Military to Civilian Resume: Tips to Show Off Your Skills

One of the most challenging things when creating a resume is condensing a career’s worth of experience to one or two pages. This becomes increasingly difficult the longer you have been in the workforce. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

The key is knowing which information to include, how to format your resume, and how to set yourself apart from the crowd. After all, the purpose of a resume isn’t to get you a job; it’s to secure an interview.

These tips will help you write a resume showcasing your skills, abilities, and accomplishments – whether you have a few years or a few decades of work experience. These tips will help your resume get noticed and, hopefully, get you on the shortlist for a face-to-face or phone interview.

Table of Contents

1. 10-15 Seconds ~ That’s all the Time You Have
2. Making Your Resume Stand Out
3. Pay Attention to the Basics
4. Define Your Job Objectives
5. Summarizing Your Military Experience
1. Translation is Key
6. How to Translate Your Military Skills into Civilian Terms
1. Skills Translation Example – Infantryman
2. Putting Your Skills in Civilian Terms
3. Tools to Help Translate Your Military Skills
7. Create a Master Resume
8. Write a Custom Resume for Each Industry or Field
9. Pay Attention to Resume Length
10. Clean and Easy to Read = A Winning Formula
11. Give Your Resume a Distinct Title
12. File Formats ~ It’s All the Same, Right?
13. Keep Track of Which Resumes You Send Out
14. Resume Content ~ This is Where the Magic Happens
1. Always Stick to the Truth
15. Types of Resumes – Chronological, Functional, and Hybrid
1. Chronological Resume
2. Functional Resume
3. Hybrid Resume
16. Use Keywords ~ But Don’t Spam
17. Personal Information ~ Keep it Simple, Keep it Clean
18. Objective and Summary ~ Less is More
19. Education ~ Let Your Experience Be Your Guide
20. Skills, Certifications, and Professional Affiliations
21. Numbers Tell a Story
22. Use Acronyms Sparingly
23. Hobbies and Extracurricular Activities
24. Digital, Video, and Online Resumes ~ Another Way to Excel
25. Crowd-Source Within Your Professional Network
26. Epic Resume FAQs
1. What do employers look for on a resume?
2. What are the 7 essential steps to writing a resume?
3. What are the 5 most important parts of a resume?
4. How long should a resume be?
5. How do I pick the right resume format?
6. What should I never put on my resume?
7. How do I write a convincing cover letter?
27. Putting it all Together

10-15 Seconds ~ That’s all the Time You Have

Hiring managers often receive over one hundred resumes for each job opening they post. No, that is not a typo. With so many resumes and so little time, they need to ruthlessly cull the stack of resumes to a more manageable shortlist – the select group of resumes that will get looked at in more depth and possibly lead to an interview.

The sheer number of applications many managers receive is also why many jobs are never advertised and remain in the hidden job market.

There are several ways managers chop the list – the first is automated software (see the keyword section below), followed by simple manual screening – did the applicant submit the resume in the correct format, is it easy to read, are there any glaring spelling or grammar errors, is the applicant qualified?

Using these filters makes it quick and easy to toss out resumes – and when there are so many applicants, the easiest way to start the process is to first look for reasons to throw out resumes, not look for the best candidate. If your resume passes muster, then it might go to the shortlist of potential interviews, while the others are filed in the round basket on the floor of the hiring manager’s desk.

Making Your Resume Stand Out

You’re right if you think that scented paper or envelopes, colored paper or fonts, or monogrammed stationery will make an impression. Unfortunately, it’s not the right impression. These are a waste of time and money; in most cases, they will send your resume straight to the reject pile.

The truth is that most resumes today are submitted in a digital format and HR reps and hiring managers don’t want to mess around with non-standard resume formats, colored paper, and fonts, or other distractions.

Their time is limited and they want to be able to quickly and easily size up an applicant with as little trouble as possible.

The most effective method for making your resume stand out is by using a clean and easy to read format that clearly highlights your skills, talents, and abilities.

Let’s walk through some tips and examples of writing a resume that will cut through the clutter and rise to the top of that long list of job applicants who can’t be bothered to take the time to research how to write and submit a resume according to the employer’s guidelines. Let’s go.

Pay Attention to the Basics

I know it sounds elementary, but it bears repeating – the little things really do matter. And they are also the easiest mistakes to avoid.

You must use proper spelling and attention to details when writing a resume.

