Military to Civilian Resume Sample

Four Simple Steps To Better Results With Your Resume

Is every job description you read the same? No.

Is every job you submit your resume to the same? Of course they aren't.

If all these job descriptions are different, why do you submit the same resume?

Every day, people send the same generic resume out as though each position was identical and each employer was attempting to hire identical skills and attributes. Too often, the results they receive are like the broken watch that is right twice a day—hit or miss success.

They list their name, address, phone numbers and email address, list an objective, education, and chronology of experience with dates of employment. The resume includes some successes or accomplishments. This is their resume.

In the days prior to computers when changing a resume required you to re-type different versions, this made sense. Today, when computers allow you to customize, spell and grammar check documents so easily, you are missing out on opportunities and costing yourself money by being lazy and not tailoring your resume for each opportunity you are interested in.

Here are several steps that you can do to improve your resume and get better results.

1. Each employer will be interested in different attributes of your experience. They often indicate it by the items they describe in their job ad. Emphasize the experiences that you have that relate to the skills being sought and the functions you will perform in the job they will ask you to perform. If you are applying for a staff position, emphasize your staff experience and minimize your management experience. If you are being hired to be a leader, write about your recent leadership.

2. Employers are more interested in recent work, rather than work you did many years ago. Use more space in your resume to highlight recent experience, rather than things you did before George W. Bush became President.

3. Like setting a goal where you make them specific, measurable, achievable within a specific period of time, describe your successes or achievements concretely. Reducing costs is a nice start but it is more powerful to describe something as reducing operational costs globally by 2%. Increased departmental sales by 27% resulting in . . . You get the idea. Use action verbs wherever possible (For more on this, read my article, Preparing an Effective Resume" on www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com).

4. Ask someone you trust to critique what you've written. Too often, people believe that they can do everything by themselves without asking for help. Ask a friend in your industry to critique what you've written to insure you're on target and aren't missing the mark.

When you go to a restaurant and order a meal, you have the expectation that it will be prepared in a way that will please you and be presented on the plate beautifully. Writing a great resume requires that you be the chef and prepare a meal that is both visually appealing and tastes great too!

Jeff Altman

© 2005 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

For additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you're looking for a new position, include your resume).

MORE ARTICLES:

Increase Freelance Sales With an Online Resume!
Freelancing is a competitive business, especially in today's fast-paced, e-focused world.Often there are hundreds of writers competing for the same, limited number of assignments, and the writer who can best showcase his or her abilities is the one who lands the job.

Writing A Resume ? Don?t Forget Its Role In The Process Of Finding A New Job
Too many would be job applicants get overly worried about the quality of their resume (curriculum vitae) Although I?m not advocating a sloppy document, in my experience, too many people spend a disproportionate time on it

How to Create a Great Electronic Resume
After creating the perfect resume, you then need to distribute it. You'll likely be sending some professionally printed hard copies, especially to "A list" companies or organizations you've set your sights on.

Resume Writing - Things to Consider
You are looking for a job and you are out to land the job of a lifetime. It can happen! Before you consider want ads, job websites, or making inquiries of companies you are interested in, you will need a resume.

Online Resume Formats
There are several types of online resume formats that can be used when contacting potential employers. When you search for job openings online, some companies will have on their websites which online resume format is acceptable.

Writing A Resume That Gets You Noticed
As the old saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." In today's business world, of course, that first impression usually does not come from a face-to-face conversation, but from whatever you can tell your future boss about yourself on paper: your resume.

Resurrecting the Perfect Resume, Part Two
Are you in denial about the lifelessness of your resume?  If you are reasonably qualified for the type of work you seek, yet your resume is consistently failing to win you interviews, then you need to face the reality that your beloved document is dead.  Try these professional resume writing techniques to resurrect your resume and your job search today: Problem #3:    Resume Is Blind In your eagerness to cut your job search work load have you reduced your objective statement to something grandiose and vague, something that you hope speaks to every employer but which, in fact, communicates to none?  A resume with no focus is blind; without a clear focus in your resume an employer cannot perceive what you're offering them; without a conci...

VisualCV and Association of Executive Search Consultants Partner in Application of new Resume Technology
Web 2.0 company VisualCV partners with Association of Executive Search Consultants.

Does Your Resume Lack Vision?
You're just getting over the shock of having become unemployed. You know you need to begin a job search, but you may not know the best way to proceed, or where to start.

Pair Your Powerful Resume with a Great Cover Letter
Every great resume deserves a great cover letter.A cover letter is crucial because it's the first thing the hiring manager sees.

Job Search: Age-Proofing Your Resume
Older job hunters fear interviews where their age cannot be concealed and where an initial response of dismay on an interviewer's face, quickly hidden, confirms their anticipation of discrimination. The mature job seeker often prefers the anonymity of mailed resumes, e-mailed inquiries, internet applications, and telephone contacts.

How To Write A Resume Cover Letter That Will Get Your Resume Read
A Resume Cover Letter has only one purpose - to stimulate the recipient of your resume to review your resume. This free resume cover letter tutorial assumes that you will be sending your resume and resume cover letter by email.

Does Your Resume Have What It Takes To Survive The First Cut?
Qualifications" or "Personal Profile") uses bullets and succinct wording to highlight what is likely to most intrigue the employer. Before writing this section, make a list of the 5 to 10 criteria that are most likely to guide the employer's choice – then summarize your qualifications in a way that speaks directly to the employer's interests.

Resume Mirror Extraction Enterprise Achieves SAP® Certified Integration Status
Talent Technology RMX Enterprise integrates with SAP E-Recruiting Resume Parsing to provide advanced resume extraction capabilities.