Merry Vickers ⋅ Richardson, TX Dallas Police Department - City of Dallas prior to starting with Raytheon 2017 ⋅ 18 years experience

Thank you for your service. There are several suggestions that most services and internet sites recommend, and they are right.

Give your resume a format change and lead with a summary that outlines your skills and qualifications. Share generalities from past positions to translate how it will be beneficial in new roles, like skills, duties, projects or management. Use clear civilian language to describe your career objectives, but highlight key wording from job descriptions and any accomplishments you have achieved. Keep the verbiage in present tense and have others read through it for feedback. If you can pursue any IT: volunteer opportunities, contract jobs, certifications or even CEU (Continuing Education Units) courses will show how interested you are and make recruiters take notice. Take advantage of in-house professional development and training programs available, which always shows you are willing to do and learn more.

I hope this helps you on this new journey.

Kindest regards,
Merry Vickers

Brian Burress ⋅ Cincinnati, OH The Byte Stuff (self employed) ⋅ 26 years experience

Classroom instruction as well as pursuit of certification is great. As with any field, hands on experience is great and helps you build a network of people that could turn into job leads or at least help as references when you apply.

Do some searches for organizations/causes that work with computers to see if you may be able to volunteer with them. For example, I know of an organization in Cincinnati that accepts used computers and evaluates/rebuilds to donate to people with disabilities.

I did a quick search and found a reference for something in the DFW area. There must be others!

https://unitedwaydallas.org/computer-donation-helps-improve-tech-at-non-profits-across-north-texas/

Ashutosh Mehta ⋅ Edison, NJ ⋅ 16 years experience

Thank you for your services Darius. You chose right career to pursue.

Explore https://www.cybrary.it/ too for A+ and other advance trainings & certifications.

Good luck,

Ashutosh Mehta

Sriram Iyer ⋅ Menlo Park, CA Trantor, Inc. ⋅ 29 years experience

Thank you for your service, Darius. Please feel free to reach out to me via private message. I have contacts in Dallas that could help you.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Darius,

As a starting point, A+ certification may be something you should pursue. But don't stop there. The highest paid IT jobs are way past this criteria.

Check Robert Half salary guide to see which areas would interest you and pursue those skills.

https://www.roberthalf.com/salary-guide

Certifications are nice, but specialized degrees are better :

http://www.umuc.edu/academic-programs/cyber-security/index.cfm

Good luck.
JG