You don’t necessarily need to write grammatically correct sentences (fragments are acceptable and often preferable), but you do need to pay attention to proper capitalization, commas, periods, semi-colons, and other grammatical elements when called for. And always, always, always, use spell-check*.

*Keep in mind that spell-check isn’t the same as grammar check, write right?

Define Your Job Objectives

Let’s assume for a minute that you have years of experience under your belt. Listing a career’s worth of experience on a resume can not only be a daunting task, it can also be an exercise in futility.

The first thing you should do is decide which type of job you are looking for. That seems easy on the surface, and for many people, it is.

But some people have various skills and can fit into multiple job positions. Take a few moments to brainstorm the type of job you seek, and commit this to paper – not only for your resume but for yourself.

Think of it as your personal job statement. Keep it handy, because you will need to use this as your guiding light as you search for your next job – and create the ultimate resume.

Summarizing Your Military Experience

The military equips its personnel to handle a variety of situations. It’s not uncommon to see a junior military member managing millions of dollars worth of equipment or making life-and-death decisions. In many ways, military members handle decisions and responsibilities far greater than their peers in the corporate world. But how do you get that across in a resume?

Translation is Key

You possess a unique capacity to set yourself apart as a service member. You need to understand a few basic points to highlight these unique skill sets.

First, civilians rarely understand the scope a military career field covers. It is your job to inform them. Second, you need to translate those military responsibilities into civilian-friendly summaries. Limit your acronyms — employers rarely understand them.

How to Translate Your Military Skills into Civilian Terms

Military veterans often have many skills and talents civilian employers seek. But sometimes, the veterans and the employers don’t speak the same language. Today, we will show you a few resources you can use to help translate your military service into terms civilian employers can better understand – making you more valuable as a potential employee and potentially helping you more easily get a job.

Skills Translation Example – Infantryman

The term “Infantryman” covers a fairly broad category, encompassing several definitions and many responsibilities. As a service member, how do you translate your wholly unique set of skills to civilian employers? If your military occupational specialty is infantry, you can convert that into a civilian-friendly summary of qualifications. Instead of simply denoting yourself as an “infantryman who shot machine guns,” take a second, grab some water, and relax.

Very few employers are enamored with machine-gun management. They are, however, more apt to entertain the idea you “operated equipment in high-stress situations.” Think outside the military “box.” Deconstruct your responsibilities, pulling from individual acts, instead of an all-encompassing billet denoted by the Department of Defense.

Putting Your Skills in Civilian Terms

Continuing with the theme of “translation” and DOD billets, it’s time you civilianize your job title. Let’s face it, as a “Company Gunnery Sergeant,” you managed a group of pugnacious young men, keeping them on schedule and saving their hides’ regularly – essentially a high-level “Supervisor.”

Similarly, a “Commanding Officer” in the Air Force is responsible for scheduling training, directing operations, and making other executive decisions. In the civilian world, “Operations Manager” parallels that of “Commanding Officer.”

Also, when compiling your resume, stay away from acronyms and abbreviations. We veterans may know what you’re saying, but the rest of America doesn’t. Translate them into layperson terms.

Military training/schooling should be simplified into the real meaning of said education. For example, the job qualifications of a Naval “EMN ET” are rather intense, involving some of the most comprehensive high-tech training available in the world. If you gained certification as an “EMN ET,” explain the assortment of letters (Electricians Mate [Nuclear Field]) and the months of cutting-edge schooling you endured.

And don’t forget to spell-check – it’s there for a reason!

Tools to Help Translate Your Military Skills

The military has a host of jobs that don’t exist in the civilian world, and putting the skills you learned in those positions may seem difficult, and it can be if you start from scratch. Thankfully, there are a few online tools that you can use to help craft a civilian resume that will attract attention, regardless of your former military position.

• O*NET, the Occupational Information Network. This tool was developed for the U.S. Department of Labor and helps military members translate their skills into civilian terms. Simply enter your MOS, AFSC, Rating, or job title and the database will return a summary of your military job and some examples of skills you can use on your resume.
• Military.com MOS Translator. This tool works the same way as the above link. Simply enter your military job, and you will receive a synopsis of skills learned on the job.
• Texas Veterans Commission Skills Translation. This page lists several additional resources that work the same as the above two tools. There are several similar tools to be found online, and once you learn how to use one of them, they should all be somewhat similar in function.

