One of the most common functions I perform for mentees is the resume review. Though I don’t consider myself an expert on resumes or job descriptions, I’ve learned from many other vets over the years how to make improvements, and I see a lot of resumes in different stages of development.
Many transitioning veterans I meet already have great starts on their resume. It feels that there are improvements in the transition classes & availability of help for this kind of thing. But I still see some common areas of improvement, especially for those who are interested in highly competitive and data-driven tech companies.
Replace Esoteric Terms
This is the most obvious one, but it isn’t always simple. You are trying to make your resume readable for a corporate recruiter, and you can’t assume they know military terms. The obvious example would be something like an acronym (OPEX, TSGT). These need to be spelled out, and in some cases renamed so that someone can understand what you are talking about. A platoon leader would probably better be described as an operations or program manager.
Show Impact
This is the most important one. It is great to translate your military responsibilities into civilian descriptions, but without the results, it won’t be enough. Here’s a bullet from resume version 1:
- Trained and coached over 60 leaders in continuous improvement, lean principles and change management
That bullet is pretty okay. I showed some scale in terms of how many managers and supervisors went through the training. I explained what the training was about. But what was really the point? Did this help the business at all?
I went back to look at my performance reports from that time to see if I could relate that class to any good business stuff. Fortunately, this helped me catch up on useful information for interviews and put some impact to the resume bullet:
- Trained 60+ leaders in lean principles and change management, contributing to projects worth $1,000,000 in business savings.
That’s what the bullet looks like on my last resume before getting my current job. It could be improved by adding details about the projects perhaps, but it’s better than it was. I added up the measured savings from the process improvements in my training program, which are really the whole point of the business running a training program.
Be efficient
You should be good at this because of writing evaluations, right? One thing that always makes me laugh about my old resume, is how wordy & complicated it is for no good reason. The resume isn’t like a blog where you write out things for style; it’s a business document. The recruiter or hiring manager is trying to get useful information from the resume, so do these things:
- Keep it to one page. You don’t want the recruiter to need something on a page two, anyway. You can challenge this requirement if you have a LOT of experience, but most people who wind up here should be fine with a single page. This doesn’t mean you should cram everything you can into the one-pager; it still needs to be readable.
- Have a master resume. The resumes that you submit to companies will be one-pagers, but they should be the result of chopping down a much larger master resume. That is because you need to:
- Taylor each resume to the job description. For maximum effectiveness, you need to bring out the most applicable resume possible. Do that by creating a per-job resume, closely using the job description as a guide for what to put in your resume.
- Keep it simple. The burden of translating your military details into (what you think is) corporate speak can bring on a side effect of saying too much. You don’t need an in-depth description of your whole job. You just need a clear description & demonstration of your relatable skills. Some personality is okay for some companies, but remember your target audience and give them what they want: an understanding of your experience and why that should matter to them.
Final thought
Remember that your resume is YOURS, so ultimately you decide how it looks and works. You should get input from as many professionals as you can. It should always be a work in progress, but as long as you are giving a complete effort to matching it up with your job descriptions, you should get the occasional call back from a recruiter.
