By Kyla Hensley

Can you imagine starting to look for a house or school districts before you even know your family’s next duty location? Apply this logic to your job search, too.

How can you start applying for jobs before knowing your brand and value in the job market? Whenever possible, clicking “apply” should be one of the last steps in your job search following self-assessments, targeting specific companies, researching, and networking. 

Here’s how to start before pressing that button:

1. Assess Yourself 

When you understand how your interests align with your skillset, that’s when the magic happens. If you’re still learning how to determine this intersection, use career assessments to help you understand more about your strengths and aptitudes. Resources like My Next Move Interest Profiler can be a great place to start.

I took it to test it out and ended up with mainly social interests, which makes sense given that I enjoy working one-on-one with military spouses and veterans on their job search, whereas my investigative (science-based) and realistic (hands-on) scores were lower, because they are not my particular set of skills or interests.

2. Build a List of Target Companies  

Now that you’ve done some soul searching and discovered more about your likes and dislikes, it’s time to start thinking about potential employers. Let’s think about this step with more of a top-down approach instead of a bottom-up. Don’t get stuck Googling one job title over and over to see what comes up on job boards. Company A may have a very similar role, but call it something completely different than Company B. Also, the same job title could actually mean different things at different sized companies. This is why it’s important to create a list of target companies and learn how your skill sets can add value to that specific organization. 

3. Research

With this list of companies complete, hit the ground running with research. Determine if the size, company culture, salary range, and location are right for you. What would your commute look like? Is there room for professional growth? Is it a military-friendly company? These details should help you to start prioritizing your company list. 

4. The Age-Old Buzzword: NETWORK

Once you’ve determined the type of jobs and companies you’re interested in, it’s time to network. If you haven’t created or updated your LinkedIn profile yet, I’d strongly recommend starting there. LinkedIn can be a valuable tool, and 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn as their main way to find candidates. You want to make sure you can be found! Making LinkedIn connections will help you meet new people at the companies you are targeting. Here is a great video to walk you through building connections.

I hope this helps you feel less lost in this big ol’ world of job searching. I take comfort in these steps now and recommend them to my clients, but you best believe there was a day in my career where I felt lost, not knowing how to connect all the dots and search for a job PCS after PCS. May you, too, find your happy place to work as I have with Hire Heroes USA. Good luck!

Kyla is a Transition Specialist with the Serving Spouses Team at Hire Heroes USA. Her husband is active duty U.S. Army, so she understands the challenges and rewards of military life. She is an active member of the military community and volunteers her time to be involved in local family readiness efforts. Her career working with the military began at an Army Education Center in Germany. She then worked with the Army Career Skills Program and has since found her home with Hire Heroes USA. She has dedicated herself, personally and professionally, to supporting our service members and their families. She enjoys getting to know her clients individually to help them achieve their career goals and find meaningful work the same way she has. She has helped 250 veterans and military spouses find employment since joining Hire Heroes USA in 2019.