Joe Engle ⋅ Indianapolis, IN Electrical/Software Eng. + MBA ⋅ 30 years experience

Hello Brad.
It is great you have a BS in IT Data Networking & Security, as that puts you ahead of a lot of applicants, and the IT field is HOT. Off hand I would suggest your resume may not be effective. Make sure it is focused on the field and then the company and position that you want. Your resume should be primarily IT related, as that is where your desire and education lie. So, in general, you could apply for any IT position with it. (Note: I am not suggesting one resume for All !!)

Additionally, to help yourself even more...you could target companies that do CAD or engineering or UL/regulatory work. Many companies like to have IT people that understand their core business, for example CAD, engineering or regulatory. They want IT people that 'talk their language' and can better support their user's within their business. For example, your IT and CAD experience would make you a good 'fit' for a position in an engineering company that had IT people support their engineers IT/CAD problems. I have known many IT people in such positions. In this example, if you applied to an engineering company, your resume should have some bullet points, emphasizing your engineering experience as well !

I put together a document, primarily for veterans, that describes how to develop resumes, to target a specific position. (It has been used by many civilians including me!) I think you would find it helpful. If interested, message me, and I would be glad to send it to you.

Thanks for your service Brad.
Joe

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

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!

Jordie Kern ⋅ Amherst, MA 7 Eagle Group ⋅ 27 years experience

Take remote classes to learn the skills and get the certs you need. We offer free ones for you if you're interested. Also, connect with IT professionals in the area/industry you want on LinkedIn and have informational interviews.

Brad Hilton ⋅ Plano, TX U.S. Air Force, Airman First Class ⋅ 4 years served

You've all offered useful tips! I will certainly put these to work and let you know how things turn out! Thank you, I appreciate the input.

June Webb ⋅ Chevy Chase, MD JWebb Inspire ⋅ 17 years experience

Hi Joe,

As an Executive coach and consultant, I have has the opportunity to work with a lot of engineer clients who started companies.
You can connect with me on Linkedin, and I will look to see who I can connect you with to get you on an engineering path.
In the meantime, you can check into the STEMS program to see if anything there aligns with your skills.

My brother was in the Navy in engineering and, after six years, went to get his master's degree and worked for oil companies.

June Webb
Linkedin.com/junewebb

Mathew Esnault ⋅ Charlotte, NC Wells Fargo ⋅ 12 years experience

Hi Brad - I'd agree with both Jeff and Joe. LinkedIn is one of the most useful tools for finding a job and it helped me get a foot into the banking/digital world. When I was job searching full time I'd pick a few different companies I found with job openings and messaged recruiters at those companies directly. Very short "InMessages" on LinkedIn that highlighted your interest in a particular role at that company for which you know you'd be a great fit, if it was a role they were looking to fill and if not, could they forward your information to the recruiter that did own that role.

I'd also send another message to a more senior person of the particular job of interest on LinkedIn. Let them know you'd like to chat with them briefly for about 10 minutes to hear how their experience has been working for "Company XYZ" and if they knew of any colleagues looking to fill a role with your experience. The more recruiters you reach out to, the higher the likelihood you'll get a response. They get hundreds of emails a day so if one doesn't reply, go on to the next and don't be discouraged. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Richard Byrne ⋅ Hillsborough, NJ Intel Corporation ⋅ 53 years experience

I was unable to locate your profile on LinkedIn
I've added instructions and links describing how to set up a LinkedIn profile under this section of my EE webpage: http://eehot.com/ee.html#networking

I've added links and instructions to my EE web page http://eehot.com/ee.html#jobs
to navigate the BLS.gov which lists employment and wage statistics by occupation.
Please look through that long list to find your target occupation.

There are also many job search links under that section of the EE webpage.
Search for jobs using that target occupation name and your location.

Examine the job requirements and compare them to your current skills.
There are instructions for how to translate Military Occupation into civilian skill keywords,
under this section: http://eehot.com/ee.html#cool

Links to Training resources are listed under http://eehot.com/ee.html#training

These sections might also be useful:
http://eehot.com/ee.html#va
http://eehot.com/ee.html#resumes
http://eehot.com/ee.html#mentoring
http://eehot.com/ee.html#infosec
http://eehot.com/ee.html#datascience

I did a commercial job search: found 1,746 jobs
https://www.indeed.com/jobs?https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=IT%20security&l=Plano%2C%20TX&vjk=5232166b6ad7ec12

I did a local gov't job search: found 144 jobs:
https://www.governmentjobs.com/jobs?keyword=IT+security&location=Plano%2C+TX

I did a federal gov't job search for your location: found 80 jobs
https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?jt=It%20Specialist%20Security%20(Infosec)&l=Plano%2C%20Texas&p=1