Richard Filippi ⋅ Rye, NY Financial Industry Technical Services (plus various Global Banks) ⋅ 40 years experience

The best way to manage your Military/Gov't experience for non-gov't work is take a paper fold it in half. Write down the things you have done in your carer on the left hand side. Then on the right hand side write down what traits made you successful in those accomplishments, such as creative thinking, leadership, etc.
Then re-write your resume highlighting those traitr and associated accomplishments.
Also use LinkedIn.com to connect with former colleagues and groups that share the same interests.
Best of luck,

Calvin Stevens ⋅ Decatur, GA U.S. General Services Administration ⋅ 30 years experience

First of all, I thank you for your service! I retired as First Sergeant at Dobbins ARB, GA in 2007. There are many website referring to resume writing, however, there is one website I want you to review: www.resume-place.com. This website is geared primarily to military and civilian employees. Best wishes in your job search.

Cal Stevens, President
TACADA Marketing Consultants, LLC

Emanuel Carpenter ⋅ Alpharetta, GA SDR Master Class ⋅ 20 years experience

Nicholas:

You should contact Dylan Raymond. Here is his website: http://www.dylaneraymond.com/contact.php

I wish you well.

William Bahrt ⋅ Sequim, WA Arizona Public Service Company ⋅ 15 years experience

There are three kinds of resume; a chronological record of your experience by date; a "qualifications brief" that features the various skills you have performed; and a "combination resume" that outlines the various areas in which you have had experience followed by a brief listing of your employers with the appropriate dates listed. The last one is what I would recommend for you. In your "areas of experience" you can list all your experience - both civilian and military. Then, in the employers list you create an unbroken line of military and civilian experience. The resume should be brief hitting the main points and accomplishments with a brief mention of your education chronologically. No more that 2 pages. Then, just for kicks, make a complete resume leaving nothing out; especially contact information for all jobs and employers. It can be 8 pages or more. YOU DO NOT GIVE THIS RESUME TO POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS. This one you put in a notebook and use in the interview to answer off the wall questions and to fill out applications. Finally, do not list your references in the resume. Instead, where you list the references on the resume you simply say "References will be furnished upon request." Your references are valuable and should only be presented as the final thing just before being employed. These ideas make it possible for you to present a resume that combines military and civilian employment plus it gives you all of the facts that might slip your mind in the pressure of an employment interview. If you want help with the resume, just let me know. Good luck, God bless you and thank you for your service.

Mark Hannah ⋅ Incline Village, NV Hannah Business Intelligence Solutions, Inc. ⋅ 22 years experience

Real quick, a caution, first note there are staffing companies/individuals who merely collect resumes to copy and paste your experience for their candidates so be sure if you email it to add a disclosure the attached resume is not to be distributed without written consent. Know there is a tap-dance with a hiring manager in an interview and NOT to give real "solutions" to their problems as once you divulge it they can turn around and hire cheap labor to implement; many universities have career fairs where companies tactfully interview only for intellectual property then never hire for interesting reasons. Best thing is to bring printouts of artifacts you've created, sensitive data removed, and only talk to your past accomplishment, lightly describing the "how". Also note, hiring managers want "talent" yet not the person who will replace them so throttle down the leader jargon unless they desire someone to lead and give them all the credit.

For IT, job titles and required years of experience don't always tie up with all the silicon valley companies I've consulted. Clearly "Manager" would be in your job titles' but I highly recommend scouting Dice.com and copy many job descriptions and make a word cloud for a given job title you find fitting. Key strengths to set you apart would be to describe both "what" and "how" you improved the "efficiency" of the organization or what "value-add" did you deliver; again every business needs to increase revenue or cut costs so ensure each bullet conveys both Ex. Improved ### server farms by #%, enabling Operations quicker response times, yet deterring costs $# all the while securing infosec which enhanced the organizations disaster recovery plan $##. Disgusting yet required for STEM U.S. citizen jobs is to convey your value higher than an H1B indentured servant in the IT field by being both a kind of local artisan of IT who is strategic and articulates it well to business folks (aka don't be a drone). Note every business process moves information and if technology is an enabler "how" can you strategically ensure it is optimal? does your portfolio of projects align to business "process" changes, are you even fast enough to adopt change? So be sure to write in bullets for EACH assignment or role you've had, how you improved in $$$ people, process, technology, and managed it strategically...remember you can't improve what you don't measure so backing up your accomplishments numerically is also key.

Jeff Shoemaker ⋅ Lake In The Hills, IL Colorado Technical University ⋅ 20 years experience

you can use a chronilogical resume that let's you include all eperience.However the key will be a strong professional summary listing some accomplishments
.