There is also a list of new career resources for veterans on this site which can point you in the right direction.

Create a Master Resume

The next step is to create a master resume that captures everything you have done throughout your applicable career (note the word applicable). It doesn’t make sense to list things that aren’t related to your current job search if they happened years ago and you won’t need that experience in your next job.

For example, I served for six years in the military as an aircraft mechanic. My military service was a decidedly blue-collar experience, and every job I have held in my post-military career has been of a white-collar nature.

In my resume, I limit reference to my military experience to the dates and locations I worked in that field and a one or two-line description of my duties. Nothing more is necessary, as I am not going back into the aircraft maintenance field.

Length isn’t important – yet. Don’t worry about how long the first draft of your base resume is – the purpose of this resume is to capture all of your skills and experience and serve as a foundation for the resumes you are actually going to submit.

This resume could be two or three pages long or five or six pages long. It doesn’t matter – this is for you only, as the purpose of it is to help you create the resumes you will actually submit for your applications.

Yes, we are creating multiple resumes here. Remember – we are going for the ultimate resume that will get you noticed, not a boilerplate resume you can blast on a job site and hope you receive a phone call or e-mail from your dream employer.

Write a Custom Resume for Each Industry or Field

Creating a one-size-fits-all resume is almost universally discouraged. Most experts recommend writing resumes for each job or industry you are applying for.

But there are two schools of thought here: build a unique resume for each specific job you apply for, or make a unique resume for each field or type of job you apply for.

The first option is self-explanatory. You can write a unique resume for each job application.

This isn’t a problem if you are only applying to a few locations. The downside to this approach happens when you apply for many different jobs.

You could spend hours tweaking multiple drafts of what is essentially the same resume. There is something to be said about leaving well enough alone.

You may be better off writing multiple versions of your resume if you are applying for jobs that you are qualified for, but would be classified under different job titles. Let’s look at an example of when this might work:

Say you have experience as a mechanical engineer with a background in project management, quality control, and Six Sigma. If you are interested in applying for jobs specializing in those four skills, you may be better off writing a unique resume for each of these four career fields to better emphasize your skills in those areas. We’ll cover how to keep track of these variations in a later section.

Writing the perfect customized resume. Start with the base resume you created earlier and tailor it for each specific position or company you are applying for.

Most resumes should be limited to one or two pages, with some exceptions (see next section on length), so you will likely need to slash items from your work history. For example, you may be able to cut your first few job positions down to the company, dates worked, job title, and a one or two-line summary (as I mentioned above regarding my military experience).

Use the majority of the space to focus on your most recent and/or relevant work, along with your education, certifications, and skills. This takes more work, as it needs to be customized for each position, but you end up with a resume that is more applicable to the company/position you are applying for and one that is more likely to float to the top of the stack.

Pay Attention to Resume Length

It can be difficult to reduce years, or even decades, of experience to one or two pages. Do it anyway.

Many hiring managers only give 10-15 seconds to a resume on an initial pass. If you have three or four or five pages, chances are very high your resume will be placed in the reject pile.*

Be considerate of the hiring manager and condense your resume to the hardest-hitting bullet points and most valuable skills.

*The exception to this rule would be for high-level positions such as C-level managers or highly specialized jobs requiring a long list of qualifications or certifications. Use your judgment, career position, and knowledge of your specific industry as your guide.

Clean and Easy to Read = A Winning Formula

You want to include as much information as possible in your resume, but you also want it to be easy on the eyes and easy to read. Bullets are preferable to long blocks of text. A manager can quickly scan bullets on dozens of resumes, but text in a paragraph format is not as easy to scan quickly and will likely be skipped over.

You can play with the formatting to reduce white space, condense lines, or make it easier to read. But don’t get too creative (unless you are in the creative arts industry or a similar field, and even then, be careful).

You want your resume to stick out, but not if that means it is automatically rejected as being too difficult to read or understand. When in doubt, err on the side of standardization and simplification.

Give Your Resume a Distinct Title

Give your resume a descriptive file name. A good example is something like, FirstName_LastName_Job_Description.pdf *.

For example, if I were applying for a project management position, I would use a resume with the following filename: Ryan_Guina_Project_Manager.pdf.

