Transition from Military to Civilian / Job Search / Day Job

[garnertr]

Good morning one and all;

I normally hide on the Military forum and I'm not too sure if this is the appropriate board, but here goes anyway! :)

I retire from US Navy after 20-years of faithful service, its been a hell of a ride and I have enjoyed every minute!

So, around the end of December I started my job search. I wanted a government position, so I started networking around my office and started w/ what is called "the CHART System", ( https://chart.donhr.navy.mil/index.asp ) which is basically a job listing site tailored to US Navy civilian positions. I created my targeted resume and started searching. I can tell you that at first I THOUGHT I was plucking along, I applied, but didn't really pay attention and didn't realize that the "SUBMIT" button for an application was layered in a couple of key-clicks, so after learning THAT, I went back through and started posting more applications. Did that for about 20+ days, without suck as a nibble.

January rolls in and now I'm on my House/Job hunting and still days tick by, well, someone gave me a shout out for USAJOBS website ( http://usajobs.gov/ ). Now, for those that is unfamiliar, this site is wonderful, its more or less a repository for government jobs, the downside to this is that you MUST pay attention, you can upload resume, create a resume, upload supporting documentation, but the stickler with THIS site is that, it will show a vacancy announcement but then push you to that site's request. So, lets say you apply for Department of Army, Department of Air Force and US Geological Survey, well, EACH SITE has its own process, EACH SITE has its own login sequence, USMAPS streamlines some of it, but you MUST go through and take your time, it is about 15-30 minutes per request to fill out and answer basic questions. So again, I went back to my work, talked to some of the civilians and asked if this was correct, I learned that many ppl get frustrated w/ the question/answer request so they abandon the process, which HR will use to throw out your application, so, I learned that this is a process that you have to take your time, work through the sites, and on the plus, once you apply for a position, your log-in sequence is done for the department! :) So that is nice. Another item, if anyone is reading this and thinking for applying to a federal position, pls remember, that this process is SLOW, it is not like your civilian side, you MUST pay attention to the site and learn how they "reject" you, it took me a long time to figure it out, but once you do, its a good tool to learn and to educate others, b/c some of my friends have applied to one or two positions and then never checked the status, didn't have e-mail notifications turned on and thus missed out on the "process".

Today is the 22 of January and I have been applying since basically the beginning of January, and guess what? I have applied to dozens and dozens of vacancies. I started reading through my USAJobs status, and I have my e-mail notification turned on. Again, I checked with my civilian buddies at work and discovered that I was working the right angle, keep applying, keep reviewing and keep up the faith.

As of today, I HAVE TWO HITS for a position. After dozen and dozens of vacancy application requests, nothing, but then TWO out of the blue. I went back to my civilian buddies and said, that I received two e-mails from HR saying that you have been referred to a selection official; I have been told not to hold my breath, b/c depending on the number of personnel applying I still could be pushed out, but hey, two e-mails from HR? That should be promising.

I know this is a LONG RAMBLE, but I just wanted to stay say NETWORK, you MUST NETWORK, that is one of my key points to saying "I checked back, with my civilian buddies". I really cannot stress the NETWORK component in reaching out and requesting help and for answering questions. I included the USAJobs and CHART link so that just in case anyone else is interested, they too can hit those sites and start reviewing! :)

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone on this site for supporting me, working through my questions, replying, sending e-mails, everything, this is a wonderful site and I am happy to be here.

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I was told by my civilian buddies, that receiving an e-mail from HR (a real name, real e-mail address), indicating that my application selected for further consideration, is extremely rare to non-existent. Because USAJobs will normally indicate whether or not an application was selected or non-selected. To actually see something from HR is rare and encouraging, of course, one could still be passed over, but it is highly encouraging.

I have a few questions:

Based on receiving these two emails, what could be next? Do I wait for further e-mails, will they call, would I be pushy to reply (wait a while THEN reply?)?

Aren't Government "Benefits" basically the same? 401K, holidays, vacation earned? What do you do to compare two jobs that are basically the same (Secretary), but are in two different states (Virginia and Texas).

Salary is not 100% end all be all for me, don't get me wrong, I love to have as high of a salary as I can get but it's not my definition of happiness, I enjoy being a secretary; We are not home buyers, so renting an apartment and/or Town Home is in.

However, the cost of living between Texas and Virginia is extremely different, taking into account state income tax, cost of living between the two states (and compared to salary, a lower salary in Texas is NOT the same as a lower Salary in Virginia), in my mind both are equal as far as pro's and con's...

Does anyone have any ideas for what I should be asking when it comes to comparing two Government positions? I'm not asking which job I should take, but pointers for a way I can compare, so that my wife and I can sit down and make a plan.

Whew, this IS a long ramble. My apologies, I just kept going and going... :) Any thoughts, pls reply and enjoy the weekend!

[alevin]

First things first, thank you for your 20 years of military service, Garner. my brother is also a 20+year veteran. 2d thing. Congratulations on your persistence, garner.

Ok, now for your questions. Congratulations on getting noticed. the notice that you are on "a" list is good. It means they've decided you're qualified for the position. It may even mean you're on the short list for checking references and setting up interviews. It means they will contact you, you don't need to contact them at this point.

