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Wendi: [00:00:00] Hey sis, welcome to Beyond the Military Podcast, where faith led military women overcome burnout and create more balance. Just imagine having enough time to focus on your faith, family, and have more fun while still serving as a woman leader. In this podcast, you will walk away with the tools to help you navigate the busy life of a military woman, organize your mind, overcome overwhelm, create a prioritization playbook, and a balanced blueprint for integrating faith, family, and career.

Yeses in that order. Hi, I’m Wendi Wray, woman of God, wife, mama of two, army veteran, and certified life coach. And I’m here to help you create a life of meaning outside of the military, a life of laughter, joy, and intentional free time. If you are ready to overcome burnout and create balance as a faith led military woman, sis, this podcast is for you.

So loosen up your laces and grab your coffee because it’s time to step into freedom and peace.

Hello, and welcome to episode 234. So today we are [00:01:00] doing something a little different. I am sharing my LinkedIn live, how to communicate your military experience here on this podcast. I hope you enjoy. And if you haven’t connected with me. Come on over to LinkedIn and connect with me and, I want to encourage you to watch this, as a replay on LinkedIn and let me know that you were there by just commenting hashtag replay. All right.

We are at the top of the hour. We’re going live here on LinkedIn. Hello everyone. So happy to be here with you today. I just want to let you know ahead of time that I am in get after energy, meaning that I have a little bit more energy than I typically do. So hope you’re ready. I’m excited about today’s topic.

And before we get started, I want to let everyone know or welcome everyone that Does not know me or does not know who I am. My name is Wendy Ray and I was an army officer in the military and it transitioned out seven years ago. I cannot believe it. Just a [00:02:00] couple of weeks or last week has been now seven years, seven years that I started my military transition.

I, or sorry, my term will leave ahead. Um, it’s been nothing but amazing and a rollercoaster. Um, and now I am a career coach for military women, helping them with their military transition and also into their career opportunities, growth opportunities in the civilian sector. And so with that, I want to welcome you again, for those of you that have tuned in to my past live events.

Thank you so much for joining me. I am so happy that you’re here. And if you are live right now. The only way that I know that you are live is if you comment. On this live. So please drop a hashtag live and listen, if you are watching this on replay, completely fine, completely understand that there are other obligations, especially when it comes to going to the doctor.

So completely understand. And you could just put on the, [00:03:00] um, on the comments, hashtag replay. So I know that I can send you this recording as well. If you did not get a chance to register. Completely okay. I want to send you the replay. So welcome again. And today we have planned typically my lives are between 20 and 30 minutes, but because I put so much, not only content on here, but also I want to really walk you through how to communicate your military experience, not only from a technical and, you know, tactical way, but also the emotional and mental aspect.

From that mental and emotional aspect. So with that, I’m going to go ahead and bring up my slides. And this is for you if you are someone that has started your actual military transition, meaning you submitted a packet, you already know when you’re going to get out. And it’s also for somebody if you’re like, hey, [00:04:00] listen, I don’t know when I’m going to get out yet.

I know I’m getting out soon. I just want to network. Welcome. I am so happy that you’re here and Stephanie, I see that you’re here. Happy Wednesday, fellow vets, she says, and I also see here my wonderful friend, Amira, hashtag live. Thank you so much for joining us, you both. And so with that, if you’re here to network, Stephanie, Amira, I want to challenge you both to connect if you haven’t connected already.

This networking adventure is nothing but extraordinary when it comes to LinkedIn, so I hope that you both connect. And also, if you’re getting ready for an interview, this is for you if you’re close to an interview date or you are getting really close to possibly going to a second interview, maybe with a team.

And so I want to not only provide you as much value as As I can from this live, but I also want to warn you that just these 30 minutes will not be enough If this is something that you really want to hone in [00:05:00] and double down if this is something that you need help Because trust me, I did not come out of the military knowing how to communicate my own experience And one I did not have the confidence either.

So I want to challenge you today If this is something that you’re like, Hey, I loved everything that you said, it resonated with me, but I need more help. I want you to send me a direct message so that I am able to do that, especially if there’s still time. And all you have to do is DM me the word career and I will personally reach, reach out to you.

