Lex Levin ⋅ Northborough, MA Lex Levin, LLC ⋅ 13 years experience

Colonel,

As a professional full-time resume writer specializing in Military to Federal/Civilian transitions since 2009, I would be happy to review your resume and offer some free advice and tips. You could send it to me through here: https://lexlevinllc.com/contact/

For now, I will say I'm familiar with Hire Heroes resumes, which all follow the same cookie-cutter two-page template. Don't use them for any Federal applications you are considering, the two-page resume they write is not in Federal resume format and won't be competitive on USAJOBS.

With best wishes,

LL

Steve Adolt ⋅ Lancaster, PA U.S. Army, Captain ⋅ 8 years served

Sir,

With all due respect to the previous answers, a man of your experience and caliber should be focused on networking with other persons of your caliber for the types of positions you are qualified for and worrying very little about your resume.

While it will be a necessary part of any interview / intake process, it should really be secondary to networking.

It would be my honor to have a discussion with you regarding your situation to better understand what value I could add to your transition.

Sincerely,

Steve Adolt
Owner, The Veteran Transition Zone

Susana Moraga ⋅ Hayward, CA California State University East Bay ⋅ 20 years experience

Ciro,
First, a resume needs to be easy to read without a lot of formatting so both the applicant tracking system and an individual can easily see if you have the requisite experience to move forward in the process.
Second, different career fields or positions lean toward different positioning of information.
The best thing is to look at samples in your career field, get feedback from professionals in your career field and know why you are presenting what you need to for your resume to get you the interview you want.
Resumes construction is preference and two professionals in the same field can actually give you varying information.
Like everything in job search, know your field, the position and expectations for a successful job search.
Good luck,
Susana

Joy Montgomery ⋅ Pleasanton, CA ReBoot Camp ⋅ 30 years experience

You measure the success of a resume by the number of interviews that result. Don't blast it. Only send tailored resumes to the right kinds of companies for the right kinds of jobs for you.

Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn, VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

Once you’ve got a good resume template you should focus on networking. Go back to the resume only when you’re submitting it to a specific role or company and then tailor it to that role and company. Networking is a huge and very important part of the process and the key to opening doors. I would consider your resume the second tool but not the first. LinkedIn is a good networking tool. Recruiters can help too.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Steven Mathews ⋅ Spring, TX The Boeing Company ⋅ 40 years experience

I have helped over 100 people in the past 6+ years acquire jobs within 2-4 weeks after they had spent weeks and months with no calls to set up an interview. They had the same skills, talents, and accomplishments as before. I showed them how to market themselves better.
For free assistance, slmathews99@gmail.com.

Thomas Kidd ⋅ Dallas, TX AT&T ⋅ 10 years experience

Col. Stefano-
I agree with both Susana and Estella, and would add that a trick that I've found helpful over the years is to not only adjust the information you are providing by role, but also try to highlight your leadership experience in each bullet. One of the most significant highlights that Veterans have over most other candidates is their leadership experience; so, not only saying what you did, but how you led will help your resume stand out.

Hope that helps,
TK (USMC Vet.)

Estella Rummelein ⋅ Englewood, CO Baxter Healthcare ⋅ 26 years experience

Hi. In most cases, employers utilize applicant tracking systems that utilize key word alignment to the position requisition. These key words are utilized within the system to search for the best potential candidate by high match to those key words.
You want to ensure your resume being submitted, legitimately includes these words - this requires creating a specific resume for each job you are applying for.
I feel and have proven it’s critical to have the right words that match the job posting than the format layout. Resumes get uploaded into these systems and searched against job posting. You want to be at the top %.
Where the resume format is important is during the interview. If you have questions, I’m happy to help.

Donna Palmer ⋅ Saddle River, NJ IBM ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Ciro, First of all, thank you for your Service to our great nation.
I would agree with Robert C. above:
- Keep the resume to one page. Clearly, it is impossible to capture all that you have achieved in 35 years. However, you need to use certain keywords that identify your skills/leadership.
- You want to be specific enough to gain their attention on why you should work for this particular organization. Cannot be vague.
- You want to be invited for the interview where you bring it home.

