For most Americans, the only topic more uncomfortable than race is socioeconomic class. Many like to pretend that the attitudes that attend any level of our social strata are random or correlated with other factors. Indeed, many Americans like to dismiss the very existence of socioeconomic groups as a holdover from other countries, another age or a mere reflection of other group dynamics. Yet, social scientists and experienced hiring managers observe that socioeconomic-derived job seeker values have a profound impact on the way individuals conduct their job search. Since our military disproportionately sources recruits from the working and middle classes, it is not surprising that many of our veterans carry attitudes about job seeking and career development that are characteristic of those groups. Understanding the tenets of one’s own socioeconomic group will help a veteran more effectively and efficiently manage the job search process.
Many of our former enlisted personnel, who constitute 84 percent of our veteran population, grew up in working-class households. The prevailing attitude about careers in the working class is respect for individual skill and self-reliance. As a result, working-class job seekers tend to emphasize individual skills and competence and assume that potential employers seek the same. On the one hand, this is a good starting point for a job search because it calls for a clear assessment of skills and abilities. Unfortunately, the emphasis on individual skill limits the importance placed on developing social capital — for example, networking — for access to information and people. In fact, for members of the working class, networking for a job can feel inauthentic and almost like cheating. After all, if one’s individual skills are really that good, why should he have to “suck up” to a bunch of strangers to prove it?
With many exceptions, our officers generally come from the middle classes of American society. Here, these men and women have been raised to respect educational attainment and organizational authority as a means for self-advancement. As a result, middle-class Americans tend to put great confidence in the endorsement of organizations in which they have worked. The thinking is that if one organization has recognized the value of an employee or manager, then that esteem should transfer. This value system partially explains why senior officers often experience job search frustration. After all, if the Navy entrusted one officer to command a ship, then why shouldn’t a civilian company offer that individual a similar opportunity to lead a department or subsidiary? Likewise, the faith in education can breed frustration when an employer does not seem to care about an applicant’s advanced degree or certification.
Finally, in the upper-middle and upper classes of American society, the prevailing value about work is access to social capital. Members of this group derive satisfaction and power from access to people and information. As a result, job seekers with middle-class and upper-class values are often natural networkers. They instinctively understand that “who you know” can be as important as “what you know” when it comes to career attainment.
To illustrate this socioeconomic group theory in practice, imagine a discussion at three different family dinner tables. In each, a recently discharged veteran has declared that she is interested in developing her career in the fashion industry and wants advice on how to get started.
The working-class parents might say, “Well, if you want to work in fashion, you are going to have to get good at sewing and sketching. How are you going to learn how to do that?”
The middle-class family might say, “To succeed in a fashion career, you might think about using your GI Bill to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York or at least get into a good training program at Brooks Brothers or Macy’s.”
In the upper-middle-class family, the veteran might hear, “You know our neighbor is vice president of merchandising at Neiman Marcus, right? You need to ask him out for coffee and see what he suggests.”
Note that in each case, the advice offered may be very appropriate and helpful but it is derived from a distinct and diverse world view. A veteran job seeker should understand the context for the values that propel him or her through the career development process. One size does not fit all in job search and career progression.
Self-knowledge is the first step in all effective career search efforts. You must know yourself. Your personal values will guide and inform your career satisfaction, sometimes even more than the job itself. Having a clear comprehension of where the voices in your head came from will assist to that end. Socioeconomic values are real and important launching points. The sooner you recognize yours, the better off you will be.
On any important journey, you must understand where you have been in order to direct where you will go.
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Veterans: Here’s How Socioeconomic Class Affects Your Job Search originally appeared on usnews.com
