Entering the Job Market as a Veteran with Sue Bhatia

Chris Albert 00:00:00 (link to this point)

This is Chris Albert, and I'm here to remind you of one thing. Someday, you're going to die. Now that's not some morbid statement or scary idea. It's solid fact. Your time here on this earth is limited.

We need to be reminded of this as much as possible for one simple reason, to live your best life while you can. This is the Warrior Soul Podcast.

Now you might not know this, but the American job market right now has a surplus of jobs. Literally, of jobs that are open right now waiting for qualified candidates. And our guest today is Sue Bhatia from Rose International.

She has started an initiative called deployment to employment that helps veterans secure tech jobs. Now, you might be thinking, well, hey, I served in the infantry, and I don't know anything about tech. But here's the thing. They're looking for leaders. They're looking for people with the soft skills you have, the the ability to deal with and influence people, the ability to be organized, and the ability to accomplish tasks.

The tech stuff, all of that, you know, the skills, they they can be brushed up upon. And Sue came on today to talk to you about this initiative. And I really want to emphasize something here. If if you're looking for a job, if you're looking for gainful employment, it's out there. As a veteran, you have skills that 99% of those out there who are going through college right now, going through, you know, their four year programs, that they're not gonna get until they're in the workforce for several years.

I'm talking about those leadership skills, those soft skills, dealing with people on a professional basis. A lot of kids just don't have that, but you do. So I really want to emphasize here, you know, after you listen to this episode, head over to our show notes. You can definitely definitely get yourself an interview here, and you quite potentially get yourself into a very lucrative career. And, again, we do these episodes here on the Warrior Soul podcast because we're trying to help you out.

I don't do this because it makes me money. I don't do this because it it's gonna make me famous. It's not. I do this to help you guys out, to make the veteran community stronger so that we can take our rightful place as leaders and as doers in this country. So make sure you're taking advantage of this stuff.

Another thing I wanna emphasize here is that, you know, one of our past guests, Phil Randazzo, head of American Dream U, he has a free education platform, completely free for veterans. You literally hardly have to put any information there, your dates of service, your email address, and you're in. And you get access to courses on leadership, courses on building your resume, courses on building your LinkedIn, courses on understanding financials, how to start businesses, all of it. That's free. So for those of you who are still in, start taking advantage of this stuff.

Get your resume in shape if you think if you're thinking about getting out. You know, start taking courses on things like finance and and and understand that. It doesn't take much time. It'll take you maybe an hour a week. Right?

You you can trade some Xbox time and and some movie time in your off time for for just sitting in front of the computer for an hour and learning something. So get on this, guys. One thing before we get into it, I just wanna say this podcast would not be possible without our good friends at f bomb nutrition. Amazing product made by amazing people. They make awesome macadamia nut butters.

They mix them up with chocolate. They mix them up with sea salt, with pecan butter. So delicious, and there's no sugar. And you can get your f bombs over at www.dropanfbomb.com and use the code Warrior Soul at checkout and you'll get yourself 20% off your first order. Finally, you know, like I said, the we do this podcast to help you guys out. And the only thing I really want from you in return is to let people know about the show. So if you can, after this episode's over, head over to iTunes, write us a review. Don't just put the five stars up there, but but really write us a review. Let people know what you got from the show and how we helped you out.

Thanks, guys. Let's get into this interview with Sue Bhatia from Rose International. Sue Bhatia, thank you so much for coming on to the show today.

Sue Bhatia 00:05:25 (link to this point)

It's a pleasure, Chris. Thank you for having me.

Chris Albert 00:05:28 (link to this point)

Now you are from Rose International. Can you tell us a little bit about the company?

Sue Bhatia 00:05:34 (link to this point)

Yes. Rose International is a nationwide staffing company. We help people find jobs. In the last twenty five years, we've created thousands and thousands of jobs. Last year alone, we hired 10,000 people in our company.

So we find people, connect them to the best possible opportunities, and find them jobs that are best suited for them.

Chris Albert 00:06:00 (link to this point)

Awesome, and you came here today to talk about hiring veterans, and you developed a couple of initiatives on this. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Sue Bhatia 00:06:11 (link to this point)

Yes, so our team is really passionate about our program. It's called Deployment to Employment, and it's a program that we have informally had for the last ten years, where we've encouraged and worked with veterans that are looking for jobs. We understand it's very difficult to make this transition from military to civilian life for many of them. I think 69% is what I understand the statistic is, where 69% of them say that they have a difficult time finding a job. And most of these are people that are well suited for the corporate world, but they don't really know how to convey many of the skills that they've learned while in their military training, and also their duty, but it's very hard to translate those skills for the corporate world to understand.

