More Transition Assistance seminars

Today I packed in three seminars:

• Advanced resume techniques, 8:30-10:00
• Dressing for success, 10:00-11:00
• Interviewing skills and salary negotiations, 1:00-3:00

Unlike the first six Soldier For Life-Transition Assistance Program (SFL-TAP) seminars I went to, these were completely optional. Nevertheless, I figured it was better to go to them, for two reasons:

1. They might have something for me that I didn't already know, and
2. I don't like spending any more time in the office than absolutely necessary.

Advanced Resume Techniques didn't really offer a whole lot of new information, but it did refer to the 2018 resume buzzwords.

Dressing for Success simply stated that you need to dress in a way that's appropriate for the kind of work environment you're going into. A suit and tie is not appropriate for an interview at a tattoo parlor or body piercing shop; long, black-painted fingernails are not appropriate for men applying at defense contractor.

Interviewing Skills was really about how to answer stupid job interview questions, such as, "Why should we hire you rather than someone else?" and "What kind of animal would you be?" Link to others. This is unfortunate -- I'd have preferred to answer *real* questions -- but I realize everything is job-related. The only commonality across all jobs is the potential for stupid questions.

Salary negotiations was pretty straightforward:

1. Don't talk salary until after the job offer.
2. Do your online homework to determine a fair salary.
3. Pad it and use your unique qualifications to justify it.

In retrospect, there were a few things I learned, but not a lot. Regardless, it completely met the objectives in Reason #2, so I was happy with how I spent my day.