Johnson served more than 22 years in the Navy, retiring as a telecommunications Senior Chief Petty Officer. He’s been the lead U.S. Department of Labor TAP facilitator for six years at the naval station in Mayport, Florida and possesses 15 years of experience as a northeast Florida workforce professional.

He’s one of the team of veterans’ representatives that work for WorkSource, the regional workforce organization. The veterans’ reps, all former military themselves, help veterans with career advice and referrals to services in the eight careers centers WorkSource operates in the six NE Florida counties. Leveraging his military background and extensive human resources experience in representing and supporting local businesses in meeting their employment goals, Johnson counsels many TAP and Executive TAP participants each week. He’s been known to answer the commonly asked question, “Can you help me find a job?” with a question, “I’ll assist you, surely, but are you willing to help yourself find a job?”

Hiring Trends

While Johnson’s geographic area of employment expertise is Northeast Florida, his advice on market trends is as ubiquitous as it is indispensable. He warns that all veterans should be aware of significant differences in job market, salaries, and hiring trends depending on location (region, state, regions within the state, counties and metropolitan areas, and individual cities). Labor Market Information (aka “LMI”) is a topic addressed at TAP but often, according to Johnson, undervalued by veterans. It includes unemployment rates, business growth and loss, prevailing industries, occupational growth projections, and an estimated pay range for those occupations. “I highly encourage vets to research LMI before deciding on relocation and post-military careers,” says Johnson.

Common Military Transition Mistakes

When asked to pinpoint the most common mistake military job seekers make, Johnson is quick to rattle off an entire list of blunders and oversights, pointing out that he could go on. “The transition from military to civilian life will not be easy,” he states. “It requires serious effort.” Failure to focus, network, exploit resources, research, and translate skills and experience make the list of his biggest pet peeves.

Fortunately, Johnson has some tips to avoid committing the most common military transition missteps:

• Pay attention during TAP and commit to utilizing the tools and resources presented.
• Research and balance military experience, skills, and education with employers’ needs. Translate military experience into relatable civilian terminology.
• Establish a network within the local business community.
• Don’t expect an employer to pay significantly more than your military pay or assume you can easily slide into a position commensurate with most recent military rank/title.
• Focus on your values when considering your post-military career.

The #1 Military Transition Assistance Program Take-away

Johnson and his fellow military transition assistance program facilitators everywhere gladly provide a wealth of employment information to veterans. But the one thing they can’t do is instill vets with the determination and enthusiasm required to land a fulfilling post-military career. According to Johnson, “ individual commitment to attain results and realistic expectations (sans excuses) is the #1 key to success…. DO NOT pack your TAP ‘tools’ in some box in your garage.”

As silly as it sounds, resumes are a bit like fashion: there are many different styles, many different designers, and even more opinions on what’s in and what’s out. While there is no secret format that guarantees landing a position (or even just an interview), there are a number of elements that job seekers should consider if they want their resume to be placed at the top of the pile.

J. Todd Rhoad, managing director at Bt Consulting in Atlanta, observes that one of the driving forces behind the evolution of resume formats is the fact that professionals no longer remain with the same company for their entire careers. “Before, they didn’t need resumes because they didn’t go anywhere,” he said. And, if they did, their resume probably listed every component of their work history. “In many cases, back then it was OK for a resume to be relatively long.”

Rhoad notes that today – because people tend to change jobs every few years – resumes have dwindled down to one or two pages in length. “It’s not pertinent to list your whole work history,” he said. “Not only has the resume reduced down in size to between one to two pages; it’s really not imperative that you list your full history – recruiters only want to look back a few years.” Bt Consulting recommends a one- to two-page resume that features a summary statement at the top that’s designed to inform recruiters on who the job seeker is – as a person and a professional. A listing of acquired skills would appear underneath.

Kathy Malone, military transition expert and transition coach at Front Line Transitions in Albuquerque, N.M., argues that a resume is, in essence, a marketing tool. “If this is a brochure, then let’s apply some marketing strategies directly to your resume.” The front page, she elaborates, is laid out like an executive summary, with the candidate’s contact information and then a short paragraph that summarizes his/her career. Following that are three to five bullet points, listing the candidate’s accomplishments. “At the bottom of that front page, I put a testimonial from somebody that the individual has worked with. Just like in a brochure, you want to hear what other people think.”

