WHAT’S NEXT Transition to Civilian Life By Eve Nasby
Jumping Into Your Career: The BioTech Landing Zone is Waiting
As an expert veteran advisor, Mike has a few pieces of advice to help you interview better than the average veteran in transition. Be Prepared to Start (But Not Stay) at the Bottom Just what you wanted to hear, right? Even if you have been in a specialized role or leadership role in the military, prepare to start at the bottom again in the corporate world. It’s normal that those who have been responsible for a platoon, for example, will come out and expect to enter at the VP level. For some, it may make sense, and for others, that approach may seem too ambitious, aggressive and unrealistic.
Exiting the military can be about as comfortable as jumping out of an airplane at 14,000 feet with a backpack. The idea of needing to choose an industry and career path can seem as endless as the skies above, while that pressure to decide can feel like the 120-mile winds pressing against your chest in a free fall. If you are like most transitioning veterans you don’t really want to do what you have been doing, but you sense that you have no choice. Mike Peterson, Senior Manager, Global Talent Acquisition at Edwards Lifesciences would like to challenge you to consider a career in life sciences and medical technologies. Transition is Meant to be Different Mike Peterson is a passionate military supporter and volunteers as a mentor to veterans in transition. He spearheads a veteran program at Edwards that attracts, hires and retains veterans. His influence spans the company of 15,000 employees as he and his team are responsible for 60% of the headcount. He and his team oversee over 1,000 open positions all over the globe in a given year and have conducted thousands of interviews. 40
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / NOVEMBER 2020
Mike counsels those in transition with a softer, yet strategic approach. When asked where they see themselves in a potential role, he advises them to answer with “ultimately I’d like to be in Senior Management.” This approach communicates the desire to climb the proverbial corporate ladder without expecting to come in as the boss. He encourages his mentees to study their audience before going in for the interview. He explains that you must understand what is important to the interviewer,focus and then pull out your relevant experience and rather than using the ‘fire for effect’ strategy. Have Several Meaningful Stories to Tell When you tell a story during an interview, it’s important to make it succinct and relevant, while also conveying why that story is meaningful to the job. Recruiters may listen to the story and follow it, but not get why it’s relevant. Mike’s advice is to follow up your story with “What this means for you is that I can lead a team into very difficult situations successfully without missing a beat and also make an impact.” As you iterate through multiple interviews at the same company, you may get asked similar questions. Be prepared with a variety of different stories to tell that demonstrate your skills in a particular area. The interviewers will collaborate to review their feedback. You want each interviewer to have different stories and examples you shared, rather than realizing you just shared the same story repeatedly. Dave Grundies