Posted on Jul 2, 2015
RallyPoint.com: Top 6 Resumé Writing Tips for Veterans
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How good is your resume?
One of the things that we hear repeatedly from private sector recruiters trying to hire top military talent is that it is difficult to find a cohesive resume that translates military skills and experiences, without negating them they are important, and is well formatted for the civilian world.
RallyPoint Civilian Careers team has put together a really comprehensive guide to walk you through, step-by-step, some of the best 6 ways to make sure that your resume puts you ahead of the pack. Don't feel that you need to read it all at once but do use it and share it with your friends, there are bucketloads of useful information in here!
http://blog.rallypoint.com/2015/07/top-6-resume-writing-tips-for-veterans.html
Let us know in the survey where you think you stack in the resume game and your personal experience with resumes and employment. Have they helped or hindered you?
One of the things that we hear repeatedly from private sector recruiters trying to hire top military talent is that it is difficult to find a cohesive resume that translates military skills and experiences, without negating them they are important, and is well formatted for the civilian world.
RallyPoint Civilian Careers team has put together a really comprehensive guide to walk you through, step-by-step, some of the best 6 ways to make sure that your resume puts you ahead of the pack. Don't feel that you need to read it all at once but do use it and share it with your friends, there are bucketloads of useful information in here!
http://blog.rallypoint.com/2015/07/top-6-resume-writing-tips-for-veterans.html
Let us know in the survey where you think you stack in the resume game and your personal experience with resumes and employment. Have they helped or hindered you?
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One thing I would add to this article is the need to create a Master Resume. A master resume is something you will never submit for a position; it will be far longer than you ever thought and it will constantly get updated. Think of it as a professional diary of your experiences. On your master resume, you will list everything you’ve done for work or in a volunteer role, and it will be the guide off of which every tailored resume will be built. Tailored Resumes are what you will be sending out.
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SSG Izzy Abbass
Elizabeth Malkin - A few more thoughts (I did an article on this as well) Some things to remember when building your master resume:
1. Walk through your life year by year and list every job and volunteer activity you did chronologically. Don’t worry about filling out the details at first — you’re building the frame. Then, once your frame is complete, start listing out duties and accomplishments for each job.
2. Talk with coworkers about some of the things they remember as part of the job. In talking with those you worked with on a daily basis, you’ll remember things you often forget when sitting in front of a computer.
3. Look at the award write-ups you received and the course outlines of the schools you attended for things to add. Quite often there are things we did on a regular basis in the military that we don’t even consider for inclusion on a resume. Awards and course outlines can trigger the memories.
4. List all of your volunteer work, even if it was for a weekend event or something that may not be in your wheelhouse for your current career track. You never know when a skill or experience may come into play in a job you’re exploring. Even assisting with your son’s Cub Scout outings took some coordination skills.
5. Think hard about what your military role was, beyond the title. We all know there are skills needed in many roles that are not immediately associated with the job title. Think infantry — project and personnel management play a huge part in the day-to-day, but no one associates those skills with the lowly grunt (a shoutout to all my brothers with blue cords).
6. Once you get a great position, continue to update your master resume with your recent accomplishments and duties. It’s easy to forget some of the things you’ve done, and updating along the way will save you time and frustration when circumstances require you find something new.
As I said, you’ll never submit your master resume for any job listing, but it creates your own cheat sheet for tailoring future resumes for specific opportunities. After you build it, the cut-and-paste function of your word processor become the toughest part of any application.
1. Walk through your life year by year and list every job and volunteer activity you did chronologically. Don’t worry about filling out the details at first — you’re building the frame. Then, once your frame is complete, start listing out duties and accomplishments for each job.
2. Talk with coworkers about some of the things they remember as part of the job. In talking with those you worked with on a daily basis, you’ll remember things you often forget when sitting in front of a computer.
3. Look at the award write-ups you received and the course outlines of the schools you attended for things to add. Quite often there are things we did on a regular basis in the military that we don’t even consider for inclusion on a resume. Awards and course outlines can trigger the memories.
4. List all of your volunteer work, even if it was for a weekend event or something that may not be in your wheelhouse for your current career track. You never know when a skill or experience may come into play in a job you’re exploring. Even assisting with your son’s Cub Scout outings took some coordination skills.
5. Think hard about what your military role was, beyond the title. We all know there are skills needed in many roles that are not immediately associated with the job title. Think infantry — project and personnel management play a huge part in the day-to-day, but no one associates those skills with the lowly grunt (a shoutout to all my brothers with blue cords).
6. Once you get a great position, continue to update your master resume with your recent accomplishments and duties. It’s easy to forget some of the things you’ve done, and updating along the way will save you time and frustration when circumstances require you find something new.
As I said, you’ll never submit your master resume for any job listing, but it creates your own cheat sheet for tailoring future resumes for specific opportunities. After you build it, the cut-and-paste function of your word processor become the toughest part of any application.
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Elizabeth Malkin
SSG Izzy Abbass, this information is so valuable and you are providing great insight, thank you for sharing! Would you feel comfortable sharing your article with RP so that our members can learn from your thought leadership?
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MAJ Raúl Rovira
I second your comments SSG Izzy Abbass. A Master Resume, also known in some places as Master Application (Master App), is crucial. Ive seen Master Resumes on Word and Excel.
For job fairs, It is a good idea to carry a few copies of a "Networking" Resume capturing the last 10 years with 3 to 4 bullet points per job, and a QR code that leads to your LinkedIn profile. We are always branding ourselves.
I give huge credit to the counselors at the Fort Richardson ACAP (SFL) office for helping me civilianize the resume.
For test drive I took an offer for an Informational Interview with the HR department of a bank. It is one of the best azimuth check I've received.
For job fairs, It is a good idea to carry a few copies of a "Networking" Resume capturing the last 10 years with 3 to 4 bullet points per job, and a QR code that leads to your LinkedIn profile. We are always branding ourselves.
I give huge credit to the counselors at the Fort Richardson ACAP (SFL) office for helping me civilianize the resume.
For test drive I took an offer for an Informational Interview with the HR department of a bank. It is one of the best azimuth check I've received.
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I gots to keep it updated and tweak it every 6 months to update it with all my training.
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Elizabeth Malkin
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL, keeping it updated is one of the best things to do! It is hard to remember all the little things that a person has done when he/she suddenly needs to use his/her resume.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
Well said and articulately expressed. Thanks for the post, guess what I am doing this weekend. Updating my GS/civilian resume.
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Elizabeth Malkin
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL, haha, I'm glad to hear it, we should all do the same especially as we have a little extra time over the long weekend, thanks for giving us the nudge!
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