Hi Everyone,
My name is Thomas Wisdom (Tommy) and I am behind this blog, “The Hired Veteran”. I spent just over 9 years in the Marine Corps as an AH-1W pilot and Forward Air Controller from 2005 until 2014.
In the year leading up to leaving the military I tried to determine where I wanted the rest of my life to go. This included a year “off” in which I worked for a great company in Southern Vermont working on skis, squatting in a hotel room while working at a ski shop, buying a house, meeting my girlfriend, and learning how to be a civilian again.
Once that year was over and I needed to go back to the real world I decided to pursue an MBA. I settled on the University of Colorado Boulder and the Leeds School of Business. I will be graduating from Leeds in May with an MBA in Finance…and hopefully a job.
That’s where this blog comes in. A few weeks ago while driving back to Boulder from a weekend of skiing, a friend of mine (also a vet) posted an article on social media about the entitlement that hiring managers see when military veterans apply to jobs. The article was a hard read and said a lot of things that a lot of us vets probably don't want to hear but that we need to hear. I will put a link to the article at the end of this post.
This article began the wheels spinning in my head. Why do some veterans have a hard time with not only adjusting to civilian life but also figuring out how to navigate the civilian job market? For about half an hour I just thought about that until something clicked…veterans need to get jobs, they can have a hard time (sometimes) getting hired…veterans need to get hired…the hired veteran….
I quickly jabbered something off to my girlfriend who was in the backseat of our car (her dad was riding shotgun).
“Check and see if thehiredveteran.com is registered.”
“It’s not, want me to grab it?”
“YES!”
And so the idea for The Hired Veteran was born. I am completely new to this and honestly have no idea what I am doing but that is half the fun. Since I am a veteran who is currently searching for a job this blog is just as much about my journey towards employment as it is about passing on the lessons and tools I have learned in my search to anyone who will read it.
What this blog will be:
1) A catalog of my journey from the military to business school to my first “real” job
2) A resource of lessons that I have leared learned (some easy, some hard) while on the job hunt. From resumes, networking, applications, and even things as simple as what to wear to an interview.
3) A place for me to hopefully help veterans of all walks of life make fewer of the mistakes I have made and land their dream job.
4) A place where anyone is welcome and all comers can be a part of this
What this blog won’t be:
1) A platform for me to get political (unless it directly related to veterans and jobs)
2) A “get hired quick” method. I am just as much learning this as I go so there won’t be any magic wands here to getting hired, the work is on you to do I can just tell you my experience and hopefully you can take something from it.
So thank you for taking the time to read this and stay tuned as I get this project off the ground. Please email me at tommy@thehiredveteran.com with questions, comments, concerns, or ideas for how to make this blog better.
Thank you,
Tommy
Article Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/vets-im-over-kyle-brown