Remember, most resumes are submitted digitally and end up as e-mail attachments, or as part of a larger database of resumes. Using a keyword or job description in your file name makes it easier for an HR rep or hiring manager to find and remember your resume at a glance and avoid having to open it, just to see your name or which position you are applying for.

The worst thing you can do is name your file, Resume.doc. That works for your own computer, where you are the only person who will see it, but it’s awful for a hiring manager who may be looking at multiple files with the same name.

A generic title is much more likely to end up in the trash bin than on the shortlist for interviews.

*See next section on resume file formats

File Formats ~ It’s All the Same, Right?

Contrary to popular belief, not all businesses use Microsoft Word, even though that is still the standard in most industries. Since not all companies use or support MS Word, using an extension such as .doc, or .docx may not be a good idea, unless it is the requested format.

When deciding which file extension to use, always pay attention to the requirements listed by the hiring company.

Other popular formats. If in doubt, you can’t go wrong with a .pdf format, which is freely available and used by most businesses (it is also system agnostic, meaning it can be opened on Windows, Macs, and Linux machines with a free version of Adobe Reader).

You also don’t need a full version of Adobe to create a .pdf – many word processors or operating systems can easily convert documents to a .pdf format. Otherwise, you can find free converters online.

Some HR reps and hiring managers prefer to receive the resume inside the e-mail so they don’t have to spend time downloading and opening an attachment. When in doubt, ask!

Submitting to a proprietary system? Use a text file. You may run into companies or hiring agencies that require you to manually enter your resume into their proprietary system (USAJobs.gov is a prime example; see their Resume Builder site for tips on filing a resume with the US govt).

This can be a pain, but if it’s the only way to apply, you have to deal with their system. And if you already have a resume from another application, you can always copy/paste, which saves time.

First, copy your data into a text file first (Notepad on PC, TextEdit on Mac), which will strip formatting and extra code from your source document. MS Word is notorious for adding extraneous lines of code when copied/pasted, so first transferring your data into a text document will ensure your information is input into the system cleanly.

A word about manual entries. Some companies which require you to enter your resume manually don’t have a length limit, and you wouldn’t know you were up against it anyway, since you can’t always see what it looks like in its finished format.

Even though you may feel freedom without the constraints of length, it’s still a good idea to limit yourself to the items with the most impact on your resume. Focus on streamlining your resume for the exact position – remember, you want it to stand out, not be pages and pages of fluff.

Keep Track of Which Resumes You Send Out

As we mentioned above, creating a customized resume based on your job search is essential. Because of this, you will have multiple versions of your resume specific to different companies or career fields.

Unless you are organized from the outset, you may lose track of which resume you sent to which company. This would be a bad thing.

Use the file naming format to create a list of resumes you send out. For example, if I applied for a project management position at Google, I would use the following filename:

• Ryan_Guina_Project_Manager_Google.pdf, or
• Google_Ryan_Guina_Project_Manager.pdf

Following a standard naming convention* allows you to easily find the exact resume you need when you receive a callback or phone interview. And if you need to apply for another project manager position or similar job, you can grab this version and tweak it for a different company or related job description.

Remember, there is no need to recreate the wheel – use shortcuts when it makes sense!

I don’t recommend including the company name in the file you send to the company. It could come across as presumptuous or as though you are shotgunning your resume.

*There is no universal naming convention. Use what makes the most sense to you. For example, you may prefer to append something like v1.0, v1.1, etc. at the end, or use a date convention, such as yyyy_mm_dd.

Resume Content ~ This is Where the Magic Happens

We’ve only discussed formatting, file names, and length. These are all essential, as ignoring these items may get your resume tossed before it is even looked at.

But if your resume doesn’t have legs, it can’t stand. So you need to fill it with your skills, abilities, accomplishments, education, awards, and anything else which might sell you as the perfect employee for the job you are applying to.

The two most important things to remember are to stick to the facts and sell yourself. (Seriously, don’t get caught in a lie; nothing good will come from it).

Always Stick to the Truth

A few words about lying on your resume: Don’t do it. This rings true regardless of whether you are applying for an entry-level position or you are applying to a C-Level job at a Fortune 500 company.

Scott Thompson, the former CEO of Yahoo, was ousted after only 4 months on the job after Yahoo determined he lied on his resume.

It’s not just high-ranking people who falsify their resumes and bios. The same thing can happen to you if you submit a fraudulent resume for a job application.

