1. Issue: Length of the document is too long or too short.
Solution: Most civilian resumes should aim between one and two pages of content. For those of you struggling to narrow down your 20+ years of experience, go back approximately 10 years using your most recent, relevant work history. Keep in mind that federal resumes are an entirely different document varying between three and five pages.

2. Issue: Poor visual layout.
Solution: Consistency is crucial! If you decide to bold one title, do so for the rest of your positions. Are you unsure of whether or not a word should be hyphenated, abbreviated, or one-word? A good source to use is “The Associated Press Stylebook.” The publication reflects current writing practices and provides a standard application of the English language. Do not use cursive or fancy fonts, stick to size 10 or 12 Times New Roman or Arial.

3. Issue: Use of military jargon.
Solution: Your MOS was a 35F and you were responsible for OEF’s IPB. Great, so what does that mean exactly? It’s necessary that you put information in context for the reader. Translating your military experience into “civilian language” is one of the most difficult tasks you’ll face, but it’s also one of the most essential. If in doubt, explain!

4. Issue: Punctuation/syntax/spelling errors.
Solution: While spell check may help reduce some misspellings, it won’t catch everything. For example, the correct use of their, there, and they’re won’t be picked up by spell check. After writing a resume, you should review for edits at least several times. Have trusted friends check for any blunders you may have overlooked.

5. Issue: Including inappropriate e-mail addresses.
Solution: Hiring authorities are scrutinizing every detail of your resume, and this includes your choice of an e-mail address. Keep it simple and if in doubt, create a professional new e-mail address that uses your name.

6. Issue: Incorporating unrelated information.
Solution: Listing that you enjoy playing golf or collecting motorcycles (yes, I have seen these on resumes) is not going to impress a human resources manager. Focus on industry standards and make sure your resume meets all of the qualifications companies are looking for. If you are targeting your resume to individual jobs, make sure that all the information is factual and not contrived just to meet a job description.

7. Issue: Vague objective statements.
Solution: Too many resumes contain the following statement: Hardworking professional seeking employment that will utilize my skills. If you just submitted your resume for a job opening, of course you want them to hire you. Stop stating the obvious! Rather, list all the applicable skill sets that you possess pertaining to the specific position you’re applying for.

8. Issue: Stating your duties/responsibilities while disregarding accomplishments.
Solution: Use action verbs to describe what you did, and integrate key quantifiable figures that showcase the results. Companies are looking for a history of demonstrated positive impact you brought to previous organizations. For example, discuss the number of personnel you manage, as well as the value of any equipment you oversaw.

9. Issue: Mentioning “references available.”
Solution: It is assumed that you are going to have references, so don’t waste valuable real estate on your resume. If a human resource manager requests references, have a separate document containing a mixture of supervisors, colleagues and personal contacts.

10. Issue: A boring resume.
Solution: I come across many resumes that don’t stand out. Human resource managers are going through hundreds of resumes, and only spend about 15 seconds determining whether or not they want to continue reading. You need to have a wow factor! Think about what attributes you have that distinguish you from a sea of applicants and focus on highlighting them.

All of these suggestions can help you create a winning resume when put into practice. If you are in the process of transitioning, use free expert services such as your service branch Transition Assistance Program office for guidance and feedback.

Rescue your résumé: 6 places to get help

by Adam Stone – Special to the Times

If anyone is a subject matter expert on your skills and experience, it’s you. So why is it so hard to write a résumé that conveys those abilities?

“While the military job seeker is an expert in many things, corporate America is not one of them,” said Jessica Richardson, a former Navy officer who now recruits vets for placement firm Bradley-Morris.

Fortunately, there are people who can help you make that translation.

• Civilian friends: The more civilian, the better. “Ask people who don’t have any military experience at all to look at it, and try to incorporate their feedback,” Richardson said.

• TAP staff: The Transition Assistance Program typically offers some résumé help, whether in the form of feedback or access to how-to resources.

• College career offices: Most schools have support materials available as well as counselors ready to help structure and review a résumé.

• Nonprofit help: Counselors at veteran service nonprofits like the Tip of the Arrow Foundation and Hire Heroes USA will work with you one-on-one to get your experience on paper.

• Recruiting firms: It’s in their interest to help you polish your résumé because a solid résumé will help them place a candidate. ”They know what the companies want to see and they can draw that out in your résumé,” Richardson said.

• Professional résumé writers: A pro will sift through your background for the most important experiences to highlight and package them compellingly. Prices range from a few hundred dollars to upward of $1,000.

