Most people find their next job through someone they know, or someone that person knows. Which
means the most reliable thing you can do for your search is to go and meet people on purpose.
You have an unusual advantage here, and it is worth taking seriously. The veteran network is real,
it is large, and it runs on a genuine sense of obligation to the people coming out behind. Veterans
answer cold messages from other veterans at a rate that would astonish an ordinary job seeker.
People will take your call, give you an honest half hour, and introduce you onward — and one day
you will do the same for someone else.
That advantage is strongest in the federal and contractor space, where a large share of the
workforce served. The people you already worked alongside — the contractors in your building, the
government civilians in your chain, the people who left your unit two years ago — are a warmer
network than most job seekers ever build. Start there.
Write 5 LinkedIn connection request notes to [PERSON'S NAME AND TITLE] at [COMPANY].
What I know about them: [ANYTHING — shared service, shared school, a post they wrote, their career
path, a mutual connection, or "nothing, I found them by searching"]
Why I am reaching out: [E.G. "they do the job I want", "they work at a target company", "they also
went from Navy to consulting"]
Constraints:
- Under 300 characters (LinkedIn's limit for a note with a request)
- Give them a specific reason I picked THEM, not a generic compliment
- Do not ask for a job, a referral, or a favor in the first message
- Do not say "I'd love to pick your brain"
- Sound like a person, not a template
Give me 5 versions with different openings:
1. Shared background or service
2. Something specific about their career path
3. A genuine question about their field
4. A mutual connection
5. Direct and brief — no angle, just honest
Then tell me which is likeliest to get accepted and why.
On a free LinkedIn account the connection note is your one opening, so make it count. Specificity is what works: *'I noticed you moved from EOD into product safety, and that's exactly the move I'm trying to make'* earns a reply far more often than any polished general message, because it shows you actually looked.
Write an email or LinkedIn message requesting a 15-minute informational conversation with
[PERSON, TITLE, COMPANY].
Context: [HOW YOU FOUND THEM / ANY CONNECTION / WHY THEM SPECIFICALLY]
My background: [ONE LINE]
What I actually want to learn: [BE SPECIFIC]
The message must:
- Be under 150 words
- Say who I am in one sentence
- Say exactly why I am asking THEM, specifically
- Ask for 15 minutes, name it as 15 minutes, and mean it
- Give them two or three concrete things I would want to ask about — so they can tell whether they
can help
- Make it genuinely easy to decline
- Not mention a job, an opening, or a referral anywhere
Give me two versions: one warmer and more personal, one shorter and more businesslike. Tell me
which fits this person better based on what I have told you.
I want to reach out to [PERSON], who is a veteran now working as [TITLE] at [COMPANY].
Their background: [BRANCH/SERVICE IF KNOWN]
Write a message that:
- Establishes the shared background naturally, without leaning on it as the entire pitch
- Asks about their transition specifically — what surprised them, what they would do differently
- Is short enough to read on a phone
- Does not assume they owe me anything because we both served
Give me three versions at different levels of formality, and tell me how to choose between them
based on their seniority and how they present themselves online.
Also: draft the follow-up message for if they do not respond in two weeks. One paragraph, no guilt,
easy to ignore permanently.
Veteran-to-veteran outreach gets answered at a much higher rate than cold outreach generally. Lean on it — and honour it by being brief, being specific, and passing the same courtesy along to the next person who writes to you.
I have a 20-minute informational conversation with [PERSON, TITLE, COMPANY] on [DATE].
Prepare me:
1. Fifteen questions, ordered from easy opener to the ones that get real answers. Include:
- Their path and what surprised them
- What the work actually involves day to day
- What separates people who do well from people who struggle
- What they would tell someone with my background
- What is changing in their field
Avoid anything I could have answered by reading their LinkedIn.
2. A 30-second self-introduction for the start of the call — who I am, why I reached out, what I
hope to get from 20 minutes.
3. How to end well, including the one closing question worth asking: how to ask "who else should I
be talking to?" without it sounding transactional.
4. What NOT to do: the three most common ways people waste these conversations.
5. A short note on what to do in the 24 hours afterward.
My background: [ONE OR TWO LINES]
What I am trying to figure out: [BE HONEST]
I just had an informational conversation with [PERSON] at [COMPANY].
What we discussed: [KEY POINTS — WHAT THEY SAID, WHAT ADVICE THEY GAVE, ANYTHING THEY OFFERED]
What I committed to doing: [ANYTHING YOU SAID YOU WOULD DO]
Anyone they suggested I talk to: [NAMES, OR "NONE"]
Write a thank-you note to send within 24 hours that:
- Is under 120 words
- Names one specific thing they said that changed how I am thinking
- Confirms anything I committed to
- Leaves the door open without asking for anything
- Does not grovel
Then write a second message for 4-6 weeks from now, reporting back on what I did with their advice.