If you don't hear from them for maybe 3 weeks from here, it would be ok to call that name and number you've got-it won't be the person making the decision, but probably an HR person who can tell you where they are in the process-in case they've gotten bogged down somewhere.

As far as deciding between 2 locations, 2 different states but basically the same job-the salary and benefits would be the same, but living costs can be way different as you already know, which means the amount you can afford to sock away into additional retirement or other savings will be different.

If affordability is not the overriding factor for you, then I go with quality of life factors. which community would better suit your family?

City-data.com can give idea of community composition economically, socially, whether its a growing place or a dying place, an idea of the schools and amenities and infrastructure and employment, crime rates, distance to next nearest communities you might end up commuting to-from-and their socio-economic breakdown.

Realtor.com can also give you an idea of rental costs in each community and what's available and general layout of each community. .

another place to look is on each community's chamber of commerce site-to find out what kinds of community social events characterize the community. that way you can get an idea of whether your social interests might be compatible too.

[James48843]

Note: If you are getting replies already from jobs you applied for in January, consider yourself extremely ahead of the curve. My agency it usually takes 45 to 60 days AFTER the job closes before HR sends packages to the selecting official.

If you got an email from HR saying that your package went forward, consider that good. In my agency, that usually means your package is within the top three for consideration.

In my agency, they sometimes, but not always, then conduct interviews. In my agency, they don't always interview all three. The COULD interview only one, offer then the job, then if they are turned down, they'll interview the next peron, etc.

As to whether Texas or Virginia- that's up to you. 90% of applicants in my line of work only want one commuting area to look at at a time.

Getting a job takes a lot of time and effort just to figure out HOW to properly apply. As you have learned.

Good luck.

[garnertr]

Thanks to the replies! I added the links to my list of links to pass to my friends, so this is GREAT information.

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If there is "an interview", how is that conducted? Telephone, E-mail, in person to nearest facility? The two positions that I am been included in are Texas and Virgina, and I'm located in Seal Beach.

Also, if it is by phone, is this necessarily easier of an interview than in person? As far as body reading, ticks, way ppl answer questions? It seems to me that I could run through a list of "possible" questions, have those printed out and ready (as reference of course) to answer...

THANKS for the replies, and thank you for the thanks to military service, I have always considered it a privilege to serve in the Armed Forces.

[alevin]

Interviews-it depends on the local office. I've done phone interviews in one agency, in-person interviews in my own. James is right, interviews are not mandatory, they may review the tope 2-3 app, make reference checks and offer the job without interviewing at all. you won't know if or how they interview until/unless they contact you.

As far as interview prep-it had been 6 years since my last job app when I got notice of a phone interview for a mgt position-would have been my first mgt position. I did prep with sample written questions but didn't practice talking out loud ahead of time. I froze and choked and completely embarassed myself by the second question in the interview, I got so flustered could barely talk. :embarrest:

2d and 3d phone interviews-again for mgt positions-I got a current supervisor or equivalent to give me practice questions out loud-and I practiced answering out loud. I did soooo much better! the 2d interview kicked me up the line for the 3d interview-I came out as runner up on that one.

The in-person interview was for another mgt position-again I practiced out loud in front of a current manager I trusted-ahead of time. I was satisfied with my in-person performance, but somebody else still got the job, which was ok, I already had a job, was just looking for a promotion, my bottom line at the time, I just wanted to feel successful at doing interviews like that-especially after the first choke and fail. :D

[Afishegg]

Wanna know my take? Ok I'll give it to you. I think that the word "jobs" has become nothing more than a 4 letter word... and I ALSO think....THEY AINT COMIN BACK. I am personally starting to downsize my lifestyle because I believe this is the last job I'll ever have. (good job that is) If i were you I'd buy me a small piece of land (like 1 or 2 acres) and put a small house on it (paid in full of course, even if that means a nice doublewide) and just start your pre-retirement days early. Go fishing and hunting and hold out till you can start withdrawing your benefits. OR...you could keep chugging along applying to thousands of vacancies hoping, and hoping, and hoping..........:cool:

[Lostdawg]

First, congrats from another recently retired Navy person.
I would keep submitting applications (CHARTS or whatever) until you go to work. Even then, you may want to keep your resume ready. Always have a back up plan.
For CHARTS at least, you need to adjust your resume for the job you are applying. Key words, etc., so the computers pick you out of the pile. You won't even get eyeballs on your resume if this doesn't happen. If you knew this already then disregard.
They will call references if your seriously considered. So make sure your references know you are using them. I still get calls about people who worked for me in uniform. One was a few weeks ago and that person hadn't worked with me in over a decade, but had kept in touch.

Things I miss? Almost everything.
Don't miss? Shaving everyday, writing evals and fitreps. That's about it too.
Again congrats and keep looking forward.
Pete

[PessOptimist]

Some thoughts about a possible telephone interview. Make or take your call in a quiet area with no background noise. Do not use a cell phone unless you are absolutely sure that there will be none of those annoying delays and dropouts. Having to repeat answers because the panel didn't hear the whole thing won't help the process and can be unnerving.

Best of Luck.