As every transitioning veteran knows, one of the biggest challenges is translating the terminology applied in the service into civilian-speak to give civilian recruiters an understanding of your skills. “If you’re coming out of the military and you’re targeting a civilian organization that is not a prime contractor for the government and that does not do a lot of military work, you must translate what your job titles and skills were into something comparable inside of a civilian organization,” Rhoad underlined. The key, he adds, is communicating the value you can bring to a civilian organization. How can you generate revenue for them? How can you render them more efficient? “You must give examples of how you have done this before.” And, it’s important to focus on the skill sets you have that are applicable to the position for which you are applying.

Tim Dehan, supervisor of field recruiting for Chesapeake Energy Corporation – a 2011 Most Valuable Employer for Military winner based in Oklahoma City – notes that translating transferable skills is important even when dealing with veteran-friendly companies, such as his. “The Number-One thing that is going to help anybody transitioning out of the service is to translate the military jargon,” he said. “I don’t like seeing acronyms – I don’t know what ninety percent of them mean, and the average recruiter isn’t going to unless they have been trained, specifically, on how to decipher them.” He adds that this means that candidates must not only translate what they did in the military into civilian terms, but also emphasize how this applies to the civilian workplace. He urges those veterans that have never composed a resume before to seek professional help in writing one.

While translating your ‘transferable skills’ is necessary when dealing with a truly civilian company, it’s not always necessary – or even wise – to do so when applying for a position with an organization that is not only accustomed to working with veterans, but that is seeking those with military experience as well. “For example, if you are applying for a DoD prime contractor, it’s really not that necessary to try and translate your skills,” Rhoad illustrated. “For the most part – at least in my experience – they are looking for people who have worked on particular programs. In cases like that, you definitely have to list the military jargon, because that contractor will know what that jargon is.”

With this in mind, Jessie Richardson, a candidate recruiter for military placement firm Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI) and former director of operations for MilitaryResumes.com, reminds veteran job seekers to understand the difference between government contactors and military-friendly companies. “DoD contractors hire military because they have to. These companies are an extension of the military and they need military tangibles (specific programs and systems). In most cases, companies like the Most Valuable Employers for Military hire veterans because they want to. They like the intangibles (leadership, loyalty, etc.).”

Wes Reel of the military recruiting and outreach department of Waste Management – a 2011 Most Valuable Employer for Military winner based in Houston – emphasizes that in taking the time to tailor military resumes properly, candidates minimize the chances of frustrating recruiters. “Military-experienced applicants must tailor their resume to the job description that they are applying to,” he underlined. “Specific military resumes that are tailored to job descriptions seem more relevant to a particular position.” General, ‘blanket’ resumes make screening recruiters guess at the applicant’s actual qualifications. “Don’t make recruiters guess what you are looking for – be specific and show specific skills and qualifications.”

For recruiters, military resumes are no longer the only tools that they use to determine whether or not a job seeker is worthy of an interview: With the advent of social media, many hiring managers utilize sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to glean data on an individual’s background. “In the old days, you could be rejected based on your resume, and that’s not as true anymore,” Rhoad said. “Today, recruiters are searching social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, looking for candidates. Now, you can get rejected without even sending a resume in.” If your profile features something that recruiters don’t like, the interaction stops there. “If you are going to be out there playing around, realize that people will peruse these sites for job candidates, so make sure that you keep it somewhat professional.”

Above all, it’s important that candidates are confident with the value they can offer as professionals. “When you can be comfortable with who you are and what you bring to the table, and having thought through your experience, skills, value and talent – and be able to articulate that to a hiring manager – they’re going to be a lot more comfortable moving forward with you,” Malone emphasized. It’s this attitude, she said, that will enable you to create a resume that stands apart from the crowd. “Where there used to be 100 people applying for an advertised position, there are now 1,000 people applying for that position. If you are doing what everybody else is doing, you’re going to look like everybody else.”

Carolyn Heinze is a freelance writer/editor.

Copyright © 2005-2011 – Civilian Jobs, LLC. All rights reserved.

The announcement of this year’s Most Valuable Employer (MVE) for Military® award finalists will spur scores of savvy military experienced job seekers to apply to military-friendly companies, and rightfully so. However, military experience is not a guaranteed foot in the door. So if you are among this group, you may be wondering how to better your chances of landing a coveted MVE career. The following steps will lead you in the right direction:

Step 1. Get inside their heads.

