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Transitioning Veterans: Crush Compensation Negotiations with SOSi’s Insider Intel

Compensation is one of the most challenging topics to navigate for transitioning military job seekers. It’s often a difficult topic to discuss—but it’s important to understand because it’s very different than what you experienced in the military.

We sat down with Jonathan Everhardt, Marine Corps veteran and Talent Acquisition Manager at SOSi, on a recent Military Monday webinar to discuss common questions veterans have about private sector compensation.

Watch the webinar or read here to learn what Jonathan had to say on the matter:

Does having a military pension affect my pay on the other side?

It should not affect your salary whatsoever. Your military pension, much like any military benefit that you have, is something that was earned or that you received from your experience while in the military.

Your salary on the civilian/corporate side is specific to the position that you are interviewing and seeking employment for. So that position’s salary should be based on your education, experience, and skills. There should be no other factors that go into that.

Can I get a higher salary if I don’t need company benefits like healthcare?

Salary and benefits come from two different pots of money usually, so companies aren’t normally willing to pay you extra. But it doesn’t hurt you to ask for more money in your salary to counter that.

Don’t hesitate to ask for a little bit more in salary and see what they say. Typically if you’re interviewing for more of a corporate job rather than for a government contract position, you might have a little bit more room to negotiate something like that.

When should I ask the recruiter questions about compensation?

As early on as possible – so when you’re going through the screening process with your recruiter in that initial conversation where you’re talking about the qualifications of the position. It doesn’t hurt to ask the recruiter what the salary is for the position and then go from there.

Recruiters want to get that out of the way as well, just in case you end up finding out that you are too far apart in compensation. Whether it’s salary or total compensation, if you’re too far apart, it’s better to have these conversations upfront before you get too far along in the process. So I would get those questions out of the way as quickly as possible.

If I have a higher clearance than required for the job, can I get more money?

When you’re interviewing for a specific position, there’s a salary that is aligned with the position. Also, keep in mind, the salary is going to be aligned to the requirements that are on that job description.

But again, it doesn’t hurt to ask. The recruiter should be able to let you know whether they have any room to go up. For example, if you’re interviewing for a position on a government contract that has other positions within the contract that may require a higher level of security clearance, then that’s good to know. It may give you an opportunity to bring more to the table and to the company if they consider you for that. It all comes down to the conversations that you’ll have.

When I was recruiting and talking to candidates, my screening calls were rather lengthy. They would be 30-45 minutes because I would make sure that we got all these questions out of the way and that we knew exactly what each other were looking for.

How does PTO work and how is it different from military leave?

This was a new concept to me when I transitioned. I didn’t know, for example, that the weekends don’t count as paid time off (PTO). If you’re not supposed to be working, you don’t have to count that as time off. Whereas in the military, if you take a 10-day vacation, you’re counting that Saturday and Sunday as leave. So that right there is one of the big differences. You’re only using PTO for time that you would actually be working.

The way it works at SOSi is, all of our new employees start off at an accrual rate of 16 days per year. That’s how many PTO days you earn per year. And that’s a little over three work weeks. And then as you stay at the company and earn yourself tenure, that rate increases once you’ve been with SOSi for three years. If you’ve been here for seven years, which I just crossed, that rate increases again. At SOSi, we have three different levels.

Now, negotiating PTO is probably easier said than done. They’re just not going to do that for anyone. At SOSi, we require leadership approval for that, so the recruiter isn’t the one making the decision about whether you can negotiate more PTO or a higher PTO accrual rate. But it is something I’ve seen from time to time.

Companies might be a little bit more flexible to grant that approval for positions that are tougher to fill, where they don’t want to lose the candidate and open up the recruiting cycle all over again. So it’s not something they may be quick to give you, but it can be done. Again, it goes back to the idea of talking to the recruiter to find out what can and can’t be done.

Is PTO separate from federal holidays?

Yes, so we have 10 paid federal government holidays throughout the year. At SOSi, eight of our days are paid regular holidays that you get off no matter what. We also get two floating holidays that the individual employee can choose. There are four options throughout the year (like Columbus Day or the Friday after Thanksgiving), and you get to pick two. That will get you up to your 10 federal holidays throughout the year that you get to take off.

If you take a week of PTO and there’s a federal holiday in there, say on that Monday, you’re only taking time off for those four remaining days for the rest of the week. So the federal holidays do not count towards your PTO accrual or your usage for time off.

How does relocation assistance work in the private sector?

It’s a case-by-case scenario. Oftentimes, relocation assistance will be available, but companies may not always let you know about it, because it’s an expense they would rather save. It’s all about making money and saving money on the civilian side. So definitely ask the recruiter questions.

But the recruiter will probably let you know regardless, because, again, we’d rather get these questions answered upfront, so that we don’t go too far along, extend an offer, and then find out you’ve got a family of four, two cars, and all this stuff that you want to move.

Overall it’s going to be position-specific. Some government contracts do not include a stipulation for relocation. At SOSi, we have a lot of work overseas and oftentimes the relocation will be considered or covered.

Every contract is going to be different with what they cover and don’t cover. Storage or shipping of household goods will vary from position to position. Do you need lodging or temporary lodging if you don’t have a place to live right away? A vehicle to move? Packing? These are things that do get covered with relocation typically, but sometimes they don’t, so it’s important to ask questions.

The other thing you need to consider is how it is covered. Is it covered upfront? Is it fully covered, where the employee or the candidate doesn’t have to fork out any costs? Or is it some, where they have to pay for it upfront, and then they get that expensed and reimbursed back to them upon receipt? I’ve seen it both ways, and it’s important to make sure you know that before jumping too far in so that you can make a sound decision on whether the position is right for you.

Can I negotiate for more money if I don’t need relocation assistance because I have a free move from the military?

It goes back to the point that salaries are usually in a different pot of money than some of these other benefits and expenses—but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Say you have to come up with relocation costs upfront and get it reimbursed after you start. In that situation, I’ve seen where they will be open to increasing your salary a little bit to sort of compensate for the fact that you have to come up with the expenses ahead of time. Or maybe they offer you a one-time sign-on bonus or something like that.

You may get a clue that you’re the only one interviewing for a position through a casual conversation with the recruiter. Or you may find out that there are three or four other candidates who have also interviewed for the position and it’s pretty competitive. The business is going to consider all factors when they decide whether or not to extend something out that’s going to be an added cost.

At the end of the day, the company wants you to stick around. We don’t want you to start and then realize this isn’t the right opportunity and then quickly move on. We want to make sure that you’re going to be there for the long term. So we’re going to try and help you out and allow for as smooth of a transition as we can.