guys/gals.

I'm retired mil now at a major. Enjoying the job and REALLY enjoying the time off.

Just want to throw this info out there for those of you who might be considering contacting (networking with) a squadron mate who you haven't contacted in years in order to ask for a recommendation.

Even if you haven't spoken to this person in years....

CONTACT THEM. It's not a big deal.

We don't care if it's been years since we last spoke. It's great to hear from you and we know why you're contacting us. (laughing) it's not a big deal.

I say this because I was hesitant to contact folks I knew that might be able to help me but due to deployments, life, whatnot we hadn't spoken in years.

I felt like I'd be a douche if I contacted them after 10+ years and said "hey, can you get me a job".

So I didn't contact them.

Now I'm on the other side. I've been getting some calls/emails asking for an assist.

I'm happy to help. Even if it's been YEARS since last contact.

If you were a good dude/dudette in the mil, chances are you'll still be good at my place (or the place of your choice).

Bottom line: Even if it's been years since we last spoke. Don't feel like a douche contacting someone out of the blue asking for a job assist.

We really do enjoy hearing from old squadron mates. We'll help you out.

Disclaimer: If you were a douche in the mil, your on your own.

So the lesson: never be that guy. You should always try to do the right thing and help folks out during your career. What goes around comes around and people usually don't change who they are.

Good advice, thanks. A question that has been pretty squarely on my mind.

+1.

Similar to Tumbleweed, except I did contact guys I hadn't seen in years.

At the time, I just felt awkward/guilty asking for a letter of recommendation.

I just got a call yesterday from an old bud. I was happy to help.

The douches? Deal with them the same way you did in the military. But be careful about burning bridges: sometimes they worm their way into positions like VP of Flight Operations....

Douches are experts in worming their way up the ladder at the cost of others. Judas Iscariot and the likes.

Thanks for posting. As a military guy, networking is a little foreign to me... the only effective networking in the military seems to be to get your CO to get the other CO to request you (if they're old buddies) or to be friends with the detailer -- neither of which have had great results from recent examples I've seen.

Great post, much appreciated. It was very helpful getting over the awkward feelings of the process. In these days of email/text/FB messages it sure is easier to keep up with old acquaintances. The folks I've reached out to have been very kind in offering their assistance....but I guess if I'm a douche they wouldn't tell me anyways!

Good advice. I got several recommendations from guys I flew with a long time ago and hadn't seen in years. Feeling awkward is a small price to pay for a recommendation. If I'm fortunate enough to get hired, I certainly won't hesitate to help former squadron-mates in any way I can if asked.

I'll tack on, one of the guys I contacted asked me to write up a career summary, highlight stuff I wanted highlighted. I just went through OPRs/awards, wrote out bullets. It was nothing pretty, but summed up everything I'd done in the military pretty clearly. Think it was about 3 pages, took maybe 30 minutes. Out of that he wrote a great rec.

Make it easy for whoever you are asking. It's polite, and you'll get better recs for it.

Concur. One of my friends who did a rec for me asked for my OPRs and a copy of my resume. I also gave my resume to all my other friends who wrote recs for me. One of them asked me to write the rec for him to submit due to his busy schedule.

Definitely make it as easy as possible for whoever you're asking.