What motivates MVE and other companies to consistently dip into the military talent pool? Why do military-experienced employees mesh well into these organizations? According to Eric Salzman, Executive Consultant at Bradley-Morris, Inc., the nation’s largest placement firm focused solely on military-experienced talent, “documented leadership experience” sparks a company’s initial interest in military-experienced candidates. “Military leaders have been pushed and tried earlier and harder than most of their civilian counterparts and they are not easily overwhelmed,” he said. When asked what keeps his clients coming back to Bradley-Morris, Inc. for their hiring needs, Salzman replied, “Because hiring military works… companies see a return on their investment.” Understanding what drives companies can go a long way in helping you to sell yourself.

Often, a company-specific answer can be uncovered through a little networking and research. Before applying, research the company of interest online. Pinpoint defining core values by analyzing the company’s history, reputation, products and services, and vision statement. Without asking for a job outright, connect to military-experienced employees through professional networking sites. Seek to understand what they bring to the table as individuals and as a group, gain insight into the company’s corporate culture and hiring needs, and discover your potential value-add.

Coming up empty-handed? Many military-to-civilian executives attribute their corporate success to leadership traits acquired unequivocally through military service, including excellent communication skills, a deeply rooted sense of ethics, the ability to calmly make sound decisions under pressure, defining a goal and motivating others to achieve it, organizational skills such as strategic planning and the effective use of limited resources, and adaptability. I think it’s safe to say most companies value these traits and most military leaders possess them.

Step 2. Target your sales pitch.

Through research and networking, let’s say you’ve uncovered a company’s penchant for loyal workers who work well as a part of a team, inspire healthy competition and goal attainment, and can maximize resources/manpower and minimize waste/downtime. Simply stating your ability to minimize waste, for instance, in your military resume or in an interview is not enough. You must prove it. Always backup something intrinsic, i.e. “cost-conscious”, with something extrinsic, i.e. “…saved $30k quarterly by developing and managing a first-of-its-kind parts reclamation program…” According to Salzman, “Companies want to see quantifiable data attached to experience such as number of people led, total value of a project or budget, and cost avoidance… that’s a big one.”

Step 3. Don’t make a you-know-what out of you and me.

Just because a company has a track record of hiring military experienced job seekers, don’t assume a military jargon-laden resume copied straight from your performance evaluations is going to do the trick. Salzman warns, “Your résumé should be easily understood by everyone from the HR specialist to the CEO.” As the former director of MilitaryResumes.com and a current recruiter at Bradley-Morris, Inc., I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of military resumes. However, I have yet to master the meaning of every acronym or understand the purpose of every command, program, system, or specialty for every branch of service.

Briefly describe your command (mission, services, “customers”, etc.), the technical makeup and capability of military-specific systems/equipment (if applicable), and the scope of your duties to establish due context, no matter the target company. Focus not on your formal, DoD-approved job descriptions, but on the skills derived from each job with respect to the company and job opportunity at hand instead. Finally, add plenty of individual accomplishments to make you stand out as a top-notch performer worthy of corporate recruitment.

Salzman enjoys getting companies to see the value of military experience. He is a master of showing his clients how military experience fits into their organizations through comparable success stories. But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the job is the service he is able to provide to veterans. “I really enjoy seeing candidates I’ve placed come back and use me when they have hiring needs again,” said Salzman.

This is the first interview in a series Salzman has graciously agreed to on behalf of MtC readers:

Everyone knows the economy has seen better days, yet Bradley-Morris continues to place military-experienced job seekers into civilian jobs. What motivates a company to turn to a military placement firm for talent in spite of a saturated job market?

Most of my clients turn to me for two main reasons: First is the speed and efficiency of our military hiring events. These events allow them to see 8 to 10 pre-screened candidates (all qualified and interested in the job, location and salary) in a one-day format. Second, companies are targeting candidates that are easily promotable. This adds bench-strength to an organization. The intangibles military-experienced candidates bring to the table (such as work ethic, discipline, problem-solving and decision-making under pressure) are seen as true assets.

Are there common misconceptions about military-experienced job seekers in Corporate America?

Corporate America harbors several misconceptions about the military. The main one I see pertains to a military-experienced job seeker’s ability to conform to a “corporate culture”, where the rules and duties are not always as clear as they are in the military.