So we really created this formal program called Deployment to Employment, which helps them really understand their skills, translate them. All other members on our team, Deployment to Employment, are ex military. They understand the language, and they help them translate it so that our clients on the corporate side can understand those skills. Now right now, there is a lot of change going on in the world of work. Future of work is essentially here.

Jobs are changing so much, there aren't enough people for the jobs available, So I feel it's a great time for military veterans that have a lot of intangible skills, soft skills of being accountable, having rigorous training, the ability to work under pressure, you know, just accountability. They have a great personality. All of those are awesome soft skills that can be used on the corporate side, where you know, they're all we're looking for people that are open to learning, getting outside their comfort zone, learning something new, because the jobs are changing so much on the corporate side. So I feel it's a great program. We're having a lot of success.

We've, in the last two years, hired 800 veterans through the program, and going forward, we hope to do a lot more.

Chris Albert 00:08:45 (link to this point)

That's amazing. So you're saying that there is a surplus of jobs out there. There's not enough people for the jobs, right?

Sue Bhatia 00:08:53 (link to this point)

Correct. So there are 31,000,000 jobs that are going to be open in the next two years as the baby boomers retire, and then 24,000,000 new jobs that will be created because of new technology and new things. You know, right now, all our lives are being touched by digital transformation, whether we know it or not, everything that we do is being touched and changed by technology.

Chris Albert 00:09:24 (link to this point)

Wow.

Sue Bhatia 00:09:25 (link to this point)

So the jobs are changing as a result And of

Chris Albert 00:09:29 (link to this point)

I feel like there's this feeling out there that, yeah, the economy is improving, the job market's improving, employment's improving, but a lot of veterans out there think, as you said, that they're not suited for this kind of work. And you know I can speak, I served in the infantry and you know my skill, I never thought that my skills could translate over to the corporate world which is one reason why I opened up my own business. But what types of things should a US military person who's getting out of the service and becoming a veteran, what types of things should they start to think about as far as their resumes go and how they present themselves to employers?

Sue Bhatia 00:10:10 (link to this point)

That's a great question. You know, there are a lot of resources out there, and certainly our program, Deployment to Employment, our team is so excited when they see military experience, they definitely want to pick up the phone and talk to the candidate, because we've had such great success in the 800 people that we've hired that they've been able to stay in the jobs, we're getting very good feedback from their supervisor, their clients, so the success is there, and so we know that these people, all they need is a little bit of encouragement, help translating the skills, and we hold workshops for that. So they really need to make sure that they are putting everything down. If they are in the military, let's say they were there for one or two years, they had a couple of people assigned to them. That's normal.

So that's a leadership skill that they want to mention, that they've had that goal in taking care of other individuals and their careers as well. And then they have also, in some parts of their training or being that the field experience, combat experience, all that has to be translated as well, because there are leadership managerial roles on the commercial side, on the corporate side, that can use those skills. You know, these are very useful skills that mostly aren't there outside the military training, which is the ability to work under pressure, integrity, adaptability, and leadership is another one that I mentioned. So these are great skills. First of all, know that as an applicant, that you have skills more than you realize, then work with companies and agencies that are actually passionate about the cause, that want to work with you, that want to help you with the right interviewing skills.

So we have a technology, our own internal system, which we added a thirty second video interview. So any candidate, military candidates, can create a thirty second video explaining what they want and what they do in their experience, and that's what when our clients see that, I think that's where when you see a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a lot more, so that's where their personalities shine through. You know, their years of experience, the calmness, and all the things that they the soft skills that I mentioned, the intangibles that corporations would find valuable, all of that comes through. So we've got this thirty second video opportunity that they should take advantage of.

Chris Albert 00:12:54 (link to this point)

That's a that's an amazing tool to be able to use an amazing training tool. I I know when I'm coaching people in business, I always start by having them make thirty second video because it really does shine through so much as far as your personality, different aspects of of how you touch others and and how you can influence others. I think that's that's a really amazing tool. Let me let me ask you this because you mentioned soft skills before and I know when a lot of people in the civilian world, when they associate soft skills with military people, they're like, well, they they don't realize that people in the military have the soft skills that we do have. How can you get that across to a civilian employer?

