Your post-military resume is your representation to the working world. It functions for you 24 hours a day, opening doors to opportunities you didn’t even know existed. Not all resumes are alike or are used alike today with all the different ways available to reach your potential employer. Here are the most important issues to consider as you prepare your resume to represent yourself in the marketplace:
- Make sure you write your resume in your own words. It may be challenging, especially if writing ranks among your least favored activities. But if you write your own resume and don’t let someone else write it for you then you’ll be able to be sharp in your interview. There will be no embarrassment not knowing what the resume expert meant when they wrote that smart phrase on your resume! If you do hire an expert to help you, work closely with that person to be sure your resume realistically reflects your abilities and your vocabulary. This is one of the most obvious reasons that people get rejected for in interviews. If your resume does not sound like the person sitting in front of them, the interviewer will figure it out.
- Make a good first impression. People remember what they see first and last, so place your least important information in the middle. Have an objective or a key word summary or both in the beginning of your resume and end your document with strong content – such as your educational background.
- Tell relevant business stories. Volunteer experiences you have had that support your candidacy for the job. Select the best ones and write them so that they show what problems you’ve solved, actions you’ve taken to do this, and the end results you’ve achieved. For example:”Managed the design, equipment selection, installation, and start-up of a 1 Terabyte Data Mining system, holding over 1 million financial documents related to the company. The project was completed ahead of schedule and over $100,000 under the $500,000 estimated budget.”
- Use proper resume etiquette. The word resume does not belong any place on the document. Use the same verb tenses and start bullet points off with a consistent tone. Never use the word “I” to start out a sentence. The language of your resume should be specific, clear, succinct, positive, and exciting. Make it easy for someone to contact you. Of course references are available; don’t use valuable resume real estate to say this.
- Know what format to use. The two most commonly used and accepted resume formats are the chronological and the functional. Often elements of both are combined. A chronological resume is the most widely used and preferred by recruiters and interviewers, and is best for someone with a consistent work history. A functional resume focuses attention on your accomplishments and is often used more successfully if you are trying to change careers or industries or to downplay gaps in your career. Always make sure that if you have a gap in your career that you have a reason for that gap. Interviewers want to know why there is nothing on your resume for all of 1999.
- Always tell the truth. If you lie about your education, job experience or any other element of your work history, you will probably end up regretting it in the end. True stories abound of professionals receiving awards, only to have their careers ruined when research revealed that portions of their resumes were fabricated. If a job title you had does not adequately reflect the work you really did then you can clarify it as long as you are still being truthful. “Clerical Assistant” does not tell the scope of responsibilities as well as “Executive Administrator.”
- Know whom you are writing your resume for and what is expected to appear on the resume. Your resume and every choice you make in your job search should answer the question to the employer of, “Why should I hire you?” Always communicate the information necessary to evaluate your ability to do the job. Use language that is appropriate to the industry or field, but be aware that extreme jargon may not speak to those who are intermediaries between you and the ultimate hiring manager. It will be obvious to an interviewer if you know what you are talking about, so there is no need to show off in an interview.
- Make sure you get some objective feedback. Have someone other than yourself read and go over the resume for accuracy and typographical errors before you submit it. Ask this person questions about whether the resume communicates what you are trying to portray to the company. Does your resume support your claim of being qualified for the job? Does it address the requirements of a specific job description you’re after? Does it need to be modified to fit the situation exactly?
- Do not keep repeating the same things over and over. This includes certain phrases and words. Use action verbs; they are the foundation of good writing. Use them liberally throughout your resume to communicate your accomplishments: developed, streamlined, pioneered, implemented, and produced. Utilize your word processor’s thesaurus to identify alternatives so that you don’t need to repeat yourself. Use key words that are going to be picked up by scanners and people that are just skimming through resumes looking for certain phrases. If you are in sales then make sure you use phrases such as Account Executive and prospecting, etc. In the Internet age many search engines and first line resume readers are looking for those key words before they read the rest of the resume. This may not sound fair but sometimes a position gets 500 responses and there is no way a company is going to read through all 500. Make sure you catch their eye with the appropriate words they are looking for in their ideal candidates. The job description is where you will figure out which phrases are important.
- Stick with the highlights of your career. Remember that your resume is only one of the elements of your job search strategy. It’s important and it needs to get you in the door, but good follow-up skills will extend the conversation and add further evidence of your ability to do the job. Be prepared to give more detail later and think of your resume more as an introduction then the end-all be-all.