As a seasoned executive consultant, how do you overcome those misconceptions to best position your military-experienced candidates for consideration?

I identify misconceptions and tackle them head-on with examples of successful candidates I placed into very satisfied companies. Because Bradley-Morris specializes in recruiting military-experienced talent, I am able to clearly explain a candidate’s skill set, how it relates to the job, and how the military has prepared them to exceed goals and expectations.

How should a veteran market their military experience, especially when it does not correlate directly with industry or vacancy requirements?

How has the playing field changed in the past two years, and what can we expect next year?

Companies are really looking for candidates with great energy and attitudes. This seems to be the case more now than ever. Companies are focusing on building teams that work well together and not just focusing on finding the candidate with the most qualifications. I’ve seen an overwhelming number of candidates selected for jobs because of their positive attitude.

For more information on Bradley-Morris, a free service for military-experienced job seekers, please visit www.Bradley-Morris.com. Eric Salzman can be reached at esalzman@bradley-morris.com or http://www.linkedin.com/in/ericsalzman1.

 They Will Know What I Did

While recruiting for a technical engineering position, an account manager became frustrated with a comment made by a talented, job-seeking engineer.  The said comment, “anyone familiar with my field will understand my resume… they will know what I did,” caused the recruiter to end the call and throw her arms up in frustration.   She was fielding resumes for a client who was very particular as to the keywords he wanted to see in applicant resumes.  The candidate refused to update his resume with the appropriate keywords, instead defaulting to laziness.  Inevitably, he did not get the job opportunity. 

 On another occasion, a veteran candidate heeded the advice of the recruiter and adjusted his resume to reflect specific experience the organization needed.  He eliminated reference to “combat, anti-terrorism tactics, and weapons” replacing them with “inspection, tools, and measuring equipment”.  This candidate landed an initial interview for the position of Quality Inspection Engineer.

 For job seekers, civilian or military-experienced, the lesson is: make your resume and interview dialogue relevant to the position you are applying for.  Although it may seem silly to spell out your accomplishments and experience in detail, knowing the hiring manager is familiar with the military and will understand your qualifications, the fact of the matter is the resume may not get to the hiring manager.  In order to get to the hiring manager, it must pass the initial screening process… and that process may be conducted by people not “in the know,” or worse, an electronic resume scanning system.

 A job posting is typically advertised via the Internet and will contain keywords the hiring team is looking for.  For example, an engineering job posting may reference Lean principles, Six Sigma, design, AutoCAD, etc.  A job posting for a purchasing manager may reference ERP/MRP, enterprise, inventory control, DoD, etc.  Tweak your military resume for each job you apply for, incorporating appropriate keywords and phrases.  

 Once military resumes are deposited into a database, recruiters perform quick electronic or manual searches for keywords.  Typically, the hiring manger will not be the first person to peruse the hundreds of resumes received for each open position.  So if keywords are not spotted quickly, your military resume could be overlooked.  Resumes that reflect the experience the job posting calls for are sent to the hiring manager for consideration.  View the job posting and description as an answer key, with the resume as the test.  Make sure the test has the answers from the answer key within it.

Professional military resume writing services and recruiters help military job seekers perfect their military resumes to ensure they are relevant to their target positions.  Recruiters have a relationship with the organization they serve and are able to prepare candidates for what the employer expects to see on a military resume and hear in an interview.  Seek advice on the presentation of your marketing materials (your military resume and cover letter).  The job market is competitive and those who are prepared rewarded with opportunity.

I would like to add that a good military placement firm will offer the assistance of a professional military resume writing service to candidates who qualify for their program for free.  I know that this is the case at Bradley-Morris, Inc. who relies on MilitaryResumes.com to polish their candidates’ resumes.  Once a military resume is in fighting shape, a Bradley-Morris recruiter will assist the military job seeker with highlighting experience requested by the target employer and adding relevant keywords form the job opening.  

