Posted on Aug 31, 2014
How important is it to list your military awards, decorations, security clearance, and that you are a combat veteran on your resume?
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How does it help you out when applying for a civilian job? I am interested to hear your feedback?
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Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 12
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Awards and decorations don't really mean spit in the civilian world. Schools may if you can translate the skills you learned to the job you're trying to get. Clearances can be helpful if a clearance is required for the job.
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CW3 Dylan E. Raymond, PHR
Now the awards and decorations does not have to be listed on the resume however use the opportunity to highlight the actions taken to receive the award. When I am interviewing people I want to know about your hard and soft skills and how they can fix my problem
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CW3 Kevin Storm
Depends on the position in question, a medic with a defense contractor, may carry some weight.
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I think that, for the most part, those items don't add much to the resume, unless you are applying for a job with a "military-oriented" company. In that case, they probably mean a lot.
Case in point -- When I was the General Manager of the para-military protective force contract for the DOE/NNSA nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, we literally had 150-200 applicants for every job we posted. As we were hiring almost 100% veterans, we had to come up with a system for rank-ordering the applicants. One way we did that was to assign points (almost like promotion points) for a wide variety of things, among them branch of service, MOS, weapons quals, awards and decorations, rank, special skills, security clearance, etc., etc.
I guess the best rule of thumb is to do your homework and find out all you can about the company you are providing your resume to and then tailor it to them. Hit on/highlight the areas they would be interested in and make your resume stand out in the crowd.
Case in point -- When I was the General Manager of the para-military protective force contract for the DOE/NNSA nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, we literally had 150-200 applicants for every job we posted. As we were hiring almost 100% veterans, we had to come up with a system for rank-ordering the applicants. One way we did that was to assign points (almost like promotion points) for a wide variety of things, among them branch of service, MOS, weapons quals, awards and decorations, rank, special skills, security clearance, etc., etc.
I guess the best rule of thumb is to do your homework and find out all you can about the company you are providing your resume to and then tailor it to them. Hit on/highlight the areas they would be interested in and make your resume stand out in the crowd.
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Clearances are essential in some fields (like mine). That said, you should not be too specific, e.g. - Top Secret/SCI Clearance; CI Polygraph. Do **not** specify any compartments, programs, or other special accesses you have/had.
The awards and combat experience are, in and of themselves, pretty much worthless (unless you're applying for a mercenary, or other job with combat expected). What you did to earn the awards and the leadership, management, planning, and decision making skills - not to mention discipline and loyalty - you've demonstrated in action are incredibly important.
What you need to do is look at what the company you're applying to does and how what you've demonstrably done in the military translates into "this is the perfect person for this job!"
The awards and combat experience are, in and of themselves, pretty much worthless (unless you're applying for a mercenary, or other job with combat expected). What you did to earn the awards and the leadership, management, planning, and decision making skills - not to mention discipline and loyalty - you've demonstrated in action are incredibly important.
What you need to do is look at what the company you're applying to does and how what you've demonstrably done in the military translates into "this is the perfect person for this job!"
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CW3 Dylan E. Raymond, PHR
Gregg how does it value by putting it on the resume? It would be good for a government job or government contractor. In most cases of civilian employer they are still going to do the on due diligence.
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SCPO (Join to see)
CW2 Raymond - I'm unclear what you're asking about. Regarding clearances - they are essential in some fields, but unimportant in others. The first part was stated explicitly, the second is implied (I thought).
If you're asking why you don't specify compartments - simple, to do so almost certainly constitutes unauthorized (and likely illegal) disclosure of classified information.
Most non-government related jobs don't care about clearances or polygraphs - some employers may view it as a plus, I suppose. Like I said originally, in my field the clearances are essential.
If you're asking why you don't specify compartments - simple, to do so almost certainly constitutes unauthorized (and likely illegal) disclosure of classified information.
Most non-government related jobs don't care about clearances or polygraphs - some employers may view it as a plus, I suppose. Like I said originally, in my field the clearances are essential.
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CW3 Dylan E. Raymond, PHR
You are correct just making an observation about the resumes that list a security clearance. In most cases to me it does not add value and the roles don't require it. It is not a right way or wrong way it is the preference of the person creating the resume.
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