Now, why is this important? Again, most of us are in the phase of either, um, applying or even just going to an interview. And so I want to make it really clear that. It’s not only important, but also necessary to be prepared. So employers, hiring managers, that you are ready and interested in this new career pivot, this new professional [00:06:00] career that you are about to embark.

So by knowing why it’s important and really taking action and being prepared, equipping yourself is going to set you up to show up with confidence. And this is why I think it’s so important for you to start now, regardless of what stage you’re in. And if you’re like, well, Wendy, I already had a few interviews and I completely bombed them.

That’s okay too. Like I said earlier, we will all come out of the military, not knowing as much as we think we know, or even as much as we should know. And so that’s what I’m here for. I’m here to encourage you. I’m here to equip you so that you can excel. And the main reason is for you to be closer to that post military career, meaning you may not even know exactly if you’re going to get this position or if this is the position that you want to necessarily, that you may not even, you know, be a good fit for, or this opportunity is not a good fit for you, but you will still be a step closer in knowing if [00:07:00] this opportunity It’s for you.

So it’s a win win, right? If you go to this interview, you’re like, okay, one, I completely bombed it or two, it wasn’t for me. Now, you know, you’re stuck closer into knowing what will be for you right now. You won’t be continuing to pursue interviews or job roles. Um, that are similar to what you just completely, you know, came out of and thinking that this was not for you because maybe it wasn’t for you.

And so, for those of you that are here, and even on replay, I want for you to share with me just real quickly, and this is more for you than for me, but I would love for you to take what we call an ASMATH checker, right? Where are you currently with how you’re communicating your multi experience? Are you a red?

You need a ton of work. Like you haven’t even started. You have no idea where to begin. Are you a yellow? You need to improve. You kind of understand a little bit of where you’re going and the experience and the skill sets and the competency that you bring to the table, but you just need a little bit more help.

Or are you getting after you’re like, [00:08:00] Wendy, I’ve already had three interviews or X amount of interviews. I’m doing well, but there’s just this one thing that I’m missing. Which one would it be? Please drop it in the chat. I am curious to know, especially if you’re getting close to that transition.

And listen, it’s okay if you’re red. I was a complete red, if not like black. I did not, when practiced, I did not rehearse. Um, well, I will say I did rehearse a little, but it wasn’t even to the, to the point where I knew what positions. for me, or what that position really meant for me and vice versa, how that organization, that position was going to help me and propel me in my career growth and how I was going to bring, or what value I was going to bring.

Stephanie says, green. Good for you, Stephanie. I am so excited for you. And I’m sure you have many, many interviews that you’ve, [00:09:00] Um, accomplished. I see an orange from Steven. I see a red from Amira. It’s okay. We’re, we’re here in it together. Um, and she’s two months from her transition. Had an interview yesterday and feel really good about it.

Amazing. Congratulations. And I want you to take a moment to just focus on your response. And I love how Stephen is throwing us off here with the orange. I read it and my mind went to yellow, but thank you, Stephen. I’m completely awake now. I just had my coffee too, but, um, I love that you are being honest and fully transparent because this is for you.

Honestly, I would want for you to be open and honest and also to encourage you to go ahead and continue to improve and get better at it. And so with that, I have put together four steps and want to start here with the first one on how you can begin to not only draft this experience summary, but also to help you to begin to rehearse it.

And this is what [00:10:00] I want to say before I give you the actual. Is to one, give yourself some grace, especially for my ladies out there. You are wearing so many hats right now, especially if you’re a mom, if you’re a wife, if you are a caregiver, there are so many things that are going on in the background that are going to be days that you don’t want to rehearse is that you don’t even want to consider rehearsing for an interview.

How do I know? Because that’s what I went through. And that’s what some of these women that I am working with are going through. And here’s the thing, it’s not only the family, it’s not only the other hats that we’re wearing, but it’s also the current position that we’re in. You’re either probably in the company commander, or you’re in a leadership position, in a management position.

