Randy Lynch ⋅ Junction City, OR U.S. Army, Lieutenant Colonel ⋅ 30 years served

All
Thank you for the information. I have recently taken a position with the assistance of advice given.
Have a great day
Randy

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

Instead of focusing on your resume I’d suggest that you network at the target company or industry. Use LinkedIn to find people already working there and reach out to them. Ask them the process they used to get hired and ask them to help you navigate the hiring process and if they are willing, ask them to submit you as a referral. These activities require much more time on your part but in my opinion would greatly increase your chances for success. Good luck!

Matt Johnson ⋅ Chicago, IL EY-Parthenon ⋅ 10 years experience

Randy,

I best resume advice I got in business school was to consider this high-level formula when creating the resume bullets was to use this formula:

Action Verb (conveying one translatable skill) + Situation/Task (for context, scale) + [Quantifiable Result (preferred, using benchmarks if possible) OR Qualitative Impact]

At a high level, you want those action verbs to display the mix of talents you bring to the table and considering what skills are must-have's for a given industry. While vets bring a wealth of experience in leadership and collaboration, it's also important to highlight areas like analytical skill and creativity.

The situation or task section is where we help others understand our situation so a lot of military to civilian translation is required. Rather than "Battalion" - we may choose to say "unit with 500 personnel", for instance.

The result is the most important part. Rather than listing out mere job responsibilities, we want to highlight those accomplishments which set us apart from our peers. Leading a 500 person organization is great - but how well did you do it? Providing benchmarks can highlight this: Led a unit with 500 personnel resulting in 20% greater retention than the historical average OR resulting in a 95% combat readiness score, the highest out of 15 other units in the Division. If possible, translating achievements into $ values is preferable since the sort of management experience that companies care about is Profit and Loss.

In many cases, understanding the effects of military operations are more readily understood using impact statements - "resulting in free elections for the first time in Afghanistan". Use these sparingly, however, since quantifiable results are preferred.

James Vickery ⋅ Ogden, UT Northrop Grumman ⋅ 33 years experience

Randy,
As a recently retired LTC with over 30 years of service, I know what you are experiencing. Getting the resume right can be tricky, translating the military jargon to easy to ready plain language.

I am happy to help with the 'translation' if needed, you also have several other folks who have answered with a lot experience. I am on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/james-vickery-01b97767 if you have questions or want to discuss any of the transition headaches.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Jim

Jansen Weaver ⋅ Philadelphia, PA Healthcare Accelerator Director - Innovation & Investment ⋅ 10 years experience

Hi Randy,

I would be happy to review your resume and help you think through how to best position yourself for your goals. Please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jansenfweaver/

Best,
Jansen

Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville, MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

Randy,
Best not to pay for a resume, it will read different than you sound in the first phone interview. Here are a couple of quick reads. Follow Michael Quinn on LinkedIn for networking workshops. Define the career and build every thing to match it. If you find a position, write the resume to match the position opening, use jobscan.co it will tell you what % of key word matches. Remember companies want value and want to know what you will bring them, in the language of the their career. Thanks for your service and God Bless. Here are a couple of quick reads to get you started. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/come-prepared-transition-process-gap-between-civilian-jerry-welsh/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-more-right-jerry-welsh/

Sheila McCormick ⋅ Oakland, CA UC-Berkeley ⋅ 35 years experience

Hi. I am happy to edit/make comments on your resume. I have done that for several others via ACP. Please send a word document to sheilamc@berkeley.edu
Sheila

Thomas Schott ⋅ Bradenton, FL IBM ⋅ 28 years experience

Randy,
I'm happy to review your resume and provide comments, as well as discuss options for you post-retirement. Please send me a direct message if you wish to talk.

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

Randy,

Happy to help you. I'm a full-time professional resume writer and a former Fed specializing for the last 11 years in working with Active Duty and Reserve Service Members, Veterans, and Military Spouses transitioning to Federal or private sector work. I don't use templates and do all the work myself.

You can best get in touch with me through my website contact page: https://lexlevinllc.com/contact/.

Just answer a few questions, upload your current resume, and I'll review and advise.

Happy holidays,

LL