Most companies and hiring managers do a background check when hiring employees. It may be as basic as a criminal background check, or, for higher-level positions, it can be as deep as a full background check, including verifying your resume and educational background.

The safe thing – both professionally and morally – is to always be truthful when writing your resume. The last thing you want is to be hired, only to be fired shortly afterward for a fraudulent resume.

You would not only lose the job you just got, but potentially lose out on other positions, either those which you declined interviews for after you got hired at your new job or from other companies which would decline even to interview you if they got wind of your lack of ethics when you applied to your former position.

And don’t dismiss the last possibility – some industries are very tight and many of them have contacts at other companies. I’ve worked in some of those industries where news travels very quickly and it is easy to see your professional stock rise or drop very quickly.

Falsifying your resume is just not worth damaging your personal or professional reputation.

Types of Resumes – Chronological, Functional, and Hybrid

There are three main formats for resumes: chronological, functional, and hybrid:

Chronological Resume

The most common type of resume is the chronological resume, which lists your jobs and accomplishments in reverse chronological order. This is usually the preferred format as it is the format most hiring managers are familiar with, and it lists your most recent accomplishments first.

This is perfect for service members who’ve consistently been employed, military or otherwise. It’s important to account for lapses in employment, as companies look for consistency.

Functional Resume

The next most common type of resume is the functional resume, in which you list your skills first. Functional resumes are generally best for applicants who are changing industries, don’t have an extensive work history, or have a long employment gap (unemployment, going back to school, etc.).

So-called “skills translators” are great tools to utilize when writing a functional resume. They will translate military skills into civilian terms. Military.com has an excellent skills translator, and www.onetonline.org offers an excellent free MOS decoder. For example, rather than simply denoting yourself as an infantryman, the skills translator suggests you “operated weapons and equipment in ground combat operations.”

Hybrid Resume

A hybrid resume is another option to consider. This option combines the two previous formats by using a more extensive summary which includes a more in-depth list of skills, followed by a reverse chronology of work history. The key is to find a format that best highlights your work experience.

Use Keywords ~ But Don’t Spam

Pay close attention to the job description when creating your tailored resume. Each job listing will have a list of keywords in the job description.

It’s a great idea to use some of these exact phrases in your resume, as long as they represent your skills and abilities.

Why is this a good idea?

Because many HR departments use software to screen resumes to lessen the load on the hiring managers.

The more keywords your resume matches to the job description, the more likely your resume will float to the top and be read by a human instead of filtered as not being a match.

Don’t use this knowledge to spam your resume if you don’t have the skills. Instead, use this knowledge to rework and refine your resume to make it more in line with what the company is looking for.

Personal Information ~ Keep it Simple, Keep it Clean

Your contact information is straightforward – list your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address*.

You can also include your personal website, LinkedIn profile, or other social media profiles if applicable. In most cases, your boss doesn’t need to see your FaceBook page. But including a link or url to an online resume or portfolio may do wonders, especially if you are in a creative industry and need to show examples of your previous work.

Your LinkedIn profile may also be a way for a potential employer to research your professional background further and could lead to you being hired. In all cases, only include this information if you present a professional image.

*Always use a professional e-mail address. [email protected] or something similar is always preferable to [email protected].

Objective and Summary ~ Less is More

Most resume templates include a section for both the Objective and Summary. You can almost always kill the objective statement without hurting your resume.

Most objective statements are obvious, and you waste space that could be used for more important information, such as your actual skills and accomplishments.

The Summary statement is also something I have seen people recommend scrapping. I’m in favor of keeping it, so long as you make it useful and concise.

Only include strong statements about your top-level qualifications. Use this section to include keywords from the posted job description, which will help your resume get through automatic filters.

Tip: Use this space to show the company what you can do for them, not to tell the company what you want from them.

Education ~ Let Your Experience Be Your Guide

If you are fresh out of college, it’s essential to use anything you can use to your advantage to set you apart from others.

So you will likely want to include things such as the university you attended, location, degree achieved, college major, minor, GPA, student activities/clubs/groups (especially if you held an office, such as club president), awards, and even scholarships or internships if relevant.

Once you have a few years of experience under your belt, some of your school activities and other education and training are no longer as important as what you have accomplished in your career and you can limit your education to the university, major, GPA if solid and anything that sets you apart.

Skills, Certifications, and Professional Affiliations

Always list any relevant skills and certifications which apply to your job search. This includes professional certifications, language skills, and tech skills such as software or programming.