You are leading a platoon, a squad, whatever the case may be. Maybe you’re going through a medical board. Your retention is going to have to change. To be spread across the board when it comes to your military transition. And for like Stephanie, I know you’re two months out. I’m sure you [00:11:00] can relate to this.

There will not be a right time for you to actually take a moment and rehearse. Look at in the mirror and rehearse. You just have to be intentional and make time for it. Well, that’s what I want to segue and really just kind of, um, start here and to also give yourself grace. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

The only thing I encourage you to do and start doing now is to physically, literally rehearse your summary because the more you rehearse it, the better you will get it. It’s like anything in the military that we do, right? We rehearse, rehearse and rehearse and rehearse. We do 80 percent planning and then 20 percent action.

And this is exactly what I mean about following through with this experience, with your military experience, with your summary. And so the first thing you want to do is start with your job description. Listen, I know I’m maybe moving a little fast here, but if you have any questions or anything, please drop it [00:12:00] in the chat.

And I’ll be able to answer it at the very end. If we have time, if not, I’ll still respond in the actual comment of this post. So you want to begin with the job description. The reason being is because I want you to imagine, think about this as a dating profile, right? I want to. I want to encourage you to look at this as a relationship because it really is this new career is a new commitment, a new relationship, a new connection, a new community that you are going to not only be a part of.

So you want to be able to exact to know exactly what this relationship is going to entail, what is going to be required, what exactly do you need to know? or understand so that you can then connect it to your experience. So this is what I mean. Understanding the required and preferred qualifications can help you determine which [00:13:00] skills and experience to discuss.

So, if you don’t know who you are possibly going to, um, meet, right, like, in the next phase or going on a date, then you have no idea how the, what conversations to start, right? Maybe this person likes tennis. Maybe this person, you know, has a passion for kids. Those are conversation starters. But with this, I mean, obviously you’ve applied, you’re interested in, in the, um, In the job, you are very interested in what this role pretty much requires and entails.

And so just refreshing your memory. And understanding fully what that will entail. And the, the one thing I’m going to do as we continue to go over these four steps, I will provide you an example. Just think about it as a high level example. And then I’ll also give a little homework, of course, because this is the way that we get things done.

We have to take [00:14:00] action, right? And so I want you to. Just keep it in the back of your mind that you are going to do your own experience and your own exercise at your own time. So I want you to just listen, try to get as much information as you can and be able to do this on your own. So the second step, identify the role’s top skills.

So the example that I’m going to give here in a little bit is All about operations management, that is one of the common opportunities that not only the women that I help are interested in, but it’s just the natural kind of, um, career field that a lot of us go into, especially if you’re in a management position, because the military has a lot of operations behind it, of course, and it’s not just regular operations, right?

It’s physical and it requires a lot of, um, problem solving and it requires a lot of adaptability. And so again, We’ll go over [00:15:00] that at the end, but you want to identify three tough skills within the job description based on, um, and then you want to phrase that in your experience and also, um, in the terms that, um, The interviewer, the hiring manager will then be able to recognize.

So, for example, going back to the dating example, if you know that this person likes a specific team, a basketball team, you will then start with, oh, I see that, um, the, the Hornets team. It’s your favorite team if you already know that, right? This individual’s gonna say, wow, this individual took the time to know and understand and fully check me out before we came on this actual face-to-face date.

And so, you know, not only are you, um, gonna be top of mind, but also they are going to be able to see that you are interested. In what [00:16:00] they are looking for as well. So step number three, you want to identify your own top skills that are going to correlate With this job description. So for you, it could be any of the top three skills that not only that you’re strong in, but also that can connect that will be able to help you connect to the other responses that you will have.

So, by that, I mean, the stories. That you will already have written down, planned out, mapped out, because if you don’t, this is where a lot of people also are not able to communicate thoroughly their stories, because they don’t have them planned ahead of time. They haven’t really picked up those skills that they’ve actually acquired through their experience.

So then they stumble or they don’t know how to answer because then they are just too focused on giving a one sentence or two sentence response. When they’re not, you know, giving them the actual [00:17:00] action, the result, quantifying the result. And so again, this is very important, a very important step that I want you to remember.