The the the idea that we're not just a bunch of machines. We're actually very, very personable. We we have the ability to influence human beings, not not order them around, but but really influence people to do what we want them to do.

Sue Bhatia 00:13:55 (link to this point)

Great question again. That's something that our recruiters are trained because they themselves have been in the military positions and ranks, and that's what they try to, in the interviewing process, really bring it out to them. What is it that needs to be highlighted on the resume? How should the resume reflect some of these skills? Sometimes it's a matter of really listening to stories on what actually happened and what transpired and how they were able to bring their skills to the table.

So really just transferring them to leadership at a certain level, so they're able to help them translate it on the resume properly.

Chris Albert 00:14:41 (link to this point)

Awesome. And when somebody comes to you in deployment to employment, you know, what is the process for them? Like, what do they have to send to you? What do you what are the steps as far as everything goes in finding somebody employment?

Sue Bhatia 00:14:59 (link to this point)

So when we received resumes from Deployment to Employment Program, I think that's the resume our team looks at first, because we've had, like I said, very good success in placing them and finding them. Our clients have been very, very happy with the candidates that they've been presented that have this past experience, so the process really would be to contact them, then a recruiter would be in touch with them, and then the next thing would be to to create that video and send that over, and then the next thing would be to really just work with the recruiter to understand what kind of job are you really looking for. Now, there may be things that they have done in the past that they don't really care to work in. Maybe they want a certain level of pressure but not the others. So that's where our recruiters really work with them closely to find out what is it that they want, where will they thrive most, happy, and find their long term success.

So in that interviewing process, we get that information and make sure that we match them with positions that are suited for them, And then we also aggressively sell these skills that we begin to understand about this candidate to our clients. And so we're in that whole process and working together. I think we have pretty good success rate.

Chris Albert 00:16:27 (link to this point)

Awesome. Let's talk about the interview for a second because you know a lot of times when we when we think about interviews, we think about a very nervous situation where you're going in and you're kind of getting questions about, you know, a lot of different things. Lot of different things. And so what what's your advice for those of us going into interviews? What what would you say about how to carry ourselves?

How to enter? How to get how through the interview process?

Sue Bhatia 00:16:59 (link to this point)

Sure. So first of all, the interview is internal, which is with our recruiter, and it's very informal. It's more to really gather information and more openly talk about things, and that's where they need not hold anything back. They really need to just openly talk about what they're looking for, and some of the things if they want to get into they've had some technical experience in the past and they want to stay in technology, that's great. There's a lot more technology jobs out there right now than people available.

You know, there's big gap, skill gap, in the workforce today, so there aren't enough people with computer science, with technical background, and I think most of the people we place, I would say close to 59% that we placed were in technical roles. So this interview, internal interview, is very informal. They have nothing to worry about. And then we coach them for the interview with the client. So again, there is I think on the corporate side, the interviews are not as formal as you may be used to on the military side.

I feel like the veterans, really, all the people carry themselves so well and with so much, you know, integrity and great posture, I mean, you have very good training, so I feel like you have nothing to worry about. Interviews should go really well, but there is coaching available along the way for that. Does that

Chris Albert 00:18:37 (link to this point)

Yeah, absolutely.

With most of these jobs going to the tech side of things, and you're saying that there's not enough people with computer science degrees to fill these positions, what are employers offering on the job training for this type of these type of positions? Are they are they sending people to school? What in your experience have they been doing as far as getting them the skills brushed up?

Sue Bhatia 00:19:04 (link to this point)

Right, right. So right now, yes, there aren't too many people with technical skills available. So even if they've had a little technical background, I think that'll go a long way, because you do want to highlight that on your resume, because that really opens your door to learning more technical skills while you're on the job. And corporations really don't have enough people. Like, there are newer skills right now, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and most of those there aren't enough people graduating out of college to fill those roles.

So there's a lot of mentoring on the job available, There's a lot of little courses that could be just from the community college, you could just go for one course, and that's enough for you. You don't have to go to a two year degree program, or get a full computer science degree, because there is such a need for those people that you just have to know what you're doing with a little bit of training, and then on the job learning is there quite a bit. And the most important skill right now is emotional intelligence the ability to work in teams, the ability to really just be open to learning, and also be okay to grow outside your comfort zone, and be open to your career prospects, not define them very harshly. Don't have very strong boundaries for your career, just be open to growing and see where it takes you, because it could land you in a senior position that you would have never dreamed of.