Judy Navarrete, SPHR is an accomplished Human Resources Professional.  She is a civilian advocate for veteran placements, sharing her vast experience in recruitment, talent selection, and leadership development in commercial markets so that veterans can assimilate into civilian job market to compete for today’s jobs.  For more information and similar articles from Judy, please see portablementor.com or some of her previous posts on MilitarytoCivilian.com (keyword search “Judy”). You may reach Judy at judy@portablementor.com

ATS vendors and professionals who use this technology claim it to be an excellent tool for managing large résumé volumes, especially in today’s job market. However, an ATS can be a black hole for the military job seeker if their military résumé is not properly targeted to the job vacancy with appropriate keywords and highlighted experience. Here are some ATS guidelines to ensure your military résumé gets to its intended destination and receives the highest ranking possible:

• Paste your military résumé into the body of an email to avoid getting caught by security software.
• When e-mailing a resume, keep exclamation marks out of the subject line and body of the text.
• Using keywords in the job opening, include a professional summary at top of your military résumé, followed by a list of bulleted qualifications and/or achievements.
• Keywords alone aren’t enough. Context is also important. Back keywords up with experience that demonstrates familiarity with the subject.
• Do not use abbreviations as it is unlikely that the ATS has been programmed with a list of abbreviations to stand in for keywords (unless abbreviations are used in the job posting).
• Fill in all the information requested by an online application process, even if it’s listed as optional or already included in your military résumé. Recruiters often sort by optional information to filter out applicants.
• Opt for uploading your military résumé instead of cutting and pasting if the systems allows this. This feature ensures the cleanest presentation.
• Contact information should be located at the top instead of in a header or footer.
• Do not include graphics on a résumé.
• Keep an eye on your spam folders. The ATS may send you an automatically generated email, which could be flagged as spam.

Finally, if you receive an automatically generated rejection e-mail, immediately contact the recruitment or HR office for advice on the best way to replace your original military résumé with one containing better keywords and phrases. Then tweak the professional summary and bulleted list of key skills and/or achievements. Don’t alter your work history. Next, contact the appropriate recruiter or HR specialist and request that your updated military résumé be reviewed and considered for the open position. Remember, the squeaky, proactive wheel gets the grease.

With a little know-how, your odds of beating “the system” are greatly increased. Stick to the guidelines to gain a leg up on your competition and increase your odds of landing the interview.

Reputable professional military résumé writers, such as those at Military Resumes, understand the importance of replacing commonplace military jargon and acronyms with industry terminology and keywords. For more information on military résumé writing services, please visit http://www.militaryresumes.com/.

Judy’s passion for educating and cultivating effective employees and leaders, and writing for www.MilitarytoCivilian.com, has influenced her to develop her own career mentor blog site, where she provides insight into (civilian) career transitions (see www.portablementor.com). To see all of Judy’s acclaimed articles, keyword search MilitarytoCivilian.com for “Judy”.  You may reach her for comments and feedback at judy@portablementor.com.

 Resourcefulness

 By: Judy Navarrete, SPHR

Recently, while interviewing a veteran of the U.S. Navy, I realized the extent to which civilians take the ease of obtaining items stateside for granted, and the resourcefulness of deployed servicemen/women. Easily obtainable “comforts of home” are often shared with deployed servicemen via care packages. But to sustain complex military operations in austere environments is a different story. It is increasingly challenging for deployed service members to get their hands on both comforts and necessities while on foreign soil. 

I was recently introduced to a former naval storekeeper transitioning from the service to the civilian work after a deployment in Iraq. This veteran had logistics and financial administration experience and a military resume drafted with the assistance of TAPS (transition) counselors. To be quite honest, his resume was difficult to read and appeared highly inflated, that is, until I dug deeper into the breadth of his experience overseas.

His title was “storekeeper” – “supply chain manager” to us civilians. Despite less than 4 years of military experience, the government entrusted him to manage an inventory valued at well over $10 million, a government credit card, and the distribution of resources only experienced supply chain managers would be allowed to handle in civilian business units. He received financial training and described the level of authority over funds and valuable assets he was afforded. He expedited inventory and consumables to global environments (in his case, other bases in challenging locales such as Africa, Japan, the Middle East, and the United States).

Although he lacked experience with state-of-the-art an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, a computerized system designed to manage inventory, and software programs such as SAP, Oracle, Enterprise, WPS, or AS400, he did manipulate spreadsheets using Excel and Word to track inventory and balance a budget. Systems can be taught and quickly learned; resourcefulness cannot. He explained, “When we [service members] are in a foreign country, we learn to be resourceful. We are in the middle of a desert, in the middle of nowhere, and if we don’t have something, we have to find a way to get it.”