The next, the last one I want to say is the most important, but at the same time, they all tie in together, right? You need one, two, and three to go into four, but truly the way that I want to encourage you to begin to think about. Just your experience summary in general and how you can begin to communicate your military experience is by identifying the two critical skills that you should have already identified.

That is the what of the beginning of your statement. And then I want you to identify the how. How are you doing this? What behaviors, what competencies are you, is taking for you to get something done? And then the third piece is why. We [00:18:00] all have this innate fire or kind of motivation within us. For you, it may be autonomy.

For you, it may be, um, just fun, right? You enjoy doing things. What is it? So I want you to focus on that. And then the most important one of all, the results, the achievements, and this is where I want to pause for a second, because this was hard for me at first. And the reason it was hard for me is because I was not used to talking about myself in a way where I needed to not only confidently and proudly say the things that I’ve accomplished, but also to own them, to own them in a way where I knew I could also do that in a new environment.

And so for some of us ladies, it’s harder to do that. It’s easier for men because it’s, it’s just what they do. It’s [00:19:00] easier for them. And for, and I don’t want to speak on all women, right? This is not all women, but it was for me. I was raised in a home where I don’t get to say too much about myself, right?

It’s, it’s, Kind of rude to talk about yourself and we don’t want to sound too, you know, um, what’s the word? I can’t think of the word now. But, um, when you’re overconfident, I can’t think of the word. Somebody help me out here. Um, and it was just something that I was not able to do, um, on my own. I needed some help.

And I just couldn’t, you know, brag about myself, the word. And so, and that’s not the thing here. I’m not encouraging you to brag about yourself, but what I am encouraging you to do is to be ready to really show the value and the accomplishments. That you’ve acquired, [00:20:00] but also that you bring and how you can make, you know, something better or an organization, a team, whatever it is that you’ve done, you can also do there.

So I want to encourage you to focus on that and not shy away. You know, on all the great things that you’ve been doing and so communicating your experiences. Again, it’s not just about you or just about showcasing you, but it’s about how you can communicate that you can get the job done. And I know that that’s sometimes hard because, again, it’s like, we don’t know much about this field.

We don’t know much about this industry. This is new. But here’s the thing, for most of us, we love new, we love change, and the one beautiful thing about all of this is that you have done this so often that you are [00:21:00] possibly even scared of, or maybe not scared, but fear that it’s just not going to go perfectly.

And I’m here to remind you that it’s not going to go perfectly, but you can get the job done. And now, I also want to say this, because some people are also going to think that they can, you know, do any job. That’s not what I’m saying here. Of course, you have skill sets, you have different competencies that are going to benefit this area, but you may not be the right fit for this opportunity.

But what I am saying, if you are, you check all the blocks and you’re just not communicating it and you’re not communicating it with confidence, then that’s what I mean. Like you, you know, you can get the job done. You just don’t know how to say it because it’s difficult, right? We’re doing something new and something new requires practice.

And this is what we’re here for. Let’s see, Stephen says, this is where I’ve struggled to because it was all about the team and the military, but I’m learning that it’s okay to be a hero of your own story when it comes to job interviews. [00:22:00] Yeah. And I’m going to put this up here because it is really good, Stephen.

Thank you for that. It’s very true. We have to learn. It’s like this new mental shift. Uh, not only focusing on the team, but also on the leader, on the manager, which was you. How were you able to encourage and motivate a team when there was so much going on in the background? There always is, right? And that’s exactly the same experience in the civilian world.

It’s not as intense, but they’re also humans, right? They also have families. They also have Other weaknesses that we may not think that they do, but this is the gold. This is where we shine because we have so much experience. I mean, we know so much about our, um, of our squad, of our platoon, our unit that in the civilian sector is scary, right?

But. We have learned to deal and [00:23:00] manage even when things are not going well. And so this is where you want to be able to communicate exactly that. And so the one thing that will get you hired. is certainty. Yes, your resume plays a role. Yes, this interview is the step to get you hired. But if we get to the emotional aspect, which this is where this is my jam.

