You may not know anything about Product Management, but you have skills that companies NEED. You just need to know what skills to communicate.
During the transition from the military to civilian life, it's overwhelming to think about the possibilities for a post-military career. Going through the mandatory transition programs and listening to an onslaught of company veteran program pitches, you get very vague answers to what skills you, as a veteran, bring to the table on day one.
During these pitches, companies and recruiters love to say, "we love hiring vets!" Whether they have on not, make sure to ask them what skills they find most valuable in their veteran hires - you will likely get a surface level answer. This is not necessarily their fault. The veteran community hasn't done a satisfactory job of educating these recruiters on the merits of hiring veterans. This means that it will fall on you to communicate what skills you have honed as a veteran and how they will be beneficial to the company.
I believe there are three levels to communicate the skills you bring. The first level contains many of the skills that generally all veterans are known to possess. These are the skills you'll often hear when speaking to recruiters about why they love to hire veterans. The second level is a deeper look at some of the experiences you've had as a veteran and attributes that companies know they are looking for in a candidate. The third and final level is a special level. These are skills that you have developed as a veteran that will make you successful in the private sector, but that recruiters may not even know they are looking for. Demonstrating knowledge and experience in this level will set you apart from the other candidates.
Level 1: Common and known veteran skills
Common and known skills that veterans have. Feel free to highlight stories where you display these skills, but know that they will not likely win you points.
Grit: All veterans have a level of grit and tenacity that got them through boot camp, MOS training, deployments, etc. This is a fundamental trait that employers love, but is difficult to measure during interviews.
Commitment: All veterans committed some portion of their lives to an organization. Companies who hire you like to see that level of commitment, especially recruiters who ultimately want you to stay at the company for the long run.
Tactical Leadership: Most veterans have had opportunities to lead others. This is a skill that not all civilians have had, and certainly something to value.
"Get shit done" mentality: Veterans have a trained "bias towards action" or desire to execute a plan. Communicate examples of when you took initiative and accomplished your plan.
Level 2: Management level skills
Skills that a recruiter may not know that veterans possess. Try and speak to as many examples of these. Recruiters and hiring managers would definitely value your experiences here.
Operational Leadership and Strategic thinking: As a veteran, you have had to create a mission plan, communicate that plan clearly and concisely, and then convince others of the merits of your plan. This is the bread and butter of product management skills. Demonstrate experience in this to your recruiter. Have plenty of examples of when this when right and wrong, and what you learned.
Execution: You've created the plan from scratch, organized disparate units with different motivations toward your goal, and now it's time to execute. Being able to execute a plan is not a skill that all candidates will have. Speak to how you measured success along the way and how you dealt with problems to get back on track.
Data - informed: During any planning exercise, you had to account for paragraph one - the situation. As a veteran you were an expert in the tactical, operational, strategic nature of the operating environment and its application to your problem. In the civilian world, you will have to do the same. You will take in primary and secondary research, analyze its merits, and make decisions based on that intelligence.
Empathetic: Contrary to popular opinion, the military doesn't run on strict orders alone. To accomplish the many day to day tasks, veterans required a high degree of empathy. Not only did they have to work with their fellow soldiers to accomplish their unit tasks, but they also had to engage with coalition forces and the local populace. Anyone who has worked with either, will tell you that they won't simply follow your requests blindly. Demonstrate how you have used empathy
Level 3: Differentiating skills.
These are your differentiating skills. Not just any candidate can talk about these to the level that a veteran can.
Ability to handle being 100% accountable for failure: When a product fails, it sits squarely on the shoulders of the Product Manager. That is not something that most people can handle. The military is great preparation for this sort of mentality. For example, the common saying is that as a Platoon Leader, "you are responsible for what your platoon does and fails to do." This is the attitude of a Product Manager.
Servant leadership: Servant leaders make for great empathetic leaders. This is preached to us in the military - "Leaders eat last." As you may know, not all leaders are servant leaders, and in the corporate world there are many successful companies that are not led by servant leaders (notably Tesla and Steve Job's Apple). However, servant leadership is critical in product management. A Product Manager needs to be able to take care of their extended team in order for that team to perform. This is especially important because those team members likely don't report directly to the Product Manager.
Being an "athlete" vs a skill player: You are able to perform any task to a high degree of proficiency. Think about a Special Forces A-Team. Each member has a specialization (medic, engineer, weapons, etc), but when called upon, any member can perform the other's task to an 80% proficiency. As a Product Manager, you will need to sometimes do things that are not in your wheelhouse. You will need to learn fast and execute to the best of your ability.
Your ability to manage bureaucracy and politics. The military is the largest bureaucracy in the world. The company you're applying to also has some level of bureaucracy. Knowing how to expertly navigate it can make or break your product. Being able to quickly learn the politics of the organization and its power dynamics can make you an invaluable navigator to your team.
By communicating these skills, you'll be able to impress recruiters and hiring managers not just as a veteran, but as a potential leader in their company that can add value on day one.