Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
This post was written by a friend of the site.
Transition assistance programs provide help with resumes. You can also go to programs like Army Community Services to try to get help with writing a resume. While these might be decent places to start, it might be better to seek out help elsewhere. If you have nothing to work with, you can use a template that they or somebody else has so that you can begin putting your experience in writing. I will provide a draft of a resume I have previously put together as something that anyone can start with.
Getting Started- Points to Keep in Mind
Find a template. I’ve provided an example for reference. The template that you choose needs to look eye-appealing, sharp, easy to read. Eye appealing does not mean plenty of color patterns and borders with a nice picture of yourself included. Colorful themes aren’t appropriate for professional resumes unless you are looking for a role in the arts such as acting or graphic design. The eye-appeal I’m talking about is evenly spaced, organized, with a solid balance between effective use of white space and looking cluttered.
A great place to find military-specific resume templates is at Echelon Front Legon’s website. Learn more about what this company can do for you during your military transition here.
Format everything the same. Your font needs to stay the same throughout the duration of the resume. This may sound simplistic and redundant. I’ve taken in resumes from people (that have been submitted to employers) which accidentally had words that different in font size, and even different fonts altogether.
However, section headings, position titles, timeframes that positions were held, employment locations, all need to be the same as each other, respectfully. Refer to my resume example provided to see the consistent formatting that I’m talking about. Notice how each section heading is the same font size, and all of them are bold? Notice how each location listed after position titles is in italics, not bold? Finally, notice how all of the timeframes for each position are aligned to the right of the page, along the same one-inch margin? These are things that may seem small, but they show your ability to pay attention to detail.
Use a strong font. Using a font like Georgia is personally what I choose to do. It’s a serif font, which means the letters have the small “tails” on the ends to give more of an elegant look. It catches the eye of the reader and is easier to read. Fonts like Calibri and Arial are called sans-serif fonts because they are very plain without the “tails” that you see with fonts like Georgia. They can be bland and make it harder for the reader to maintain focus.
Bullets need to be quantifiable and direct. Don’t make them too wordy. Who wants to read more than they have to, especially when they have an entire stack of resumes to look through after yours? Structure your experience into descriptive bullet points. Try to keep your most important accomplishments towards the top under each position. Your most important bullets immediately follow your position title and employer, which is what typically what the reader will see first. You should end with your least important bullet at the end of the employment description.
Keep the resume to one page. Unless you are trying to put together a federal resume, you absolutely do not need more than one page. You can consolidate your experience, positions, and education down to the most important and relevant information as it pertains to the position you are applying for.
Proofreading is imperative. As I mentioned above, we all make mistakes in our writing. It’s absolutely imperative that you have someone look over your resume before sending it off to be reviewed by potential employers. Minimize the number of reasons that someone would throw out your resume as much as possible. Any and everything that you can catch and correct is most definitely going to be seen by someone, somewhere down the line. Have someone reliable look over your resume. Email it to someone you trust, print one out and have someone red-ink it. Talk through it as much as possible!
We’ve all had some sort of evaluation or award throughout our military careers. Even if you don’t have a resume or don’t know what to use for your supporting bullets, you have something in writing to help get yourself started. Look for things you did that stick out- what helped ensure team success? Were there any opportunities for you to gain more responsibility? Did you go out of your way to do more than succeed? Keep these kinds of things in mind even after you put them on your resume.
Resume Header
Check out the image above. Your header needs to grab attention of people reading it. Make sure your name is sized larger than any other set of words on the resume. I’ve read that some people are moving away from listing their addresses on their resume. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you do, I highly suggest having a LinkedIn profile and including the link to your profile in its place. Your cell number and your email are imperative. Please don’t use your “.edu” email.
Career Profile
A great way to set the tone at the beginning of your resume is to start with a section that summarizes your professional background. It needs to grab the reader’s attention without delving too far into your experience. In other words, bait the reader in so that they want to know more about you!
Below is an example of a strong career profile introduction, which was written for a real person transitioning into a role after retirement. The veteran that used this in his resume was interviewed and accepted the role that he was offered. Notice how his overall experience in the Army was quickly outlined. We then used that to make a statement about how his experience would easily translate into the position. I recommend listing your strengths and skills as “core competencies” rather than bullet-format. This way, you can be as precise as possible with your skills and they don’t have to be whittled-down to make the list look better appearance-wise. You can make this list suitable to whatever fits your profile most effectively. For example, if you’re pursuing a role in an IT position, it would be better to list out all of your related certifications and/or software that you’re proficient in, followed by your most important skills thereafter.
United States Army Veteran with over 20 years of proven leadership & maintenance management experience as well as an active Secret Security Clearance. Proven ability to lead teams of up to 60 personnel and manage fleets of up to 300 vehicles. Possesses extensive knowledge within environmental safety, risk management, preventive maintenance, and repair parts allocation & tracking.
Core Competencies include Critical Thinking, Perseverance, Empathy, Multi-Tasking, Event Planning & Execution, Decision Making, Responsibility, Teamwork, Adaptability, Supervising, and Written & Oral Communication.
Experience Sections
Cover your positions in chronological order, by relevance to the position for which you’re applying. As you write-out all of your supporting bullets, be sure to keep in mind how you will discuss them while in the interview. With outstanding accomplishments, there’s a good chance the interviewer is going to ask what challenges you faced, how you executed, etc.
Paragraph format isn’t ideal compared to bullet format. It’s harder to scan if someone wants to know quick achievements from your previous positions. The structure of the bulleted list guides the reader’s eyes where you want them. Both methods will give you an opportunity to tell a story.
Education Section
List your highest level of academic achievement, in descending order. High school is not necessary if you’ve completed any kind of undergraduate degree, or have taken field-related schools while in the military. It probably isn’t important to the average recruiter whether you went to Air Assault school. What may carry some weight? Listing that you completed an in-depth HAZMAT course along with on-the-job experience that relied directly on knowledge from that school.
If you have not completed your degree and are not still enrolled to complete that degree, label the section header as “Continuing Education”. Include the dates that you attended the school and completed courses. Be prepared to discuss a general idea of your plans to complete your studies and/or what other avenues of education you may be pursuing.
To Wrap it up
Always take into consideration what will take more time and more effort to learn more about you versus other applicants. What can you do to alleviate that as much as possible while still making a strong impression? It’s a game of balancing to get closer and closer to that result. The goal of the resume is to grab the reader’s attention, give them a strong impression of what you bring to the table, and make them want to meet you through an interview.