Gene Nokes ⋅ Dublin, CA St. Raymond Church JobLink Ministry ⋅ 25 years experience

Dear Ciro,
The biggest mistake that I see is that resume are unfocused and boring. They are not aimed at any reader. I wrote an article about doing a "Modern Resume": https://patch.com/california/dublin/modern-resume-0

Their is an excellent book on aiming your resume at the reader, it is out of print, but you can get it used: Packaging Yourself : The Targeted Resume by Kate Wendleton

Elliot Young ⋅ Brooklyn, NY Uniworld International Associates Inc ⋅ 25 years experience

Colonel,

Thank you for your service and post.

Here is a start and it may seem to be small but you would be surprised how much of a difference it makes. Google Image "Modern Resume" that is the first step to see what they look like nowadays they are so not the same. Also, have a Linkedin Profile completed.

Google Image a "Modern Business Card" as well. Using your experience in your field your copy will be great for your goals, it may be just the delivery, the package.

Thank you for your time.

Philip Lantz ⋅ Kansas City, MO U.S. Army, Master Sergeant ⋅ 20 years served

Ciro,

I think you are asking for a little more concrete input. I provided input I hope is more inline with what you were asking for. I also provided input on transition and job finding.

1. I would use a functional resume as opposed to chronological one. It works much better for people with more experience. It is also much simpler to have a “Master Resume” with as many bullets as you can come up with. (When hunting for positions, I would come up with bullets that applied directly to the position I was applying for and save them to my “master”.
2. Results are the biggest weakness on most transitioning Soldiers resumes. Soldiers often show what their duties were. They often fail to show how successful they were in accomplishing those duties. Think of this like an NCOER or OER and put results.
3. Sometimes it is important to sell the intangibles. Many corporations have managers all over the place. The do not have many, if any, good leaders. Leadership and the other soft skills can help obtain a position. The corporation can train and get you certified…but soft skills are gold.
4. Opinions are varied. No one resume and no one answer is correct. I have had a lot of success with resumes I have helped to create. Ultimately, the resume represents you so make sure you are comfortable with it.
5. When building each resume for each specific position, ensure you review the job listing and mirror verbiage. If the company uses a resume screening program, it will look for those key words. (Most companies do)
6. Resumes are tools. Sending them in for positions is significantly less effective than cold calling/emailing someone and asking for an informational interview. You will stumble upon positions that are not listed that way. You may obtain a position that is listed before the listing is posted.
7. Every contact is an interview.
8. Network, Network, and Network.
8a. (If you had any INTEL time) Network like you are spotting and assessing. If you run your networking like a Source Handler, it will be more efficient and successful. (

I (relatively) recently retired and understand what you are going through.

Let me know what else I can do to help. If you would like another set of eyes on your resume for more specific input let me know.

Message me on Linkedin... https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-lantz

Respectfully,

Phil Lantz

Henry ("Dr. Hank") Stevens ⋅ Fort Lauderdale, FL Human Resources Quality Assurance, LLC (Now Retired) ⋅ 50 years experience

Not to belittle ANY of the above, but missing from all are issues associated with your TALENTS. Your ability to learn is steeped in your EDUCATIONAL attainments. Your tenaciousness and capacity to do a particular job is steeped in your EXPERIENCE. But, in short, identify YOUR native TAlENTS and play to your strong suit. See this link. It is free and quite good at identifying YOUR TALENTS:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality

If you need help interpreting the results, please feel free to ask me about them. Dr. Hank

Robert C ⋅ Lawrenceville, GA s ⋅ 35 years experience

Colonel: The only gauge as to whether your resume is any good is whether or not it gives a written image of who you are and your career goals. A resume needs to be short (one page) or it will not be read.

I know that it is impossible to put all your experience onto one page - but that is the age we live in. This one page resume needs to give us a one paragraph summary of your experience and brief detail on your career to date. And it needs to be skewed toward the person you imagine will be reading it in order to get your foot into an office and sitting for an interview. Give just enough information to spark their interest, but not enough to answer any of their questions. If you answer their questions in your resume, they won't need an interview - even though their ignorant suppositions are certainly wrong.

A extremely long a detailed resume will be under your note pad to help you answer any interview questions that come up about your storied experience level. But this long resume is just for you.

But of course the interview has nothing to do with your resume. The interview is all about establishing a relationship with the interviewer to get you to the next interview. The resume is just a place to start the conversation.

Thank you for your Service Sir. We are all in awe of all you have done for us. I do not have a dry eye as I think of the sacrifices you have made for us Sir.