Today’s article is Part I of II. It’s about the vital, transferable skills veteran bring to project management.
Today’s article may look like I am talking directly to service members. Instead, this article is to industry professional about military transferable skills. (But useful for service members too!)
While interviewing for some jobs last year, I had one of the interviewee’s actually ask me:
“Here at [Company Name] we need people to make their own decisions – Coming out of the military, do you think you can think for yourself and not require someone to give you orders each day”?
This question threw me back. I’d heard of people asking transitioning military some crazy questions. Questions which were based on stereotypes. But WOW!
It make me laugh later. But, it also got me thinking. People still have wrong and outdated ideas about US Veterans as they leave the service.
Which is why today, I am talking about transferable skills from military service!
The Importance of Transferable Skills
If you’re a hiring manager – or if you know someone who’s a hiring manager. When looking at military resumes, you must look at the skills they offer. These skills need to be transferable to your organization.
Military service does not operate the same way, and they talk differently too.
However, what they do correlates directly with project management. You can teach nuances of your organization. The list below is harder to teach. But it is closely linked to project management skills. It brings success to your organization.
These skills are crucial for civilian careers, particularly in project management.
If you are a hiring manager. When looking at military resumes, it is critical that you look at the transferable skills they bring to your organization.
Military service does not operate the same way, and they talk differently.
However, what they do correlates directly with project management. You can teach nuances of your organization. The list below is harder to teach but easily correlates to project management skills – bringing success to your organization.
Discipline and Time Management
Strict Adherence to Schedules
In 2004, as a young private first class, my roommate and I were late one morning to the formation. Somehow we didn’t set an alarm, ending up late to a very angry Gunnery Sergeant Eberle.
Now, I can barely remember my dinner from last night. But, I can still recall the anger that spewed from Gunny Eberle that day. We faced punishment for being late. For a few weeks, we were in charge of morning formation.
Years later, while in Iraq and Afghanistan, I learned the importance of not being late. The strict adherence to schedules was crucial to different operations and logistics.
To build this adherence to schedules, the military applies this to everything. Meetings, physical fitness, training, and reports are either early or on time. Coming in late usually comes with various circumstances.
Ensures Project Milestones are Met in a Timely Manner
Ask any veteran one of the hardest things about starting a professional civilian job. And you will most likely not show up 10 minutes early to everything.
Being early for events, meetings, and gatherings is engrained in military veterans. In the military, they teach this because, in combat, schedules are essential. Why might you ask? Let me give you an example.
In training, like in combat, it’s impossible to have aircraft flying over you 24/7. Drones are helping. But, even they are limited in number and can’t help everyone, all the time.
Now, you’ve done your planning, and know it will take 2 hours to get to your objective. So, you plan for two hours of aerial support to help during your attack. The window you are given for the aircraft is 6 – 8 am. Backplanning, you know that means you must leave no later than 4 am to ensure you have aircraft support.
If you don’t leave in time, you will lose your aircraft. This will raise the risk of your Marines a lot in the fight with the enemy.
To avoid situations like this, you need milestones and timelines. They are critical. You need support and sometimes you need to give it.
This means veterans are laser-focused on meeting schedules. They don’t accept deviations without valid excuses. In turn, veterans are ready to meet and push their teams. They push to meet all project milestones.
Leadership and Team Coordination
Commanding Leadership
Each service grows leaders. It trains them to lead with confidence while achieving the mission.
An example is myself.
- At 22, I led a team of 3.
- At 25, I had a team of 31.
- At 27, I had 98
- At 28, I had a team of 276
Not many groups let twenty-somethings lead 3-276 person teams. But, the military trains them to do it.
Leading Project Teams Towards Project Success
Learning how to lead teams takes time. Even if you have charisma, teaching takes trial and error to learn. The same goes for coaching and mentoring.
Most veterans have been able to lead a team in some of the most stressful and austere environments. This prepares them to lead their team. They can work well to meet project goals.
Risk Management and Adaptability
Identifying and Mitigating Risks
In 2010, I was the unlucky 2nd Lieutenant. It was my turn to plan a pre-deployment training range for our command. I was already overloaded with work and understaffed at the time. But, I did what every good project manager would do.
I waited until a few days before it was due and anxiously started doing all my work. Luckily, the range had already been scheduled, so I didn’t have to knock that out.
Panicking, I wouldn’t get everything done, so I turned to a friend who had done the range months earlier. He passed along to be his order (execution documents) and risk assessment. I “Ctrl+F” and moved his unit to my unit – and sent the document to operations.
A couple days before the range, it snowed in North Carolina.
The temperature dropped. And it would be cold for my range.
Not a big deal….. until I got a phone call to talk to the Operations Officer (Think Operations Manager). He had questions about my range. Looking at my order, he noticed I had hot-weather mitigations. Given it was November, he now had questions on the entire order.
Soon, it became clear. I did not write the order. I had not analyzed the risks of something as simple as weather.
This put me in for a good ol’ Marine Corps “getting yelled at” talk. And, I owed a risk assessment the next morning. I also had to ensure everyone coming to the range knew to pack their cold weather gear. They shouldn’t bring all their warm weather gear.
We had a successful day at the range, but I learned a lot about identifying and mitigating risks. It could have ended up much worse for me, the training, and my career.
Military Training Includes Identifying Potential Risks
Military training is inherently risky. This means that everything done requires detailed risk planning. It also needs detailed risk identification.
My mistake as a Lieutenant helped me in the future. Especially later in my career, when I taught, coached, and mentored lieutenants.
This is why I always say that risks are both good and bad. We remember the bad, but in ways, the bad can be good – only if you learn from them.
Risk Management is a Strong Transferable Skill From Military to Civilian
Military service members know how to work through risks. They deal with it all the time. They face it during training, daily tasks, and combat.
My experience was in the Marine Corps. Who has their own Marine Corps Order surrounding Risks. All US Military units have similar documents for managing risks for the service, and these all fall under the Joint Chief of Staff Risk documents.
Part I, Conclusion
In Part 1 of this series, we explored the key skills that military veterans bring to project management. We focused on discipline, time management, leadership, and risk. The military trains people rigorously. With these skills being crucial for civilian careers.
The military teaches its members to adhere strictly to schedules, ensuring project milestones are met on time. Veterans also bring strong leadership. They have led teams under pressure. This makes them great candidates for project management.
Also, their experience in finding and reducing risks gives them a unique view on risk management. This is crucial for any project’s success.
Stay tuned for Part 2. We will go deeper into other key skills veterans bring. These include Communication, Problem-Solving, and Resource Management. These insights will show why hiring veterans is a strategic advantage. It is for any organization that wants to excel in project management.
If You Would Like Early Access to Part II, Just Sign Up Below and I’ll Email You a Copy!
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