Get what you pay for

Some résumé writers offer a free “résumé critique.” Anyone offering to critique a résumé for free is probably trying to sell you services, Richardson said. Some will make a blatant sales pitch, while others will offer only the most generic feedback in hopes of wooing your business: “Use more forceful verbs” and “Draw out more accomplishments.” Such free advice is usually worth what you pay for it.

The military difference

Keep in mind that résumé writers who don’t speak “military” may have trouble translating your career for the benefit of civilian hiring managers.

Army Master Sgt. Donnell Davis found that out the hard way when he separated in March 2010 at Fort Benning, Ga.

“I looked online and just happened to pick a résumé-writing company because they were close,” Davis said.

That nearby résumé writer knew the form of a résumé but not the details of a military career.

“I knew it wasn’t right,” Davis said. “It was only one page. It didn’t speak about who I was and what I had really done. It was really generic.”

He tried again, entrusting his résumé to MilitaryResumes.com, a service aimed specifically at translating experiences in uniform into a language the corporate world can understand.

“Comparing that résumé against the first résumé I had done, there were things they pointed out that even I hadn’t seen,” he said.

MilitaryResume.com charges $249 and up for its services, depending on the complexity of the job. Senior officers may pay over $600.

Davis’ new-and-improved résumé drew 17 queries and two interviews within two weeks of his posting it online. He now works as a quality control manager for IronBridge Construction.

“The best thing for me was being able to pass that on to all my battle buddies who were planning to retire or move on. I tell them all: Get the professionals to do it.”

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.

 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.

 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”.

As Stone points out, “Before you can translate your experience, you have to know what language you’re translating to. Experts recommend starting with the employer and working backward from there so your résumé is grounded in an understanding of the target industry and the needs of the company.” While this is true, it is easier said than done. As the Director of MilitaryResumes.com, I am frequently asked, “Which jobs am I qualified for?” Many military job seekers don’t even know which industry, let alone company, to target. Surprisingly, the more military experience a client has, the more likely the question. Career search advice and targeted military resumes are things we regularly provide to our MilitaryResumes.com customers. But for those going it alone, I suggest the O*Net website as a resource.

O*Net allows you to pinpoint the civilian job title that most closely matches your military experience and interests. You can use this knowledge to look for companies hiring for your civilian-equivalent job title and target your resume by analyzing your target job announcement for specific language. For more information on O*Net, see my previous post on the topic.

Stone goes on to discuss the importance of creatively drawing less than obvious parallels between military experience and civilian qualifications. Specifically, he cites one Infantry Officer’s struggle to translate his experience. This military job seeker thought about “soft skills” such as “leadership” and added situational details. While I don’t recommend overusing soft skills in the resume itself, as they tend to be interpreted as “fluff”, this can be an effective means to an end.

Creative writers often use a technique called spiraling to develop characters and plots. Spiraling involves placing a main character trait in the center of a blank sheet of paper (such as “Quiet”) and drawing concentric lines around it to point to possible storylines (i.e. repressed memories, solo camping trips, communicates best with animals, etc.). Place a soft skill in the center of a sheet of paper (financially savvy/cost-minded), and spiral out hard skills (fiscal administration and budget management), specific examples (managed a $500,000 training budget), and achievements (optimized training funds and cut travel costs by 50%, saving $25,000 per quarter, by combining 2 courses…). Or try this exercise in reverse; place a tangible experience (managed the construction of an Iraqi school) in the center, and spiral out skills (project management, budget management, quality assurance, etc.). Then spiral out from each of those skills. Are there more examples of project management in your experience? Notice that “budget management” reoccurs. Run with common threads.

To Stone’s well-put insights on how to “word it right”, I’d like to add the importance of putting experience in its proper context. I’ve read hundreds of military resumes and failing to establish context is one of the most common resume writing mistakes veterans make. Lack of context may hinder a civilian’s ability to fully comprehend your experience. The better context you provide, the more the civilian reader can appreciate the unique challenges you have faced on the job. Use context to liberally round out your experience and provide a more realistic backdrop for your accomplishments. Describe your military unit or organization in the context of its industry (size [number of people vs. “battalion”], mission, location [an austere environment like Afghanistan is worthy of mention], “customers”, and services). Briefly describe the scope of your responsibilities, aligning word choice with your status. In other words, a senior executive probably doesn’t need to mention his or her ability to file paperwork.

Military resumes are the most inherently challenging to write, or at the very least, write well. Obstacles faced when building a military resume worthy of civilian attention can be overcome with a little elbow grease and creative thinking. Keep in mind who you are trying to please when writing your military resume – you or the hiring manager? Determine a hiring manager’s needs and, through your accomplishments-driven resume, tell them you are the best person to fulfill those needs.

For more information on professional military resume writing services, please visit www.MilitaryResumes.com or email me at jrichardson@militaryresumes.com.

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