Garland Williams

Location: i live in chandler, az, and work in phoenix.

About me

I retired from the Army on Halloween 2009 after having served 28 years on active duty and reaching the rank of Colonel. I was a combat engineer and commanded units up through and including brigade level. My family and I spent 11 of those 28 years overseas in various locations including Germany, Italy, and Japan. Currently I am the Associate Regional VP for Military at the University of Phoenix and have been in this position for just over 3 1/2 years.

Originally from Atlanta, I attended Auburn University for my undergraduate degree in Pre-Law/Journalism and was fortunate to attend graduate school on an Army Fellowship completing my Masters and Doctorate in Political Science at Duke University. I have published three book length manuscripts including Defense Reorganization and Change (my dissertation), Engineering Peace (published by the US Institute of Peace), and Perspectives on Leadership.

Finally, my wife and I have two grown daughters who have both earned their bachelor's degrees and one overgrown cat (who really acts like a dog).

Interests

sports, running, sailing, reading (novels and non-fiction)

Skills

writing for publication, public speaking, leadership and management

Activity

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Confidence and Culpability

Sandra, Great point. As veterans, we sometimes have a difficult time translating our military resume in a way that civilian hiring managers can understand. That gap can erode veteran confidence in believing that viable employment is on the close horizon. But the veterans has learned how to lead, how to manage a budget, and how to take care of things - Manpower, Money, and Material - and these skills DO translate well. This simple translation should help a veteran increase their confidence in their ability to compete in the current job market.

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Foundation of Trust

Trying to identify and validate emotional baggage is key with veterans. To move on with their life the emotional baggage that has been accumulated from either downrange deployment or from life in general must be dealt with in a healthy and positive manner. Then they can focus on immediate life needs and their future. Counselors must work at recognizing the signs of emotional baggage, use their listening skills to help the veteran own their past, and then work positively with the veteran to move forward to the next goal.

Garland Williams

Blog

Veteran skills

Did you know that there are over 3 million jobs that are open and available but corporate America can't find skilled workers to fill them? To me, that is the primary mission of all of us that work with veterans in higher education or career services . . . to help prepare the veteran to apply his vast skill learned in military service to those positions in demand in corporate America. As our military exit active duty to make the transition, we need to help the veteran think outside of his or her comfort zone to pursue employment in areas… >>>

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

S.T.A.R. in Motion

MariaElena, STAR provides the veteran a method in which to highlight his or her decision making process. Hiring officials want to know how a potential employee is going to approach various situations and by explaining past actions using the STAR method aptly shows the "mental calculus" employed to obtain the result. Veterans must overcome the military tendency to emphasize team and insert personal accomplishments. The interview is the time to brag with humility.

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Value of Soft Skills

Interviews these days are more of the situational type of questions. For example, "Please give me an example of when you had to work with an unruly employee." As you counsel your veterans, a good exercise to use may be a dry run . . . place them in the interview situation and pose the situational questions you think most employers will use. The veteran may be easily capable of identifying those specific situations that are applicable to the question, but they may need some help in "civilianizing" their answer. Just as we coach veterans to not sit at a… >>>

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Companies Supporting Military Personnel

What I have found to be successful is to ensure the veteran emphasize the "3 M's" or as you have so correctly called the soft skills. There is not a large call in corporate America for an infantryman, but there is a large call for those that have experience leading and supervising MEN, who have experience accounting for MATERIAL, and who have experience operating under a budget or saving MONEY for their organization. These three skills translate very well to those companies who are looking for skilled leaders. Again, infantrymen and tankers are not in large demand, but the soft… >>>

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Companies Supporting Military Personnel

MariaElena, The Manufacturers Institute is a great resource to use to help veterans connect with manufacturing jobs. There are a lot of manufacturing jobs that are available, but the companies are having a hard time finding skilled talent to fill their openings. Anything that you can do to connect a veteran's military skills to jobs in manufacturing will come close to ensuring the veteran long term employment. Additionally, many companies are willing to provide more advanced training for those individuals who meet the minimum skill requirements. The bottomline is that manufacturers want to hire veterans for their proven dedication to… >>>

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Foundation of Trust

MariaElena, You raise a great point. Many of our service members do not have a good idea of what they want to do when they get out of the service, but they do know that our current Post 9/11 GI Bill is so lucrative that it will provide some kind of income while they meander through school trying to decide on their future. Fortunately the VA and DOD for those on active duty require some kind of degree plan to show progress. For those that are wounded warriors, you have to figure out where the line is of helping a… >>>

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Online Scams and Veterans

EDUARDO, Veterans are scam targets and unfortunately there is not a good way for you or I to stop the scams. But what we can do is to coach the veteran on how to safeguard their personal information so that they will not have their identify stolen. I only started using a financial planner toward the end of my 28 year career and wish I had taken that leap much earlier. How would you advise a transitioning service member to proceed with their finances? What specific guidelines would you tell a veteran to do so they do not become another… >>>

Garland Williams

Discussion Comment

Companies Supporting Military Personnel

EDUARDO, It is often found that military members have a tough time networking because they feel that they have little in common with their civilian counterparts. Agreeing that networking is key to landing appropriate civilian employment, how would you coach a transitioning service member on the proper way to network? What kind of an opening statement would you suggest a veteran use to open a networking conversation? And what would you coach the veteran to do after he/she has the networking encounter? Garland Williams, Ph.D.

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