Stephen Lawson ⋅ Arlington, TX United Nations ⋅ 34 years experience

Shaun,

I have no idea what your resume really looks like, but my suspicion is that it does not look a lot different from mine.

If you truly have no fear of travel, I would suggest that you think about the universe of "international development." My current employer provides truly astounding opportunities to people who are flexible and entrepreneurial. Success requires some reorientation, especially adding the ".org" or ".gov" to your email address, comfort with instability, acknowledgement of the primacy of mind-numbing bureaucracy (but you have been in the reserves, too) and a serious dedication to ethics and accountability. Success depends on your ability to function in multiple social, political and business cultures. A eclectic resume can be a big plus.

The rewards are mid six figure salaries, flexible work locations (if I did not live in the US, I could work from home three months a year), lots of benefits (I have 12 weeks of vacation!) and immense satisfaction when, every now and again, something actually works.

Getting the first job is a matter of luck and persistence. There are opportunities to function as a technical consultant or a manager, opportunities to develop new projects and programs and opportunities to develop and market individual products and services.

My current position is funded by the World Bank and involves "Customs Reform and Trade Facilitation" - provides infrastructure, software development/support and policy assistance. We work alongside other projects which are focused on military, law enforcement, narcotics and border security issues. We have military, civilian and commercial partners in various aspects of the work.

I will be delighted to discuss the specifics of what we do, the different employers which range from the big US contractors (URS, AECOM, Hill, etc.), government agencies (US, EU, UN, Australia, etc.), NGO's and small contractors. For the most part they are on LinkedIn and DEVEX. Locations, all over the world.

Most of the employers are clustered in Washington, DC, but you can live anywhere and work everywhere. My agency is headquartered in New York, but we are managed out of Copenhagen and Bangkok. I live in Texas.

Stephen
se_lawson@earthlink.net

Katie Tamarelli ⋅ Newport, KY Strategy& ⋅ 8 years experience

Hi,

Like the others said, happy to review the resume, but in my experience reviewing resumes (both for my job as well as during my MBA career), the "eclectic" background question is something I have seen a few times. I think there are a few ways to address it:
1. Address why this switch now within your cover letter or in the beginning of the interview (like in the "tell me about yourself"
2. Also, consider focusing your resume to only demonstrate the skills required for the position at hand. I often found students would show other very interesting skills, but were not necessarily relevant to the job. For example, applying for a finance job, perhaps limit space and interview time spent on the marketing position you loved. Keeping the focus narrow can help focus your background.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Katie

kmtama at gmail dot com

Chris Peck ⋅ Atlanta, GA UPS ⋅ 30 years experience

Shaun--
Given your background, it seems clear that you're a motivated, entrepreneurial individual. I suspect it's possible that some of the employers you've interviewed with may actually be concerned about your long-term willingness to be an "employee" vs an "entrepreneur". The number one dimension or attribute that an employer generally looks for is called "job/motivational fit". Many people have the SKILLS to do a certain job but often lack the "fit" that will enable them to find the work/role rewarding long-term. If you oversell your entrepreneurial side, employers may be concerned they'll lose you when the right start-up opportunity comes along.

As a fellow citizen soldier, I suspect there may also be concern from some employers that they will lose you to a deployment. This is a real issue among Guard and Reservists that is unique as compared to other separated veterans.

I'd be happy to review your resume and give you some feedback.

Rgds--Chris

David Limato ⋅ Fremont, CA Hewlett Packard ⋅ 15 years experience

Shaun, Thank you for your service.

I would love to review your resume. Send it to dlimato at gmail

Richard Buck ⋅ Patterson, NY EY ⋅ 25 years experience

Shaun

Good evening. My name is Richard Buck, a Marine Corp vet. I would be happy to review your résumé and help

Richard Buck
76warrior85@gmail.com
914 391 3375

Rashid Hill, MPM ⋅ San Diego, CA United States Navy ⋅ 33 years experience

Hi Shaun. I would be happy to take a look at your resume. I've had to screen for new positions a few times so I will give you my professional review. First, I would like to address the comment that you made in reference to being told that you are "over qualified." This can be true depending on the position you are applying for. With your entrepreneurial drive I would suggest that you either 1) look for a more challenging company and position to apply for if you just want to go to work or 2) stay on your entrepreneurial path and create your own opportunity to excel in this day and time.
I respect and support "big-business" yet, I am a fellow entrepreneur that started while working full time with the government building my passion and I think many others could learn a lot from your experience if you wanted to package it and position yourself properly as a consultant to others. Just a thought.
Happy to help.

Rashid H
l3.thebrand@gmail.com