I was so impressed with his selling points that I offered to place his military resume in front of the hiring manager at a leading aerospace company for a senior supply chain management role.  Usually, civilians are required to have a degree in business or accounting plus a few years of experience under their belts to be considered for this position. Yet, I was confident that his military experience and training were equivalent to the qualifications requested by the hiring manager.   

Prior to meeting with the manager for a face-to-face interview, the naval storekeeper will be coached on translating his military speak to civilian terms. For example, “financial administration” simply means accounting for and tracking expenses against budget constraints.  Combat/anti-terrorism training will be softened to describe “conflict resolution, resourcefulness, and interpersonal skills” and “government credit card” is better described as “purchasing authority”. 

When applying for civilian work, a military job seeker must keep in mind that the recruiter may not completely understand how to translate military terms. Furthermore, if the military job seekers cannot articulate their meaning during a phone interview or on a military resume, they may never have the opportunity to share their vast experience and sell themselves at the interview. So put the resourcefulness the military has ingrained you with to work  in presenting your experience in terms the business world can relate to… and demonstrate to potential employers that you actually have it.

At Military Resumes, we understand military experience and how to effectively “translate” it into terms civlians not only understand, but are actively looking for. For more information on professional military resume writing services custom-designed to market your unique attributes, please visit www.MilitaryResumes.com.

Pappas stresses that the hiring process is just that – a sequential process. There are many players involved and wickets to get through. While the process has a whole cast of supporting characters (mainly HR and recruiters), the hiring manger owns it, and getting to him or her should be the military job seeker’s ultimate goal. With regards to this, Pappas states:

…One of the most fundamental principles of marketing is understanding the needs of your customer. This is the *buyer* of the product you are selling – You. In the job hiring process the ultimate *buyer* is the hiring manager. It is the person who will be your future manager – the person you will be reporting to, as we say in the military. He or she will make the final decision if you are the right fit for the open position. But they usually don’t make this decision alone. And they are usually helped in the hiring process by several individuals…

So realize you must impress the hiring team, but it is the hiring manager’s opinion that ultimately matters. It’s a well-known fact that most jobs are landed via networking. Why? Because networking will often get you a direct line to the hiring manger. Military placement specialists, like the team at Bradley-Morris, Inc. – the nation’s leader in sourcing and placing military talent, are a great resource. They advocate for and network on behalf of military job seekers everyday, lining up interviews for eligible candidates with these elusive yet powerful decision-makers.

Before scouring your network for job opportunities and preparing or investing in a professional military résumé, take a step back and understand why it’s important to do so. Then sell yourself I terms of the knowledge, skills, and abilities the buyer is looking for.

For more information on professional military resume writing services, please visit http://www.militaryresumes.com

 I am an independent contract recruiter/sourcing specialist. I am retained to locate great developers in software engineering. I presented a top notch developer to a Fortune 500 corporate recruiter who had just returned from some training workshop that had focused on how to read resumes. The resume I had was to the point and two pages long. It was a succinct summary of what the candidate had developed and with what software skills for the four employers he had worked for in six years. To me the resume was a dream. It took me only seconds to realize what I had and where he should be marketed. I sent the resume to three potential employers and the corporate recruiter I mentioned above had the best fitting opportunity for the candidate. I expected to hear from the recruiter very, very quickly. I heard nothing from him. It was not until I reached out and inquired of him if he had received the resume that I heard the scary news.

“Yes, I looked at that submission from you but the resume was of poor quality in the way it was organized and written. It struck me as a bunch of buzz words, very little proper summary of accomplishments-no articulation of objectives, had three typographical errors and the candidate is clearly a job hopper. This tells me the candidate does not measure up to our expectations for the articulate and stable professionals we are seeking. In fact, I have held a staff meeting among our recruiters and laid out new policies and metrics for how to evaluate the QUALITY of what we expect in a resume. If the resume does not reflect the quality of organization we expect we will not proceed. Your candidate did not make that cut.”

 I had to bite my lip-hard. I was ready to say: “you mean you are more interested in form than content when it comes to qualifying candidates??? That is insane!

In an ideal world, all recruiters would adopt McKearney’s mentality. But sadly, the search for the perfect resume only gains momentum in today’s saturated job market. Nowadays, the numbers may favor a recruiter actually finding that one-in-a-million resume. And when they do, the applicant it belongs to will undoubtedly get a call – whether they are the best candidate for the position or not.