This is the one that actually builds the relationship — most people never send it.
The six-week follow-up is the highest-leverage message in networking, and very few people send it. Telling someone what you did with their advice turns a pleasant one-off conversation into a person who is genuinely invested in how you get on — and that is how a network is actually built.
I want to ask [PERSON] to refer me for [SPECIFIC ROLE] at [COMPANY].
Our relationship: [HOW WELL YOU KNOW THEM — e.g. "we served together for two years", "we spoke once
for 20 minutes three months ago", "we're connected on LinkedIn but have never talked"]
Write the ask. It should:
- Be direct about what I am asking for — no burying it in paragraph four
- Make it low-cost and low-risk for them (referring someone puts their name on it)
- Give them everything they need in the message: the exact role, the req number if I have it, two or
three lines they could paste into a referral form, and my resume attached
- Explicitly give them an easy out
- Be appropriate to how well we actually know each other
If our relationship is too thin for a referral ask, tell me so and write the intermediate message
instead — the one that earns the right to ask later.
ROLE: [TITLE, REQ NUMBER, LINK]
WHY I AM A FIT: [2-3 LINES]
[PERSON A] is connected to [PERSON B], who I would like to meet because [REASON].
Write a message to Person A asking for an introduction. Include a separate "forwardable blurb" —
a short, self-contained paragraph about me that Person A can copy straight into an email to
Person B without editing.
The forwardable blurb should:
- Be 3-4 sentences
- Be written in the third person so it reads naturally when forwarded
- Say who I am, why I want to meet Person B specifically, and what I am asking for
- Make Person A look good for making the introduction
Also give Person A a graceful way to decline.
My background: [ONE LINE]
The forwardable blurb is what makes this work. By writing the paragraph yourself you have removed every bit of effort from the person doing you the favour — all they have to do is press forward. Make it easy and people say yes.
I am attending [EVENT — e.g. a veteran career fair, an industry meetup, a company
open house] on [DATE].
Prepare me:
1. A 20-second introduction I can deliver while shaking hands — not a memorized speech
2. Three questions that make a recruiter remember me, and three that waste both our time
3. How to research the attending companies beforehand, and how to pick which 5 to prioritize
4. What to physically bring and how to handle resumes
5. How to exit a conversation politely when it is not going anywhere
6. Exactly what to do in the 24 hours after: who to message, what to say, how to reference the
conversation so they remember me
7. How to take notes during the event without being rude
I am [COMFORTABLE / UNCOMFORTABLE] in rooms like this. Adjust your advice accordingly.
My target roles: [TARGET]
Design me a networking routine I can keep up for six months without burning out.
I can spend [HOURS] per week on this and I would describe myself as
[EXTROVERTED / INTROVERTED / SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN].
Give me:
1. A weekly rhythm: how many new people to reach out to, how many follow-ups, how many
conversations to aim for
2. A simple tracking structure — the columns I need and nothing more
3. A follow-up cadence: when to circle back to someone who did not respond, when to give up,
how to stay in touch with people who did
4. Five ways to add value to people in my network so this is not purely extractive — including
things I can offer as a job seeker with no job
5. What to do when I get no responses for two weeks straight, both practically and mentally
6. How to keep this network alive AFTER I land a job, in under 30 minutes a month
Be realistic about what an introvert can sustain if that is what I said.
I have not heard back from [PERSON / COMPANY] about [WHAT — an application, a message, an
interview] since [DATE / HOW LONG AGO].
Write the follow-up. It should:
- Be short — under 80 words
- Add something new rather than just repeating the ask
- Be easy to respond to with one line
- Not express frustration, even mild
- Give them a graceful exit if the answer is no
Also tell me:
- Whether it is actually too soon to follow up
- How many times it is reasonable to follow up before stopping
- What silence usually means in this specific situation, honestly
- What I should be doing instead of waiting
I find networking uncomfortable. It feels like asking strangers for favors I cannot repay,
and after military service where competence spoke for itself, it feels like self-promotion.
Help me reframe this in a way that is honest rather than motivational.
1. What am I actually offering in these conversations? Be specific and do not flatter me.
2. Why do people genuinely agree to these calls? What are they getting?
3. What is the difference between networking and using people, in practice?
4. How do I do this in a way consistent with how I actually am, rather than performing an
extroverted version of myself?
5. What is a realistic response rate, so I stop reading silence as rejection?
6. What can I offer someone senior to me, right now, with no job and no leverage?
Do not give me a pep talk. Give me a way to think about it that I would still believe on a bad day.