Chris Albert 00:20:51 (link to this point)

Wow, and can you define emotional intelligence for the audience a little bit?

Sue Bhatia 00:20:58 (link to this point)

So there is a book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0. I must admit I have not read that, but it's a soft skill that these days people you know, emotionally, how to manage yourself in the workplace, and how to have that your emotions, how sometimes people's emotions interfere with their job, and I feel like veterans have this very good military training where you have this discipline to get the job done no matter how you're feeling at that point in time, and really help your emotions work for you rather than work against you for your job.

Chris Albert 00:21:40 (link to this point)

Awesome.

Sue Bhatia 00:21:41 (link to this point)

So I think as far as veterans go, you already have that skill.

Chris Albert 00:21:45 (link to this point)

Awesome.

Sue Bhatia 00:21:46 (link to this point)

So you're in a good place.

Chris Albert 00:21:48 (link to this point)

And so regardless of what their background is in the military, whether they served in the infantry or whether they served in data, this program is open to everybody.

Sue Bhatia 00:21:59 (link to this point)

Yes. Yes, it's open to all military veterans, military reservists, as well as the spouses of military veterans.

Chris Albert 00:22:10 (link to this point)

Outstanding. Awesome. And so how do people apply for this?

Sue Bhatia 00:22:16 (link to this point)

They can send their resume to our Deployment to Employment team. You could send the resume to vet@roseit.com. That's the email address that specifically goes to your resume, will go to this team, and they will give you a call and schedule an interview, really work with you, start the process from there.

Chris Albert 00:22:45 (link to this point)

Very cool. Now, couple of things here as far as our audience goes. I you know, number one, we put a few of these these resources out there, and I definitely you guys need to take advantage of this stuff because there are people out there who want to help you, who want to help you to shine in this world. And and I think that programs like this are absolutely amazing. Sue, is is the program popular right now?

Are are people bringing in resumes? You said you brought through through 800. Are are you getting a lot of resumes in the door?

Sue Bhatia 00:23:18 (link to this point)

Yes, we are. We've we've held workshops last year, the last few years, in Georgia, in Texas, in Missouri, and this year we're going to roll it out to California and a few other places. We're actually holding workshops where people can come and you know, meet our team and talk about. So we'll be getting that information out on our website as to when that occurs, but there's a lot of interest and there's a lot of success. We've internally hired people that have this background, and I can tell you many of them have had four or five promotions, and they are at a much better place than they were when they began with the company.

So we are very happy with our veteran employees. I feel we're very lucky to have them. They bring a lot to the table for us, and you know, it's really not as difficult as you might think. There are a lot of large corporations that have goals that they need to hire more veterans, so we work with them closely to bring them the best candidate.

Chris Albert 00:24:39 (link to this point)

And really a good time.

Actually helps the corporation out to be hiring veterans, right? I believe they get credits from the federal government, particularly if they have a federal contract for that.

Sue Bhatia 00:24:51 (link to this point)

Yes, believe they do.

Chris Albert 00:24:54 (link to this point)

Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, I think that's amazing. So what we're gonna do is I'm gonna get this this email address up on the show notes. I am also gonna get the website up on the show notes.

I really wanna encourage people out there who are looking for employment, looking to figure out what they're gonna do in the civilian world. And and here's a big thing, guys. If before you even get out, right, when if you're still in right now and you're thinking about getting out, make sure you have this stuff prepared. Start contacting Rose International. Start getting your ducks in a row before you get out because you don't want to be in a situation where you're getting out and then, you know, that paycheck's gonna stop and you're trying to figure out what to do.

You gotta get on with your next mission as soon as possible after your service. That is what's going to keep you guys in the game. So, Sue, number one, I want to thank you so much for for coming on to the show, but but I also want to thank you so much for what you're doing for veterans, what Rose International is doing for veterans. I think this is absolutely amazing.

Sue Bhatia 00:25:58 (link to this point)

Thank you, Chris. It's a pleasure and an honor to be here and to do what we're doing. We're excited. We believe in it, and we're very hopeful that the program is going to grow. Thank you.

Chris Albert 00:26:10 (link to this point)

Outstanding. Outstanding. To everybody out there, get on this. Like I said, I'm going get all this stuff up on the show notes, and if you guys have any questions at all, let us know, and and we'll forward them over to Sue and her team. And get out there and live your best lives while you can.