Rhiannon Guzelian is a US Air Force Vet and a career consultant for Veterans. During nearly seven years as an Air Battle Manager, she deployed three times with JSTARS in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. Rhiannon now lives in Maine with her husband, dog, and two cats. She’s passionate about Veteran employment, military transition, and fighting the stigma surrounding mental illness. Rhiannon urges Veteran job seekers to learn more about their local, state, and federal resources. A great place to start is: http://www.careeronestop.org/ReEmployment/veterans/default.aspx. You can find her on Twitter at @MainelyRhi
Photo by Gary Ellis on Unsplash
Let’s face it: while finding the right mentor can be tough, getting in touch in the military is easy. We have unit rosters, social rosters, and the ever-popular Global Address List through which to communicate It’s not the getting in touch that’s the problem—it’s the staying in touch part that’s a struggle. In my observation, friendships and mentorship connections in the military tend to be easy come, easy go; when it’s time to PCS, we shake hands, take our lithographs, say our goodbyes, and move on. In my job as a career consultant for Veterans, I’ve observed the impact of this laissez-faire, transitory treatment of connections on the mil-to-civ transition. What I’ve learned–both the hard way and through my training and experience–is that we all need a healthy professional network. The good news is that you can start preparing now in ways that will enrich your military mentorships as well as prepare you for private sector networking. Whether you serve a single term or pin on stars someday, you’ll eventually find yourself in the civilian sector. Luckily, the skills it takes to maintain military mentorship connections are the same skills required to build and maintain a civilian professional network.
Let’s be real. Life happens. Time passes and we lose touch. One day, you look at the date and realize it’s been months since your going away luncheon and you still haven’t asked your commander to be a reference. Or maybe you’re facing an obstacle that you’re certain a mentor from your last duty station could gracefully negotiate. How do you tactfully restore contact with these valuable connections? Here are a few tactics you can try when it’s time to draft that re-connection message:
Mind the gap; name the elephant. If you feel a little awkward about reaching out because of how much time has lapsed since your last contact, acknowledge that gap. “I can’t believe it’s been six months since I saw you last. How are things at Tyndall?” If there’s a reason, you can reference it. “Since I separated, we’ve been really busy moving and getting settled.” If you dropped the communications ball and feel bad, you can say that too. “I apologize that I’ve taken so long to get in touch with you” should suffice, no need to self-castigate.
Express your gratitude; make contacts feel valuable. Chances are that the mentors and connections in your network already want to help you. They’ll be even more motivated and empowered to help when they recognize that they’ve been successful in helping you before, and that you’re engaging them now because you value their strengths. “I feel really lucky to have had you as a mentor and supervisor on active duty; I could always rely on your counsel.” Be as specific and finite as possible, lest your gratitude slip into flattery.
#NetworkLikeABoss. Leverage your social media presence to revive connections. If you don’t have a presence, you’ll want to get one post-haste. Watch your newsfeeds for opportunities to reach out. On LinkedIn, look out for professional accomplishments such as new jobs, promotions, anniversaries, and published articles. Facebook and Instagram tend to be more personal, but if you’re already connected with a contact via those media, be liberal with “Likes” for good news. But keep in mind: a lot of folks use Facebook for fun and to decompress from work so leave shop talk for phone, LinkedIn, and email (unless the contact has set another precedent). Try using #throwbackthursday as a conversation starter with a dormant contact. “Hi Pete! It’s been a while since we last caught up. I was going through photos today and came across this one of our 2011 deployment. Thought I’d share it with you and say hello. I see that you’re working for Acme now, how is the new job? Joe and I just moved to Atlanta and I’m looking to transition into training and development, too. I’d love the chance to catch up and ask a few questions about your experience in the field. Please let me know what would work best for you—phone, email? Thanks!”
Keep your head in the professional game. Professional development doesn’t end when we’re out of work. One of the best things we can do for our personal brands is to stay up on industry news. Follow industry journals, set up a Google alert for a topic or company, sign up for newsletters for companies you’re targeting, follow industry blogs (you might even consider starting your own). Staying on the leading edge of industry news does a few things: 1) It keeps you up to date, so you have less catching up to do when you find work 2) It preps you for networking events, interviews, and impromptu conversations 3) It gives you an on-ramp to a discussion with a professional contact. It’s a super-easy, very natural icebreaker: “Hi Roger, I hope this message finds you well. We met at the Chamber of Commerce networking event last week—I enjoyed chatting with you about your use of social media to boost sales. I came across this article and thought you might appreciate it…”
Ask specifically and you shall receive. Try to keep your “ask” specific, simple, and finite. A specific, simple, and finite request minimizes the chances that you’ll overwhelm or confuse your contact. Do you want to get the contact on the phone to ask questions? Instead of saying “I’d love to pick your brain,” say: “I’d love to ask about your experience in the project management certification program, is there a time that I might be able to call you?” Are you looking for a review of your resume? Try: “I always valued your gift for concise communication—do you mind doing a read-through of my resume to let me know if I’m getting the point across effectively? If you have feedback, please feel free to call, Facetime, or email me.” If the issue is time-sensitive, include when you’re hoping to hear back (and why), but don’t set a suspense. Ultimately, being both specific about what you’re seeking and open about how your contact can get back to you increases the chance you’ll get a timely response.
While these examples were phrased with the transitioning service member in mind, the tactics themselves can be employed by any professional growing his or her network. Part of what networking and mentorship have in common is facilitating and maintaining human connection. By acknowledging lapses in time, expressing gratitude for your connections’ strengths, demonstrating interest in others’ accomplishments via social media, staying abreast of industry news, and being specific with requests, we can nurture those connections. If you’re a mentor, start setting the example for your mentees and consider adding networking to your professional development teachings. Try spending just 15 minutes a week to start out: email colleagues you don’t see every day, conduct thoughtful follow-up when you meet new service members, celebrate colleagues’ successes, and start helping build your peers’ and mentees’ LinkedIn presences. If you’re a mentee, you can lead from behind and start a weekly networking practice of your own or ask your mentor about his/her networking TTPs. Happy networking and mentoring!