Military Careers, Second Careers - Army Times

A job pitch with punch

Eric Franco concedes that he’s a lucky guy, but it wasn’t luck that landed him the best civilian job he’s ever had. An Iraq war veteran and staff sergeant in the California Army National Guard, Franco finally has a civilian career in an industry he loves. He works as executive assistant to the president of ProElite.com, the online division of a company that stages mixed martial arts events.

ProElite.com streams some fights live and hosts a community of fans. Franco won the job from among a field of more than 300 candidates through a contest on HireAHero.org. Applicants had to make a video introduction, submit a résumé and write short summaries of topics such as work ethic and leadership style.

Sure, it helped that Franco trains and competes in mixed martial arts at the amateur level.

But he also crafted a winning strategy for capturing the attention of the company’s esteemed president, reality TV star Kelly Perdew, the former Army Ranger who won the second season of “The Apprentice.”

Perdew wanted someone from the military for the job, specifically a “data-driven, analytical, detail-oriented, operations-based executive with maniacal dedication about meeting metrics and deadlines.”

Here’s how Franco showed the professionals at ProElite.com that he fit that demanding description.

The video

Franco took the industry into consideration when he chose the creative route.

“It’s a fight company. How stuffy could they be?” Franco asked.

So his video introduction was casual. His brother filmed, from a tight shot showing Franco in a suit jacket and tie that slowly widened to reveal the rest of the ensemble — his fight shorts.

He also made sure to hold back some details.

“I didn’t harp on myself too long,” Franco said. “I gave enough to inform but not too much, so he still wanted more.”

The résumé

Franco carefully tailored his résumé to the job at ProElite.com. Also a past member of the Army Reserve, he made sure to emphasize how his military training could work for a civilian company.

“I had done tons of research,” Franco said. “I read the executives’ bios and statistics on the company.”

On paper, he emphasized how his military experience in psychological operations related to marketing because both jobs involve evoking desired reactions.

He knew ProElite.com had an operations department, so he also highlighted experience as his reserve unit’s air operations noncommissioned officer.

The interviews

Four phone interviews with ProElite.com staff preceded Franco’s face-to-face interview with Perdew.

“Everyone liked that I actually competed,” Franco said. “Being involved in the industry you want to work in helps out a lot.”

It also helped that he’d carefully read Perdew’s book, “Take Command: 10 Leadership Principles I Learned in the Military and Put to Work for Donald Trump.”

That technique paid off during the final, inevitable interview question: “Why should I hire you?”

“Well, one of the leadership principles in his book is about passion,” Franco said. “I said, ‘Whatever I lack in formal education or formal training, I totally make up for in passion for this sport.’ ”