For the first time, a Federal Job Certification program goes overseas to help Fleet and Family Support Center transition counselors helping family members with job search and military career counselors who advise soldiers facing the challenges of returning home to a stalled economy.
Jorge Delgado, Wan Embrey, Todd Burkholder and Jose Fiallos, Command Career Counselors; Kathryn Troutman, Certified Federal Job Search Trainer Founder
CFJST Training: Naples, Italy, Aug 2010
“It’s a very stressful time,” admits Jeremy Denton*, a veteran remembering his return from Iraq after serving there in the Marines. “As chaotic as being in the military might be, you knew where you were going to be. Once you’re on your own, there’s no safety net.”
It certainly is a tough time for GIs to be coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, with the recent dismal US employment reports of 130,000 jobs lost in July. Jeremy observes, “When you transition, if you don’t have a plan, you’re going to fall on your face.”
Shirley Victa, Regional Education Services Coordinator Fleet and Family Support Programs; Glovinia Harris, Regional Work / Family Life Coordinator, CNR Europe Africa & SW Asia; and Kathryn Troutman, President and Founder of The Resume Place (www.resume-place.com), have a plan for federal job search training!
It’s called “Ten Steps to a Federal Job.” This step-by-step approach to finding federal employment is an integral part of the Federal Job Search Certification training she is taking “across the pond.” Known as the “federal jobs guru,” Troutman has been hired by the Fleet and Family Services Centers of the Navy to appear at three European locations to train their employment readiness counselors – in Naples, Italy; Sigonella, Italy; and Rota, Spain.
“The federal government is the number one popular employer for separated and retired veterans,” says Troutman. “With this training, when the transition counselors have their military customers come in — and there will be many with the drawdown in Iraq in process — they will be able to help them in a more efficient, empowering, and informed way.”
The Ten Steps curriculum is currently being taught by transition counselors in all branches of the armed services at over 100 bases around the world, to separating and retiring military, and their accompanying spouses.
Locations include Bahrain, Guam, Japan and Alconbury, England. However, in the past, the counselors had to travel to attend The Resume Place’s certification program. Now Troutman is bringing the training right to the three Navy bases (Naples, Italy: August 16-20/Sigonella, Italy: August 23-27/Rota, Spain: August 30-September 2).
“This training will give the transition counselors updated knowledge, including the latest on federal hiring reforms,” notes Troutman. “President Obama came out with new programs for federal hiring of both veterans and their accompanying spouses. We’ll be covering how federal job applications are handled throughout the whole process.”
Troutman sees the possibility of federal employment as being more important than ever to veterans, as separating military face an uncertain future in a down economy. “Training like this could help reduce vets’ suicides and make it easier to overcome Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” And she applauds the changes in spousal hiring. “The spouses would like to get a federal job as it helps them transition to new employment from base to base,” Troutman says. “This can help the military have a better quality of life by bringing more income to families.”
The certification training includes licensing of a new updated Ten Steps to a Federal Jobs Powerpoint presentation, designed as a three-hour workshop.
“The Ten Steps and the Powerpoint presentation make this material easier to cover,” explains Troutman. “It gives the counselors a structure to use to teach federal job searching. And for the jobseeker, it helps them realize that this is a campaign, and each step is important.”
Also associated with the Federal Job Search Trainer certification is the use of the new 4th edition of a workbook called the Jobseeker’s Guide. Covering all Ten Steps, this Guide includes useful federal resume samples in Troutman’s “Outline Format” that integrate keywords from federal vacancy announcements.
Troutman will be the lead trainer at the 3-day Certified Federal Job Search Trainings in Europe. She heads up The Resume Place, a resume writing and federal job search consulting company in Baltimore, and is the author of six federal career guides, including her latest Military to Federal Career Guide, 2nd edition. Accompanying her will be Emily Troutman, a Ten Steps Trainer and the co-author of The Student’s Federal Career Guide, and Sandra Keppley, a Human Resources expert, who will cover the bulk of the federal hiring changes and reforms.
“It’s important to be able to create a strong foundation when you get back,” notes armed services veteran Jeremy. “And this is especially important for the guys who have a family. Though the military pay isn’t that good, it gets to be pretty substantial when you add up all the benefits such as medical coverage and housing allowances. Having the ability to be trained and prepare yourself to get a good job at home with good benefits is definitely vital.”
For more info on the Certified Federal Job Search Trainer Program, go to http://www.resume-place.com/training/certification-programs/.
Note: US-based Certification Training is available on Sept. 14-16, 2010 at Loyola College, Columbia, MD; and Sept. 21-23, 2010 at Little Rock AFB, Little Rock, AR.
Interested in hosting a program?
This program is available to be presented at your base, state, country or site! We recently presented the program at Charleston AFB, Yuma Private Investment Agency, Yuma, AZ and Lemoore, CA.
Minimum of 10 participants required at your site (computer room).
Email us at training@resume-place.com.
*Jeremy Dutton is an actual veteran whose case study appears in the Military to Federal Career Guide. His name and some identifying details have been changed.