This is where I put all my effort into is this whole emotional aspect, because it’s something that needs to To not only be better within our community, but we need to be able to shine light on our emotions. That’s what keeps us going. That’s what is going to determine if we take action or not. And this is where I would love for you to focus on for just a couple of seconds.

Certainty. You can get this job done based on your skills and experience. If [00:24:00] you can come across certain or confident, I’m sorry, confident, then the hiring manager. Well, then be certain that you can get the job done. You may not check all the blocks. You may not, um, know too much about that industry or too much about that specific role, but they know that you will figure it out.

They are certain. And so I want you to focus on this. If you take anything away from this call today, I want you to really focus on certainty. How can you create certainty? What do you need to think or what does this hiring manager need to think about you as the professional? So now how do you need to show up is with confidence?

How can you show up more confident? Well, it starts with you rehearsing, right? It starts with you knowing exactly who you are as a leader, as a military service man or woman. It starts there. [00:25:00] It starts with you really managing your emotions when you are in front of a hiring interview. I mean, hiring manager during an interview because I want you to think about it again as the example of dating.

You don’t want to show up to your 1st date or 2nd date. And want to get married right away. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I would be creeped out and I’d be like, okay, this person is not the one this person wants to marry on date one or two. And so we don’t want you to show up in that way where you are, you know, so eager or like so desperate for this job, but you also don’t want to show up insecure with a lot of self doubt that you can get this job done.

And again, especially in our women community, we sometimes, um, dim our light because we’re like, okay, maybe we can’t do this. Or, you know, maybe I should start at a more entry level versus a mid level opportunity because I don’t know much. [00:26:00] And so I want you to start today to really learning the job goals, learning about your experience, what skills, what competencies are required for that role itself, so that you can then.

Start creating belief that you are going into this new self concept of being this manager in the corporate sector or in the civilian sector, or simply just, you know, being a mom, right? That I struggle with that, too. I’m like, who am I to be a mom now? My kids are in school now. I’m not a mom or, you know, like a deserved mom, but that wasn’t true.

I just, again, needed to really remind myself of who I was. And so again, here’s the example, and I know we’re almost out of time here. I’m using the field artillery officer example. I did see a few that registered, um, or field artillery or also human resources is also a very common one that are, they’re going to go [00:27:00] into an HR management role or HR environment.

Project management is also a great one. So all of these. Regardless of what your background is, what your military occupation is, if you are a platoon sergeant, if you are a non commissioned officer, senior non commissioned officer, I want you to do this based on your own experience, but this is just the example that I’ll provide.

All right, so the what, the skills. Here are two skills, two to three skills. I’ll only pull two just, again, time purposes. Two of the top skills that will correlate with the operations manager are here. Leadership and strategic planning, operational management, and leadership development. We, we know exactly what that means, right?

We are all about it. We know exactly what that would require and what that entails. We’ve been in an environment where we. Deal with [00:28:00] team development, right? If you have, if you’re ever a leader in the military, you have a team, you counsel them, you know exactly what to do in that end. And also strategic planning.

That’s what we do 80 percent of the time, as I mentioned earlier, as a leader. So then you want to identify behaviors or competencies, competencies, decision making, obviously, right? Process optimization. Yes. We want to improve. We want it to be perfection. And that is exactly what is required as an operations manager.

So now, you know, these are keywords, by the way. Keywords that not only you want to vocally say and state, but also I’m giving you a hint since you’re here. You need this on your LinkedIn profile somewhere. These are keywords that are going to help. Recruiters, hiring managers find you. So if anything, you got some bonus stuff up here for joining live or even on replay.

But these are the things that I want you [00:29:00] to look for. Intrinsic motivators. Okay, what drives you? What is it that drives you as an individual? Now, of course, you want to also ensure that this is something that aligns with that job description, that job role, that company, that organization, and they will let you know it’s on there.

Trust me, if you go on there and you look up the job description for operations manager or logistics, whatever it is that you’re looking into, it will tell you we want someone, you know, this is a place for you to belong. We want work to be fun. We want someone with a curiosity mindset. And this is exactly what you want to focus on.

