The economy is adding about 200,000 jobs per month and many companies appreciate the value veterans and military spouses offer to high performing organizations: integrity, enthusiasm, no tolerance for failure and ethics based leadership. 

However, human resources professionals routinely remind me that too many military people fail to follow-up. Follow-up and persistence are essential qualities to break you out from a herd of rivals in a hyper-competitive job market. Be certain to avoid these common missteps as you plan your follow-up following a positive employer connection at a recent career fair: 

1. The cover letter and revised resume you submitted to a potential employer were not tailored to connect your skills and experience, passion and education to the requirements of the job. 

2. You did not build internal support for your candidacy by connecting with people who are currently working for this employer. Use the LinkedIn company search function to identify and connect with current employees who may be able to support your candidacy. 

3. Your LinkedIn profile does not reflect your personal brand, does not include a professional photo in business attire, does not contain recommendations from former colleagues or does not complement the material contained in your resume and application. 

4. You failed to ensure your application was received. 

5. You took a follow-on phone interview on a cell phone in a parking lot with a baby in a car seat. If the phone interviewer catches you at a bad time, respectfully ask to reschedule. 

6. You showed up for your first live interview more than five minutes early or more than one minute late. Be in the vicinity 30 minutes early to allow for commuting SNAFUs, but don't walk-in more than five minutes early. 

7. You were surly with the receptionist and the intern you met in the hallway. One of the best judge of character is how we treat the powerless compared to the powerful. 

8. You assumed the sale and didn’t dress up for a third round interview. 

9. You missed the little things, like not responding within 24 hours to requests for writing samples and reference lists and cleaning-up your social media. 

10. You wanted to discuss compensation and benefits before you knew you were the preferred candidate. 

As your job search progresses, remember that integrity and ethics are the essential building blocks of trust that enables employees to focus on getting their work done, asking for help when they need it and creatively collaborating to solve business problems. Perhaps the strongest endorsement for ethics-based leadership comes from Warren Buffet: "In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And, if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you."