Brandi Perrigo ⋅ Albuquerque, NM ⋅ 19 years experience

Hi Nicholas, first you have to change your military language to civilianese as they say. As Jacqueline wrote using the words Supervisor, Manager, and Coordinator are key words that employers look for. Remember that other civilians have this experience already and use these key words competing against you. I know when I first wrote my resume and added these key words it felt a little fraudulent, but I assure you that it is not. The more you immerse yourself in the professional culture, the more you realize you have the experience to go with it. You have lots of people here that will look at your resume, so that is a great service to take advantage of. Please let us know how we can help!!! Don't be shy!

Stacey Murphy ⋅ Denville, NJ Beacon Consulting ⋅ 18 years experience

Similar to James Watson, I too would be happy to take a look at your resume, and spend some time talking through with you your accomplishments (in both career lives). I spend a bit of time focusing on a top level executive summary of the resume -- i.e. really figuring out how to message what really stands out as your key strengths and the value that you bring to your roles. Please feel free to reach out: staceymurphy@optonline.net.

James Watson ⋅ San Diego, CA General Atomics ⋅ 30 years experience

Nicholas-

I am retired after a 40 year career in industry where I hired over 100 people. Now I am helping veterans like yourself by helping with their resumes. If you would e-mail me your resume in Word to (drjamesfwatson@gmail.com) I would be happy to comment on it.

Jim Watson

Joan Maney ⋅ Normal, IL 1st Farm Credit Services ⋅ 26 years experience

I would agree that you need to put a short description of the positions you have held and what those mean on your resume. As a civilian, I have no idea what a "First Sergeant" duties are. Think about what you do, break it down to 1-2 sentences and then take the military jargon out of the explanation. Remember your audience and tell me what you do in a way that recruiters & hiring managers can understand it, not in military terms.

Then look at your resume and decide what skills you have learned. I reviewed a resume once where they disarmed IED's. I don't have a lot of those in my conference rooms, but I do need that attention to detail in many of my positions. He led troops into active war zones, which is not common in the civilian word. However, the ability to lead, the ability to understand consequences, and to be diplomatic when required are all skills that are necessary in the corporate world. Reread your resume looking for opportunities like these to showcase the skills you have learned, which may not necessarily be the technical skills.

Stefan Beyer ⋅ Kirkland, WA Wipro Ltd ⋅ 12 years experience

I'd recommend mentioning how you were able to solve problems as a First Sergeant. For example, when describing one of your assignments, say something like "Implemented alternative method of logistics across 3 military bases." This tells the result of your actions, and calls it out as being important. If they're interested, they'll probably want to know more about the problem, the normal way of doing things, and how you came up with your innovative approach.

It'll also be useful to mention how you're able to use talents in one area and reapply them to a different area (i.e show you're adaptable). I wrote an article about resumes which you might find useful: https://acp-advisornet.org/articles/326/resume-cover-letter-multi-talented-individual.

Drew Schildwächter ⋅ Wilmington, NC Salesforce ⋅ 8 years experience

I would include your tenure as First Sergeant as if it were a former job. A short description of your role and responsibilities will help an employer understand, and then some results-focused bullets may highlight your potential for future leadership in a civilian organization. I would just give some thought to what you're trying to accomplish: are you seeking a job as an individual contributor or in some leadership position? Your experience could show different things in each case.

I did not translate my job titles. I added a short (one-two sentence) description of the job title with short, results-focused bullets to my first civilian résumé. Changing your job titles can sometimes be misleading for two reasons:

First, they might mean something different to someone else. With some effort, you can describe your job succinctly to a civilian employer, but you cannot foresee how they will perceive a job title you may feel is the civilian equivalent.

Secondly, they may make you seem too ambitious. If you translate your job (First Sergeant) then it may become a title far exceeding your goal. You didn't start in the Air Force as a First Sergeant and you won't likely start in civilian job of equivalent experience.

Jacqueline Contreras, CPRW ⋅ San Antonio, TX www.ThatResumeGirl.com ⋅ 12 years experience

The key to any good résumé is relevance. Study job descriptions for the types of positions to which you are applying and identify the qualifications that appear on most of them. That will give you a good idea of what you should add to your résumé and what you should remove. No matter how impressive you think a skill or accomplishment is, if it isn't relevant to the position, you'll be wasting space you could use for something else that might actually impress the hiring manager. They receive a lot of résumés and are only interested in reading about how you've successfully done what you will be doing for them. Read each line and ask yourself what a hiring manager would be thinking when reading it: "I want him to do that for me!" or "So what?"
Your military experience can be added just like any other employer information, just be sure to limit your military jargon (I can help with the translation). Instead of listing your rank as your title, find an alternative title that a civilian employer would have an easier time understanding (Operations Manager, Shift Supervisor, Training and Development Coordinator, etc.). List your branch as the employer, not the battalion, unit, squadron, etc. Location is City, ST, not the base you were assigned to. As always, just include the relevant, even if it's only two lines.
If you'd like a free review, feel free to message me your résumé and a job description for your dream job. I'll email back any suggestions I have.