It is also a good idea to include your relevant professional affiliations, such as trade groups, industry affiliations, and similar professional groups.

These show that you are active in your professional growth and are more likely to be up to date with trends and technological advancements in your industry. You can also use this section to include professional training you have taken which may be relevant to your job search.

Numbers Tell a Story

Be as specific as you can when describing your job title, tasks, duties, and accomplishments. If you trained new employees, then be specific: trained 15 new employees on internal standards and practices.

If you saved the company money or time, then try to quantify it. Quantifying your skills and abilities can go a long way toward helping you get the interview, get the job, and negotiate a higher salary.

Use hard numbers when possible. Let’s face it – figures are sexy, and sex sells. Which of these is more impressive:

• Saved company time and money by creating and implementing a new widget production process
• Created new widget production process; reduced production time by 20% and saved $1 million in production costs

The second one, right? Even if you remove the staggering sum of $1 million, it sounds more impressive, because it is concrete. The goal here isn’t to oversell yourself or to brag, but to put some scope into your past work experience.

Use Acronyms Sparingly

Acronyms are commonly used in many industries and workplaces. But that doesn’t mean they always translate across career fields and employers.

If you use acronyms, be sure they are industry standards representing certifications or commonly understood topics. If in doubt, it’s almost always best to spell it out first, then use the acronym in parenthesis.

Then you can use the acronym throughout the resume. Example: If you are applying for a project management position, you can write this in your resume, Project Management Professional (PMP) certified. Future references to the certification can be listed as PMP, without spelling it out.

Hobbies and Extracurricular Activities

There are two sides to the argument when considering adding things outside of your normal work duties. Some people recommend sticking with only those items which relate to work. Other people say it’s OK to include outside activities.

I’m in the second camp, provided the items you include help you stand out from the pack. Listing your volunteer activities may also be another way to help your resume stand out.

Make sure that whatever you include in this section shows a potential employer the skills you bring to the table.

Digital, Video, and Online Resumes ~ Another Way to Excel

What digital resume? You mean you don’t have one? You should. A large percentage of employers perform an informal background check on job candidates.

A quick Google search can save an employer a lot of time and money if it helps them weed out the wrong candidates before spending time or money interviewing them, or worse, hiring them, only to find out they aren’t the right person for the job. Go search for your name in Google. When I search for my name, I see various articles I’ve written, websites I own, and social media profiles.

Any prospective employer can quickly and easily find the same thing. Make sure all your public profiles are professional in nature.

Want more information on creating a digital resume? We wrote another 1,600+ word resource on creating video and digital resumes, including how and where to do it (there are many free resources to create and upload your video resume or portfolio). So we won’t recreate the wheel in this article.

Just know that having your resume available in different formats and locations increases the likelihood of it being found. The more engaging it is, the more likely you will be contacted for an interview.

Crowd-Source Within Your Professional Network

The vast majority of job openings never get posted on public job boards, as many jobs are filled internally, or via recommendations from current employees or headhunters. Because of this, your personal and professional network is the best place to find a job.

Not only that, but they can be the best source for reviewing your resume and offering advice on where it can be improved. The bonus is that when you ask for someone to review it, they may put it in front of someone who is looking to hire someone or knows someone who is hiring.

The more people who see your resume when you are looking for a job, the better.

Epic Resume FAQs

What do employers look for on a resume?

Many of the following are common sense, but others you may not have thought about. Either way, here’s a good checklist you can use to catch the eye of potential employers:

Roles and Responsibilities. Avoid jargon. Focus on essential transferable skills and titles.

Experience. Highlight the experience where you provided added value to an employer.

Skills. Your skills will complement your experience and should ultimately illustrate your suitability for the job offered.

Results and Achievements. Not a separate category, but figure out a way to weave these things into your narrative.

Education. Include relevant educational certificates, particularly when listed as essential or desirable in the selection criteria.

Formatting. Make sure it’s easy to read, with no typos, so an employer can quickly scan it. Use only one font. Instead of rambling sentences, use bullet points to outline skills, achievements, and responsibilities.

No Inconsistencies. Make sure there are no unexplained gaps in your work history or inconsistencies in the responsibilities or achievements you’ve included.

