A Resume Guide for Veterans

August 11, 2020 10:32am

Resume writing is a tedious process for most anyone, especially for service men and women beginning their transition into the civilian job market. But by following a few easy tips, you can create a great resume that will better your chances of landing an interview and hopefully the civilian job of your dreams.

Don’t get too fancy

Before you even begin writing the content of your resume, you should avoid using fancy formatting, designs, and even color. Though you might think these characteristics will add that little extra to make your resume stand out from the stack, they can actually cause the reader to become distracted from the skills and value you would bring to their workforce. These embellishments can also make it difficult to be imported into online application programs used by many companies. You should, however, consider using a different font than the common Times New Roman or Calibri. Other fonts to try that might help give it a clean and distinguished look are Century Gothic, Arial, Helvetica, or Corbel. And remember to use bold or italics when necessary to distinguish sections, and use bullets to highlight your greater achievements.

Keep personal information professional

At the top center of your resume, you should list your first and last name, email address, phone number, and LinkedIn profile link (though this is entirely optional). It’s best to use a personal email address rather than a military account. The personal email address you provide should be professional and void of any nicknames or include inappropriate words. Something with your first and last name and maybe some numbers that are significant to you will do just fine. If you don’t have an email like this set up, simply create a free account with a provider like Gmail for the purposes of applying for jobs. And if you are listing a cell phone, be sure your voicemail greeting is pleasant and appropriate.

Include a professional summary

For a long time, it was customary to include an objective statement at the top of a resume, but this practice is now seen as outdated. Instead, include a brief summary of your skills, experience, and work ethic as they are related to the job you are applying for. And remember you’ll need to alter or tailor this summary for each position you apply for. Here is an example summary:

Motivated United States Army Security Forces senior non-commissioned officer with specialized training in bomb disposal and SWAT techniques, seeking to bring more than 20 year’s law enforcement experience to the Miami-Dade Police Department Tactical Operations Section.

If this person were to apply for more of an administrative position, though, they would want to point out a different set of skills and experience that are more applicable to the job.

Lose the military lingo

As a member of the military, you have no doubt become accustom to using military jargon, including a number of acronyms. But most of that terminology will mean nothing to a civilian employer considering you for a job. It’s best to leave this language out. And if you must use acronyms to cut down on your resume length, spell out what they stand for before using them later in the resume so the prospective employer knows what you are referring to. For example, if you needed to use the acronym AGR, you would first list it like this: Active Guard Reserve (AGR) before using just the AGR later in the resume. Also, it’s a good idea to hand your resume over to a civilian friend or family member for review before distributing it to be sure it translates well to the civilian reader.

Brag about yourself

This is the time to sell yourself and what you can bring to a business! It’s fine to talk yourself up a bit! But not only should you describe what you have done, you also want to tell potential employers how well you’ve done it. This means quantifying your accomplishments. For example, you wouldn’t want to simply put that during your time as a logistics supervisor you were in charge of the day-to-day operations of a warehouse and its parts. Instead, go a little more in-depth and write that you supervised the supply chain management of more than 100,000 aircraft parts including ordering, storing, receiving, and distributing.

Highlight keywords

Remember that many companies use databases that scan resumes for certain keywords and phrases to filter out those who might not have the right qualifications or experience for a position. This means you need to be strategic when writing your resume to include keywords that are related to the job. Look at the job listing itself. What keywords have they listed in the job posting? If words like supply chain management, project management, manufacturing, or even certain types of software were used, be sure you include these words in with your past or current experiences so you won’t be overlooked.

Limit the length

Your resume should be kept to two pages or less, and this can be difficult for someone who’s dedicated their entire career to the military and held many roles. But this is where those bullet points mentioned earlier, along with quantifying your accomplishments, come into play. Keeping those achievements in the bullet points to about one line can really save on space. And quantifying your accomplishments using numbers, dollar signs, and percentage symbols can save you from long written explanations. This is also where tailoring your resume to fit each position can help. And feel free to leave out a period of time or a position you held if it doesn’t particularly pertain to the job for which you are applying.

Broaden your search

Don’t sell yourself short! As a service member, it may be hard to realize at first just how many skills you have that can be applied to a vast number of civilian occupations. But rest assured – you have them! Be sure you are thinking outside the box when conducting your job search. Just because you have a degree in computer programming, for example, does not mean you wouldn’t be a great fit for a variety of jobs in security or law enforcement. As a military member, you have likely had the chance to explore a variety of positions within your branch and the skills you developed can be applied to more jobs than you might think!

Proofread (multiple times)

This is perhaps one of the most important things to do when completing your resume. Making silly typos and spelling errors can immediately eliminate you from the running. Spell check is a handy tool, but it doesn’t catch everything. Take a break from the computer screen, print your resume, and read it aloud. You’ll catch things that you may not have caught scanning it on the computer. And pass it off to a few people you know who have a knack for detail and have them give it a look over.

Once your resume is good to go, it’s wise to have a couple variations ready to send off since companies might request different formats. Save your resume in both a Word and PDF format for uploading so when a great job opportunity presents itself, you’ll be ready to apply!

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