How do you prepare your civilian and federal resumes to set yourself up for success?

2017-06-14T17:54:17-04:00

Both types of resumes differ from one another greatly. A civilian resume is more of a snapshot whereas a federal one is more of a narrative story of you experience. In addition, the structures and lengths of each are much different, with federal being a few pages in length. How do you set up each of these documents in order to give you the best chance at being hired?

Response by SSG Pete Fleming made Jun 14 at 2017 6:02 PM

2017-06-14T18:02:22-04:00

One of the biggest issues really is not being able to translate your military experience into civilian speak. There are now tons of resources that can help, unlike years ago. But still I see resumes and job applications for civilian jobs written in military speak.

Take the time to translate it, ask for help, Google it, but don't write a civilian resume with your military stuff written by a military mind for a military audience. News flash, most recruiters and hiring managers have no clue. They don't understand why Marines are not called soldiers much less the difference between a 1371 and a 12-B.

Response by Capt Brandon Charters made Jun 14 at 2017 6:04 PM

2017-06-14T18:04:12-04:00

Hi SGT Joseph Gunderson - Great question. A few of our top transition & talent acquisition experts might have some helpful advice on the civilian resume front. Michelle Titus Stevan Richards Joseph Wong Private RallyPoint Member Danielle Gray CW3 Dylan E. Raymond, PHR SGT Jason Noma Brigit Freedman SSG Arron Daniels SMSgt Terrence Gonzalez Jennifer Farley LTC Paul Turevon LT George Bernloehr

Response by Danielle Gray made Jun 15 at 2017 9:14 AM

2017-06-15T09:14:11-04:00

In regards to a civilian resume, there are a lot of tips out there but I tell people to remember is that the resume is a representation/extension of you. I'm not saying that it always has to be a standard or boring template, but just keep in mind that your resume will be getting to the manager before you do.

Response by SFC William Stephens A. Jr., 3 MSM, JSCM made Jun 15 at 2017 10:10 AM

2017-06-15T10:10:51-04:00

When I knew my time was near the end or lets just say when I in my last unit, I stated drafting what I that was a good resume because I thought I had the skills and knowledge to completed this task because I won't lie I had just completed 1SG course and I was on a high pole and I knew while I was in school that this was going to be my last military or senior enlisted course I took so I wanted to do well in everything I did and it was very hard for me because most of my classmates were already Master Sergeants or had pinned on 1SG and I was only SFC so I took a lot shit from them, but I learn a lot from them after school was out like writing my resume. SO While I was in school I wrote my Federal resume but I only knew so much. When you have a bunch of senior NCOs who can't write resume who going to teach you the right way. so for about 3 years I went on looking for the answers and I really could not find them and I never thought about converting my resume to civilian language. That thought had never crossed my mind. So lets fast forward just a little bit, I kind of knew my career was over so I had to go to a WTU in WASH DC. Talk about opening a door for your civilian career and that's what I did, I ended up doing a Internship for the DOD and the great people there helped me convert my military to civilian language. I won't say that my resume stopped there because your resume is a working document and my Federal resume was about 6 to 8 pages long and it sounded like story book and then I came on board to the agency I work for now and a little help from Rally Point as well because their are some good veterans who share some good knowledge about resume writing. Now my civilian resume is down to 3 pages including reference's. I mostly use my Civilian resume because I have included a lot of my federal with it In the end I guess it all boils down to where your going to work because if I was going to go work for AA&T I surly would not send them my Federal resume because they would not have time to read it. That why I cut my down 100% because I was not being picked up on the CERT because my resume was too long.

Response by Stevan Richards made Jun 15 at 2017 10:26 AM

2017-06-15T10:26:45-04:00

Translation is the first step as SSG Pete Fleming recommended. Once you are able to translate your military experience to represent your skills, you need to make sure that you are applying that translation to the appropriate position and telling a compelling story. Take a look at the job description you are interested in. Read through it and highlight the required and desired skills set in the job description that are relevant to your experience. Now, make sure that you list each of those required and desired skills that you have in your resume in order to show that you do indeed have the proper experience to do the job. This will also set you apart from many other applicants who do not take the time to do so and are immediately rejected as not meeting the requirements because they did not include them in the resume.

Example: Your AFSC is 64PX and you are listing weapons quals on your resume, you may turn off prospective employers. However, if you tailor your resume to translate your experience as a Contracting Officer for weapon systems to reflect a position in, say, supply chain management you will be far better off.

Taking the time to tailor a resume to a few positions will be far better than applying to a hundreds of positions with the same, generic resume. There are two things to consider:
1 - There are likely 50-100 (or more) other applicants for the position. How do you set yourself apart? Take the time to have your resume demonstrate the required skills as they are listed in the job description
2 - With all of those applicants, recruiters and hiring managers do not have the time to translate for you. Some may have served in the same MOS, or be able to recognize what your military experience entails based on where you were stationed. Don't count on it though!