The Vet2Work Job Procurement and
Advancement
Series
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Designing a Military-to-Civilian Resume
Service
members hoping to move into a
new civilian position should focus on the military skills
they have learned which can be transferred.
When a resume is submitted, it takes an employer
approximately 15 seconds to decide if they are going to read a résumé
to its conclusion. Formatting for a military résumé follows the
same guidelines as that of a standard non-military résumé.
Accordingly, the wording should be comparatively similar with
the exception that the résumé creator will put forth their
skills and qualifications in non-military language.
Within the all important résumé
summary (which can
simply be titled “Summary” or Summary Statement” as well as
“Experience Summary” or “Professional Experience Summary”) the
wording should be short and simple by briefly describing the
person (you) and the job(s) sought.
Example of a
non-military lead-in would be:
“Talented, accomplished _______ (this would be the title of the
civilian position which most parallels the military one) with
proven ability to _______________ (this would include a list of
your abilities put into civilian terms such as
“lead and direct teams” or “direct project management
groups and implement ____”, etc.).
This
paragraph can be bulleted or can remain as a highlight of the
creator’s résumé by using italics or bolding of the description
statements to catch the reader’s eye.
While this task may seem relatively easy, removing and recreating your skills and experience from the military environment to a civilian one can be a quite a challenge. In non-military resumes, job seekers are taught to pull key words from their past work skills and experience and fit them to the position they are seeking. The same holds true for a person with a military background, this job seeker should focus on crafting a history of work experience identifiable by a civilian employer in order to be considered for any position.
While this task may seem relatively easy, removing and recreating your skills and experience from the military environment to a civilian one can be a quite a challenge. In non-military resumes, job seekers are taught to pull key words from their past work skills and experience and fit them to the position they are seeking. The same holds true for a person with a military background, this job seeker should focus on crafting a history of work experience identifiable by a civilian employer in order to be considered for any position.
Have a laundry list of varying experience and responsibility
within your military career?
When creating your résumé's
work experience
section, you should significantly narrow the list to fit the
position you are seeking. Example:
If you have years of experience within military staffing
areas, then you will pull from your experience in order to
create a résumé which focuses on human resources management and
would highlight areas pertinent to the position such as team
building, training and development, strategic planning, etc.
(all excellent résumé keywords).
Always remember to custom tailor your résumé and retain
originality in its format, design and content.
Military to Civilian Career Chart
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Copyright Vet2Work/Naturallysilver 2011. No re-publication of this article is
permitted without express permission.
