Embrace Military Transition Networking

Leverage Technology to Expand Your Network

The military to civilian career search process takes on new meaning with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For any veteran to civilian transition, including executive transitions, establishing an online profile on a career networking site such as LinkedIn is a crucial part of your veteran to civilian networking campaign. Online networks are a great way to make new contacts and to reconnect with people you may have known in the past. One smart strategy is to use LinkedIn to conduct research on companies to find out if you know anyone inside.

However, posting a profile is not enough – you need to invest some time and energy into building an online persona. Update your online profile, respond to requests from your network, use the various networking sites to showcase your skills, put up a video or write a blog on a topic that displays your experience.

Of course, don't neglect face-to-face networking. While online tools are great for making new contacts, nothing replaces face-to-face interaction for developing real professional relationships. Again, this is particularly true for veterans planning an executive level transition. Use your online contacts as a doorway to offline meetings. In the end, it is the face-to-face encounter that gets you the job.

White Paper
Effective Professional Networking

How many times have you heard about a job from a friend? How often has a great relationship with a friend or coworker led to a new opportunity? We're guessing the answer to both of these questions is "often" and that's why effective professional networking is so important for individuals changing careers. Often times the best connection is still the personal one. Click here to sign up for our e-newsletter. You'll gain free, instant access to all of our career transition white papers including Effective Professional Networking.

Extra Resources
A Run-Down of the Top Social Networking Sites