A WORD ABOUT MILITARY RESUMES

By Randi S. Lewis, Founder, Resume Boutique LLC

Are you in the military now looking for a civilian job within the next several months? Are you a military vet in transition? Are you a professional with prior military experience? How do you highlight your experience in civilian terms? It's not easy! We've collaborated with current and former military professionals in transition, including Iraq War veterans, a Patriot Missle Defense specialist, a 25 year Army vet, and numerous second career professionals with significant military backgrounds and accomplishments. Each resume has its own challenges and there is no template for a successful military to civilian resume. Here are a few tips:

1. Define as clearly as possible your civilian career path.
2. Solicit the help of your military transition office if you are having difficulty defining your next step or if you need help with your resume.
3. Surf the internet for military resumes and study the sample resumes prepared by other professional resume writers.
4. Organize your resume in terms of the defined core competencies required for each civilian job. You may need to created more than one resume with slight variations.
5. Place general skills, competencies and achievements at the top in civilian terms.
6. Translate military terms and acronyms into civilian terms.
7. Highlight the aspects of your experience most relevant to each position you seek.
8. Exclude military experience, accomplishments or awards that have no relation to the civilian position you seek.
9. As a general rule, your resume should be no longer than 3 pages. If it is, it probably means you have not adequately translated your military experience into civilian terms.
10. Always keep in mind that the training, discipline and experience you receive in the military are invaluable to civilian employers. Be proud of your service and accomplishments.

By: Randi S. Lewis, President, Resume Boutique LLC. ~ info@resumeboutique.com ~ 410.602.2500 ~ http://www.resumeboutique.com/. © Resume Boutique LLC 2007. All Rights Reserved.