Relevant Language. Use important keywords throughout your resume that are relevant to your field. To do this, scan the job description and make sure your language mirrors it. Avoid excessive jargon

Format and Label. Ensure your resume is formatted in such a way that the recipient will be able to open it easily. When you save your resume, include your name in the saved title.

Scanability. Although you’ll choose the best action words and power verbs for your resume, accept that few hiring managers are reading your resume.

Instead, they scan the page, looking for keywords, job titles, and major facts that will show if you are a good fit for the position.

What are the 7 essential steps to writing a resume?

If you’re not sure where or how to start, break down the process into these 7 basic steps:

1. Choose a format.
2. Start with your contact information.
3. Include your professional profile.
4. Summarize your education and experience.
5. Highlight your skills.
6. Include your certifications.
7. Conclude with additional sections that are relevant for the job or industry.

What are the 5 most important parts of a resume?

At a minimum, all resumes should contact the same basic elements. Here are the five main sections of a resume:

Contact information. Your name, city and state, phone number, and email address should be prominently displayed at the top of your resume. Include social media profile links and your personal website or blog, if applicable.

Introduction. In many cases, you’ll benefit from a brief overarching introduction. Add a couple of sentences that show the value you offer by highlighting your skills and some career successes.

Professional experience. This is the most critical section, but many job seekers mistake listing their job duties instead of their accomplishments.

Skills. What are you particularly strong at that will let an employer see the value you bring to a need they have? Focus on technical, people, and industry-specific skills and make them prominent.

Education. Go beyond listing your college degree. Add certificates, classes and other training that will set you apart from other applicants.

How long should a resume be?

Unless you’re highly experienced or have a long list of relevant specialized knowledge that you need to convey, keep it to one page. In some cases, spillover to a second page is okay.

But remember, you’ll lose your readers if you go way too long. An overly long resume will work against you, so go for your greatest hits and nothing more.

How do I pick the right resume format?

The three standard resume formats. Each provides the same information but it’s just organized differently.

A functional resume draws attention to your skills instead of your past employment or work history. You group relevant skills and accomplishments into special categories and place them before the work history section of your resume. This is a great approach for highly technical positions.

A chronological resume emphasizes your past employment by listing your work history near the beginning of your resume. List your most ccurrent position first and then other positions going back up to about 15 years or so.

A combination resume mixes the best features of the functional and chronological styles by emphasizing your abilities while including a full job history. This format is quickly becoming the format of choice for upwardly mobile professionals due to its flexibility and ability to highlight strengths and skills.

Employers like it because it makes the task of looking for searchable keywords easier to accomplish. This is best suited for professionals with a long history, many contacts and references, and at least some sort of reputation in the field.

What should I never put on my resume?

Avoid these resume killers at all costs:

• Typos
• Poor writing or word choices
• Bragging (learn the difference between this and responsibilities and achievements).
• Poor layout or illegible font.
• Fancy design. Make it easy to read.
• Political affiliations.
• Too much information.
• Inaccuracies about your qualifications or experience.
• Unnecessary personal information.
• Your age.
• Marital status.
• Negative comments about a former employer.
• Your hobbies and interests.
• An unprofessional email (i.e. [email protected] does not work!)
• Multiple phone numbers
• Outdated or irrelevant social media profiles
• Sexual orientation
• Spiritual beliefs.
• Salary history
• References. When it’s time, they’ll ask.

How do I write a convincing cover letter?

Here are some things to consider when drafting a cover letter.

• Keep it simple.
• A cover letter is only a polite handshake and nothing more.
• Three or four paragraphs should be enough.
• Triple check for spelling and grammar mistakes.
• Be polite, confident and upbeat.
• Avoid jargon, cliches or too many technical terms.
• Explain why you are the best candidate and what you can bring to the job.
• Say thank you and request a follow up (i.e., “I look forward to discussing this position…)

Putting it all Together

The job markets are very competitive right now, so you must do everything possible to set yourself apart from the pack. Your resume is one of the first ways to do that.

Treat your job search, resume writing, and interview preparation as a full-time job. It is that important.

Put in the time, create an excellent resume, and be prepared when you are called in for an interview.

Always update your resume every few months to reflect your current skills, abilities, and accomplishments. This will make it easier to apply to jobs in the future.

We’ve covered a lot in this article, and I hope this has been helpful for you. Click on the links throughout the article for further information on crafting your resume, or leave a comment with questions or tips you have for others.

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