The Resume

There has been a lot of discussion on different Veteran centric boards lately concerning resumes. We put much effort into writing, proofing, editing, scrapping and rewriting until we get that perfect document. Once we get it to where we want it, we flood job boards, social media, contact groups and any number of businesses trying to get an interview. Yet, the Veteran community still suffers from severe unemployment in every state. Some states have up to 50% unemployment (you must count those who are discouraged and quit looking).

How can we improve this? We can begin by stop writing the resume to impress ourselves, and start writing the resume to impress the employer. Of course, every one of us knows we are the best thing that has happened to our industry since the advent of fire, but if we center the discussion in the resume to ourselves, we are coming across as narcissistic at best, entitled at the worst. We need to turn it around and tell employers how we can solve their problems. How have we solved similar problems in the past and how will we use these experiences to solve future problems.

Understand the current employment process is not a one and done event. Typically, you will get a call to set up a phone interview (or two), then you get an in-person interview (or two) with HR personnel, hiring managers, maybe even with the person with whom you will eventually work. The goal in this process is like a single elimination tournament (yea I had to through in a sports metaphor). In the first few rounds, it is not about being the champion; it is about the employer not eliminating you so you can become the champion.

Space is your enemy. Most resumes are limited to two pages, not a lot of space when you think about it. You have to be very critical of the information you provide (every keystroke is space consumed) to the employer. Make certain you are telling the employer the things they have asked. Do not add extra information they are not looking for. I will point out some common areas as I go through the resume.

 Let us look at building your resume pool.

Format

Resume 101: Every application deserves its own resume. You need to target each resume specifically towards the announcement and the company. Use civilian industry terminology (not military doctrine) and make sure you understand the organization to which you are applying. That organization is using some sort of Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which is rank ordering the applications submitted according to the key word search of the application and resume. You could be the solution for the employer’s problems, but if you did not use the correct keywords, your resume will be on the bottom of the list.

No font size less than 12, name no larger than 16. Put your name in the top header to save more space in the main body and if you have more than one page, it helps keep the two paired up. Use 1 inch margins all the way around; Standard single space line spacing, if you are good you can spread it out a bit to 1.1 or 1.2 to give it some white space. Bolding and Italics with discretion. Font face is dependent on how the employer will read the resume. Printed resumes are best in a serif font like Times New Roman; for online resumes use sans serif fonts like Arial. Do not submit a cover letter unless requested. If you submit a cover letter, ensure it is the same format as the resume (including the header).

Types of Resumes

There are two general types of resumes, the chronological resume and the functional resume. The chronological resume is the commonly used resume and is date centric. The functional resume focuses on your skills and applicants typically use this type when he/she needs to go further than ten years to find relevant experience, has employment gaps or is older than the typical applicant is for a position.

Both these resume use the same areas, just in a different order. Here is the order for the chronological resume:

·      Contact information (in the header): Limit this to only your name, phone and email address. Adding your LinkedIn profile URL is a nice touch, but only if the resume is digital and you keep the hyperlink. Not suggested for a printed resume. If the employer wants to look at your profile, they will search in LinkedIn instead of trying to type the URL into a web browser. You should not use your physical address for a number of reasons, one is safety and security (you do not want your resume sitting out on a common copy machine where anyone and everyone can see where you live and you are looking for work. This could indicate you are somewhat vulnerable (not focused on 360 situational awareness). The other concern is the employer could eliminate you from considerations because you live in Florida and applied for a position in California.

·      Summary of qualifications: *stomps on the floor three times* This must reflect your qualifications relative to the job announcement. This is the most important part of the resume. The typical recruiter or HR Manager has about 6 seconds to review the hundreds of resumes submitted for each position. If you do not catch their attention here, it is doubtful they will continue reading. Pick out one or two of the most important qualifications from the job announcement and highlight your qualifications here. Do not talk about things the announcement did not bring up. Like being bi-lingual or having lead teams of 3-30 unless these were topics brought up in the announcement. It is wasted space since the employer probably does not care. This is not where you say you are looking for a job with upward mobility or leadership advancement. Do not make unqualified statements, ever, in your resume, but especially in your SoQ. It could cause a HR manager to stop reading and go to the next candidate. Statements such as “Self-starter with outstanding leadership” and “broad, in-depth understanding of lean manufacturing”, or “expert business manager” are all unqualified statements.

·      Relevant Skills: This is generally a two or three column (or table without borders) entry listing your skills which are needed to perform the job. Unless required for the position do not list things like security clearance, expertise in PowerPoint or Excel, Photoshop or Snapchat, or other things not relevant to the job announcement.

·      Professional Experience: Listed in chronological order from most recent going backwards about ten years. Do not make this a job description or more than three to five bullets statements. Focus every entry on how you have solved a problem for a past employer. If you are applying for a position as a training facilitator a comment that you “Led a multi-functional, multi-national team through 4 international training exercises” for the time as an Infantry squad leader in Korea with KATUSA support does not tell the manager anything about your ability to manage a classroom and facilitate content.

o  For the functional resume list the company and position, then the bullet (do not note the years you were there)

o  To cover employment gaps make sure you include your volunteer work in your community or with professional organizations. It shows the employer you were not sitting on your couch in your underwear watching soaps.

·      Professional History: This is on the functional resume only. It is where you will enter your employment history with dates. Hopefully it is far enough along on the resume it will not be read

·      Education: List colleges from most recent and go back to the undergraduate level. I suggest you not post your GPA if you have been in the industry a while. If the college or university inducted you into an honor society, note that instead. After College and universities list your professional certifications (if you do not have any, get them). If you have credible military training, which directly relates to the job announcement, make sure you list it here, no matter how long ago. No need to list your high school unless it is a requirement for employment and it is the only education you have to list.

·      Things to not list:

o  Military Awards (by name): Instead, where appropriate enter the information on why you were awarded. Just listing you had 2 Purple Hearts, 3 Bronze Stars, 5 MSMs and 8 AAMs is not going to do anything for an HR manager.

o  References available upon request: Bluntly, they had better be! This is expected. If the employer wants references they will ask, do not use the space for something expected.