Resignation
Critical Retirement Step – The LinkedIn Profile Update
If you are retiring or separating and you have any interest in a civilian position, you probably need to update your LinkedIn profile. My profile was reasonably up-to-date and accurate, but as you’ll see it didn’t incorporate many of the best practices of a professional profile. Here is a brief story of my LinkedIn profile update…
First, I got some feedback from the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). I think MOAA is a great organization. They lobby for military and veterans, they keep you informed about what is going on (many of the articles on MCCareer.org are from MOAA), and they offer a lot of services you may need, like LinkedIn profile reviews! I value my MOAA membership so much that even though basic membership is free, I’m a lifetime member.
The MOAA professional that did my LinkedIn review is Pat L. Williams, PhD, PHR, Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Program Director, Engagement and Career Transition Services. She was very thorough, as you are about to read. Here is a summary of her feedback.
The e-mail she sent me made these points:
- Keep your profile up-to-date.
- Make sure your background photo is appropriate. If you Google for LinkedIn background photos, you’ll find thousands you can use. She though my photo was fine as it advertised my blog (and was my may to make sure the DoW social media disclaimer is there).
- Maintain a relationship with your contacts by sharing and liking their posts on the site. It just takes 2-3 “touches” a year.
- Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. That is why they are on the site, to cultivate and maintain strong professional networks. Today 80-85% of people get their next job via networking!
- Participate in MOAA’s LinkedIn Career Networking Group, which has 47K professionals/participants.
But the money was in this document:
You really need to read the above document if you want the full flavor of the review. Some highlights include:
- You can get 1 year of LinkedIn Premium for free if you are military affiliated (active duty, reserves, veteran, spouse). Here is an article that discusses the value of LinkedIn Premium.
- I needed a new headshot, so I had some professional headshots done when I was home on leave for Thanksgiving. I tried the AI tools, but the free ones didn’t work well for me. I just paid $100 and got them done by a local photographer. Boom!
- My headline needed to be revised. “CEO of US Naval Hospital Guam” was what it used to say. This was my attempt to follow current DoW guidance and not used military titles like “Commanding Officer” or “MTF Director.” Instead, it now says, “Chief Executive Officer | Experienced Senior Healthcare Executive Specializing in Medical Education, Communication, and Leading with Humor | Educating Physicians to Develop Their Careers | Veteran”.
- My LinkedIn profile URL had a bunch of random letters and numbers after my name. It now is https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-schofer/. This looks much more professional on a resume or CV.
- I already had a lot of connections and activity from blog posts I was posting on LinkedIn, so I was good there.
- I needed to rewrite my summary.
- I had 7 skills, but I now have the maximum of 100. These took me a whole weekend to add. Skills are what gets you to pop when recruiters search for people.
- I now belong to a few groups.
- I have liked all the companies I’m interested in working for and have job alerts set up for them.
Seriously, download the Word document above and give it a look. It was a thorough review.
There were other LinkedIn resources shared including a multiple webinars on LinkedIn branding on this page, but they all require you to be a premium MOAA member (not the basic free membership).
She also tipped me off to a former Army Sergeant Major and LinkedIn expert named Michael Quinn who offers “The Ultimate LinkedIn Cheat Sheet” and “How To Set Up an Effective LinkedIn Profile” on his LinkedIn profile. The are both good resources I’m working through.
If you are a MOAA member and want a resume (more to follow on that fun) or LinkedIn profile review, Pat said to e-mail transition@moaa.org. If you want to join, and remember that basic membership is free, you can read all about joining MOAA here:
Guest Post – How to Collect Important Documents When You’re Separating/Retiring
By CAPT(r) Nathan Almond, MC, USN
For personnel separating or retiring that wish to obtain documents from their service, below are some recommendations.
1. Get a copy of your Official Military Personnel File.
To get a copy of your military files such as fitness reports, SGLI elections, and other files from your career (besides your orders) go to BOL
https://www.bol.navy.mil/
Login with CAC
Click on ‘Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) – My Record’
Click on the ‘yes’ button
Click ‘download OMPF’ button
Wait for ‘save as’ folder to pop up as the zip file is downloaded and save as a zip file
That’s it! Now you have your OMPF files.
2. To get copies of all of your orders (besides IA ones), in NSIPS click ‘Employee Self Service’, then ‘Electronic Service Record’, then ‘view’, then ‘orders history’. You can then click on ‘select all’ and then ‘Print Selected Orders and Transfer Information Sheets’ to get a pdf of all your orders written in your career.
3. If you deployed IA, get a copy of your IA orders for future reference. In BOL click on
Navy-Marine Corps Mobilization Processing System (NMCMPS) – View IA/ADSW orders
Click the ‘show orders’ button, then click on the orders you want. You may have to click on the ‘popup blocker’ in the address bar and then again on the link that was blocked in order to get the file, depending on your computer settings, but you don’t have to change the settings, just click on the ‘popup blocker’ in the address bar in Chrome and then the website that comes up and your file will download.
4. Also I found helpful to get a history of my career assignments. In NSIPS click on ‘view professional history’, then ‘history of assignments’, then ‘print form’ to get a pdf list of your assignments. Again, you may have to click on the ‘popup blocker’ in the address bar in Chrome followed by the address that was trying to download the file, but you should be able to obtain the pdf list.
5. I think getting the current pdf of your ODC, OSR, PSR is also helpful but CAPT Schofer has already outlined how to do that in the Promo Prep document.
Skillbridge Program for Separating Service Members
The DoD SkillBridge program provides an opportunity for Service members to gain valuable civilian work experience through specific industry training, apprenticeships, or internships during the last 180 days of service. SkillBridge connects Service members with industry partners in real-world job experiences.
For Service members SkillBridge provides an invaluable chance to work and learn in civilian career areas. For industry partners SkillBridge is an opportunity to access and leverage the world’s most highly trained and motivated workforce at no cost. Service members participating in SkillBridge receive their military compensation and benefits, and industry partners provide the training and work experience.
SkillBridge is an excellent benefit for installation and Unit Commanders who have members nearing military separation. SkillBridge can help Service members bridge the gap between the end of service and the beginning of their civilian careers. Commanders can greatly ease this transition to civilian life by supporting their reports’ interest in SkillBridge. When mission permits, Commanders who support SkillBridge participation are helping their personnel transition more seamlessly from service to a civilian career with a trusted employer.
Separating Service members can be granted up to 180 days of permissive duty to focus solely on training full-time with approved industry partners after unit commander (first O-4/Field Grade commander in chain of command) provides written authorization and approval. These industry partners offer real-world training and work experience in in-demand fields of work while having the opportunity to evaluate the Service member’s suitability for the work.
The link below will take you directly to the DOD SkillBridge webpage, which will provide you with additional information:
https://dodskillbridge.usalearning.gov/program-overview.htm
**NEW** Amazon is now officially a DoD SkillBridge provider, meaning they can take in active duty military members into Amazon for internship opportunities and upon successful completion they can extend them full time offers to become Amazonians! Military Affairs is launching internship opportunities this year in select operation sites. Service members can apply now for these opportunities by typing in “Amazon Military SkillBridge” on amazon.jobs and they are hosting a webinar today with more information about this cohort (flyer attached). Please spread the word to your active duty friends and family members. If they have any more questions about Amazon Military SkillBridge (AMSB), feel free to direct them to militaryskillbridge@amazon.com.
A short video about this cohort:
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 