And then my favorite, the results, the achievement, this is where you shine, where you get to talk about you and you use data to prove value of your accomplishments. All right, here’s the example. I’m going to go real quickly with this. Here’s the what [00:30:00] highlighting the how and the why. Again, we want to give hiring managers what they want to hear, what they are looking forward to hearing from you.

Why? Because this is what you guys are here for, right? To learn more about each other. How can you come in, not only be of value to this organization, but also be of value to the community. How can you get the most value out of that organization? Meaning your career, career progression. And so it’s, it’s a two way street.

And so I also want you to keep in mind, here’s another bonus. It’s not what you say, but how you say it. You may have this summary rehearsed and you rehearse and it’s perfect. You got every word correct, or you have it all nice and neat. But how you say it, showing up the energy that you bring, are you like, well, I’m an experienced operations [00:31:00] manager and you know, you’re, you’re not actually showing up in a way where you’re showing your true self because again, we’re not used to it.

Right? And we think that we’re like in this promotion board session and we’re so rigid. And we don’t smile. No, we want to show up in a way where we are excited, especially if you feel that way, right? If you’re excited for this role, if you are a, a person, an individual that typically has high energy and you’re always ready to go, that’s why I want you to show up, obviously in a professional manner, right?

And I’m like, all right, Bob, I hear you, but you want to bring your personality. You want to bring who you are because remember, there’s also a stigma of military people being too serious. They’re, they’re not going to get along with others. Let’s not be a part of that stigma. How you say it is what’s going to truly matter.[00:32:00]

And so again, here’s an example. My military experience includes a variety of leadership roles with the last two years as an operations manager. Currently, I make critical decisions, managing personnel and inventory to meet our organizational needs because I’m driven by commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.

And that has allowed me to hit ambitious targets, including a zero defect goal. Now, I didn’t highlight these, I don’t think. Let me check. I didn’t, but I want you to highlight the keywords when you’re rehearsing it. And it doesn’t have to be perfect. Remember, only you know what you’re going to say. If you say something backwards, or maybe you said driven before actively, It’s completely okay.

It doesn’t have to be 100 percent perfect. As long as you meet the actual keywords that we talked about, right? The skills, uh, the competency, the behaviors, um, the achievement, and oh, by the way, your intrinsic motivation. [00:33:00] And so here’s what I want to leave you with. I want you to continue to spend time, yes, applying and that is definitely required.

That is something that’s going to get you to the next phase. But ultimately, I want you to also hone in on what is going to help you to show up confidently and create certainty for the hiring manager because you have so much value. You know your stuff. You have the experience. Now you just have to communicate it in a way where they feel certain.

And so with that, if you’re someone that’s Again, you’re like, okay, I have no idea where to begin. Well, one, you have it right here, but if you need more help, more personal, more one on one, where not only we’ll focus on the actual wording of it and help you with communicating it and practicing and rehearsing, but also the emotional aspect of it.

If you’re someone that struggles with a lot of nerves, or [00:34:00] you’re like, oh my gosh, I have no idea I’m going to start sweating, or I don’t know how to fully do this. This is what I’m here for. I want to invite you to send me a direct message with the word career. If this is something that you need help with and you want to refine and get better at, because this is where, this is where everything happens.

This is where it goes down. You want to show up at an interview as confident as possible. And that’s what I’m here for. Send me a direct message with the word career. I’m happy to help you. And if there’s any other questions I’m happy to answer. I know we’re like three minutes over.

Where did the comments go? Oh, here they go. Any questions going once, going twice, and if you do send me a direct message, put it in the comments, send me a direct message. I’m happy to review it. I’m happy to answer and thank you so much for those of you that were here with me today for those of you that are on replay, send me a direct message and I’m [00:35:00] happy to work with you.

All right. Thank you and have a great rest of your day. Bye.

Hey lady, if this podcast helped you, challenged you or inspired you in some way, please leave me a written review for the show on Apple Podcasts and share it with another military sister. Helping you integrate balance, prioritization and growth in your relationship with God is my ultimate calling. I’m so blessed that you are here and please join us in the faith led military women community on Facebook at bit.

ly forward slash beyond the military GRP. Again, it is. Bitly beyond the military GRP. All right. Talk to you soon. Bye