 “What are the elements of a ‘perfect’ military resume?” you ask – Good question! A great military resume sells results, not years, to employers. It provides information relevant to the position, never failing to exclude information specifically asked for in the vacancy announcement. Finally, it tells the recruiter why you are the best fit for the job. 

 Truthfully, there is no such thing as a “perfect” resume. But the team at www.MilitaryResumes.com has years of experience in building the highest quality of military resumes possible. So until the corporate world jumps on McKearney’s bandwagon (and let’s hope they do), take steps to ensure your military resume is “perfect”.

Getting Started in Your Military Transition

For many transitioning veterans, the economy has transformed the job search process into an uphill battle. Military job seekers are in a seller’s market. Companies are able to select from an array of top tier talent at bargain basement prices. It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially for transitioning veterans who have risked their lives in service to their country only to find themselves faced with yet another battle on foreign terrain, the civilian job market. Business language differs from military jargon and new social media and job search tools pose yet another challenge. Rest assured veteran job seekers, this new era of “tweeting” and “branding” via social electronic media is new to us all. With any luck, the following tips will help you better prepare for your next opportunity.

Let’s walk through the first step in a career search. By now, most of us are familiar with popular job search sites. But these sites are not the best place to begin a job search. Luckily, your military training has instilled you with confidence and resourcefulness as evidenced by the very fact that you are reading this article on militarytocivilian.com. (I also highly recommend portablementor.com.)  Glean as much advice as you can from resources such as these and then do some soul searching before you invest in professionally preparing your personal marketing tools and honing your presentation delivery (i.e. your military resume, social media profiles, and interview techniques). It is important to fully understand who you are (strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, etc.) and what you are meant to do before you can build a brand to target the jobs that best suit you.

I recently spent some time with my own career mentors to discuss my own career development and found their direction and advice consistent. They asked me to look at my values and beliefs, make a list of what is important to me, and then find companies and career opportunities that support those beliefs. So, military job seekers, before we get to my next article, “Doer or Accomplisher,” in which I will discuss how you can word your experience to reflect the fact that you are an accomplished leader versus a static manager, take the time to do a personal inventory.

This personal inventory should be a time of reflection. Get to a quiet place and list your values and beliefs. Write out what is important to you. While doing this, don’t worry about how silly and unrealistic it may sound, just write. I know; you are getting antsy. Time is ticking and you need a job. But think about it… getting a job is important… but not as important as getting the right job. Those of you who are married, did you select your partner because you wanted somebody – anybody? Or did you take the time to self-reflect and find the right person? When you selected which branch of the service to go into, did you randomly select? Or did you research the branches to find the best fit? Why not follow the same approach during your job search? The military has provided you with the best training and a disciplined mind. Not everyone can endure the level of development you have endured. Knowing this, do not sell yourself short and accept a job that merely pays the bills. Veteran job seekers can choose jobs that align with their core values and enjoin in a lasting partnership.

So take the time this week to reflect on who you are, what you want, and what you have to offer an employer. Once you do this, you will be prepared for the next article and action item: preparing your introduction – your military resume and your brand.

To MilitaryResumes.com clients, I also recommend  hashing out key work considerations such as ideal working environment (indoor/outdoors, part of a team/working alone, diverse/like-minded groups, etc.), work motivators (such as financial security, creativity, advancement, intellectual challenge, fixing equipment, etc.), and favorite work skills (organizing, negotiating, writing, problem solving, communicating, etc.), in addition to the key personality considerations (personality type, interests, strengths, achievements, core values, and life goals).

Compile a list of any and all careers that interest you in the slightest – no matter how wacky they may sound. Ask your inner circle for help. Then bounce that list off of your list of key work and personality considerations. Where do the two lists synch up? Start your career search there. I realize this is easier said than done. But like Judy said, investing the mental and emotional energy into this self-reflection exercise will go a long way in your militay job search.

Judy Navarrete contacted me at MilitaryResumes.com to express her interest in sharing her vast human resources and operations management experience and insight into the business world with military job seekers.  Her observations are food for thought as you reflect on your own military experience (and how it applies to corporate America) when preparing your military resume or for an interview.  She draws on her conversations with a poised and well-respected Marine Corps Staff Sergeant to craft informative lessons of her own.  To see all of Judy’s acclaimed articles, keyword search MilitarytoCivilian.com for “Judy”.