overhaul, consider these four tips from Lyden on how to make a CV match up with employers' "scripts":
????1. Count your hours. Most hiring managers "really have no clue how many hours per week military people put into their work, so you should mention it," says Lyden. "In the part of your resume that describes your experience, put in something like, 'Worked an average of 60 hours per week. This conveys that, if there are occasions where a 60-hour week is needed to get something critical done, you're used to that, so you're up to the task."
????2. Numbers are crucial. "Employers love to see experience with numbers attached," notes Lyden. "It suggests you will do the same for them. So you should always cite things like time saved and cost savings you achieved, with specifics about hours and dollars saved per week, per month, or per year." Another important number: How many people reported to you.
????Use numerals instead of writing out these figures, Lyden adds: "If you are glancing at two resumes and one says, 'One hundred thousand dollars saved' and the other says, '$100,000 saved', see how the numerals pop out at you?"
????3. Mention your years of experience right up front. Lyden acknowledges that starting a resume with an "objective statement" has lost favor with some recruiters and hiring managers lately, but he believes vets still need these brief introductory paragraphs.
????"An objective section lets you set the tone of your entire resume quickly, so it's the perfect place to say what you want and how many years of experience you have," he says. "Writing, for instance, 'A full-time project management position where I can utilize my eight years of experience' immediately tells the hiring manager where you see yourself fitting into the company."
????4. List security clearances separately. "Too many veterans have some kind of clearance and don't mention it, or else they bury it in the text of their resume somewhere," Lyden observes. Instead, create a separate heading under which you state your clearance.
????"If you're applying for a job that has a clearance requirement, the employer quickly spots it, and you go into the 'yes' pile," Lyden says. "But even if the job doesn't require a clearance, clearly highlighting that you have it makes you stand out from the pack. It also indicates that you're trustworthy and honest, or you wouldn't have gotten it."
????One other thought: The military life is loaded with acronyms that are foreign to civilians, so vets need to make sure that their duties and accomplishments are translated into plain English on their resumes.
????That said, it's entirely possible that your friend doesn't need to be job hunting at all -- that is, he is entitled to get back the position he lost. A federal law called the Uniformed Services Employment & Re-Employment Act (USERRA) says that employers must reinstate returning servicemen and women in their old jobs, provided that vets who have been away on active duty for more than 180 days notify their former employers within 90 days (preferably in writing) that they're stateside and want to return to work.
????You don't say whether your friend notified his employer, or what the company's response was, but even past the 180-day limit, your friend still retains some USERRA rights. Steve Miller, an employment attorney at Fisher & Phillips in Chicago, recommends contacting the local office of the Department of Veterans Affairs and explaining the situation. "Sometimes a phone call from them is all it takes" to get a vet's old job back, he says.
????"Most employers really want to put returning veterans back to work," Miller adds. "Usually, you can establish a dialogue and work something out. So the first step is to get that dialogue started."
????Talkback: If you're a hiring manager, what advice would you give veterans who are job hunting? If you're a veteran who has returned to the civilian workforce, what helped you most? Leave a comment below. |
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