Diane Standish ⋅ Bonita Springs, FL Collier County Sheriff's Office ⋅ 25 years experience

Antonio,

First of all, thank you for your service. As an HR executive for a law enforcement agency, I have considered and hired many vets. The advice given to Jason (above) is very good for creating a "master" resume. If you know what types of jobs you will be applying for, I would start by going on-line and seeking out "job descriptions" for those jobs. This should give you the terminology that civilian hiring managers use as well as the general requirements of the job. Whatever they list first under "responsibilities" or "duties" is what they consider most important. There are many sites that offer sample job descriptions. If you were in HR management, perhaps you are or plan to become a member of SHRM or another such organization--their websites have job descriptions available to their members. Even job postings would give you the "translations" you need.

Good luck!

D. Standish

Jason Kugel ⋅ Yulee, FL U.S. Navy, Chief Petty Officer ⋅ 21 years served

Sgt Major-
Thanks for your service! Here is a link to a broad skills translator.
http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/skills-translator/

If you would like some STELLAR resume advice and guidance on your question and other questions you haven't even thought of, here is a link to my question on writing resumes.
https://acp-advisornet.org/question/1463/how-should-i-go-about-creating-my-general-resumes-

The advice I got was incredibly on point and useful. One of the best ones concerned how to state why your position as CSM was awesome. For instance, you could say "Selected for CSM" and then list some details and achievements, or you could say "Hand picked by a selection board consisting of peers and senior leadership, my appointment to Command Sergeant Major immediately placed in a position where I was responsible for XXX number of soldiers." Hope this helps you somewhat

Craig Bush ⋅ Boston, MA IBM ⋅ 11 years experience

You know something. This question is asked so many times, I wonder why there isn't a website dedicated strictly to this topic.

Here's an idea. Let's build a website engine that takes military evaluation reports and spits out the same information with business language mark up.

I wonder if that's possible.

T. Valentine ⋅ Elkton, MD U.S. Army, First Lieutenant ⋅ 2 years served

Use. Plain. English. As Col. Gesin addressed above, avoid military shorthand, acronyms, abbreviations, and insider lingo. Write your résumé for the people you'll be presenting it to: civilians. Even hiring-officials who are veterans will appreciate it. Keep it simple. Pay careful attention to fonts, spacing, and neatness. Appearance is crucial. The résumé you see fit to present to a prospective employer will be viewed as a predictor of the work product you'll produce for them, so it may be your one and only shot at impressing them. Consider drafting a one-page résumé that summarizes your experience, plus attachments for details of assignments, training received, references, etc. However long you do decide to make it, end up with full pages - never 1 1/2 pages, 3 1/2, etc. Use "full justification" paragraphs, not "left", and tweak your verbiage so as to flesh out your sections into full, neat, squared-off paragraphs, visually. Remember: APPEARANCE IS KEY. Prepare a cover letter, tailored for each recipient, such that it looks carefully directed - not boilerplate. And, if you give out 1,000 résumés and get one good job, you've won. Stay positive and assertive, and attack each interview brightly and energetically. Look 'em in the eye, and keep "sirs" to a minimum. And keep your necktie tightened & straightened. :-) Hang in there, and keep the faith.

Joyce Cerroni ⋅ Boca Raton, FL U.S. Army National Guard ⋅ 24 years served

Dear. Mr. Adams,
I am the spouse of an Army National Guard Command Sargeant Major (RET). I currently volunteer for an organization that offers the services you speak of regarding resume assistance. Welcome Home Resumes was developed specifically for veterans and their families. It is an interactive resume, straight-forward and common-sense, that is geared toward translating your military knowledge and tasks into civilian skills. We work hands-on with you throughout the entire process, from development of your resume, through postings and also interview preparedness. The resume outlines your previous civilian education, military education, any awards and medals you have earned with links through to their description and requirements for earning them (particularly liked by HR as it highlights the skills and knowledge and dedication), audio responses to two common interview questions, a professional headshot, links to your social media, a downloadable hard copy of the resume in .pdf or Word format, all in one document that is easily posted to any job site with the click of a button via built-in email. If you do not have a professional email, one is provided to you as well as Resume Cards which are 2 x 3.5 summary cards of your pertinent information with a QR code directly to your online resume. All at no cost to you, ever. The staff is made up entirely of volunteers who are passionate about what they do.

You can look at a sample of the interactive resume at http://sample.welcomehomeresumes.org/ or call 888-900-4133. Thank you for your service.

Sincerely,
Joyce Cerroni

George Byrne ⋅ Venice, FL Nictom Consulting Group ⋅ 32 years experience

Hi -- not much more that I can add to what is already posted here...but here's my two cents...the first thing is do not sell yourself short...much of what you accomplished in 30+ years can easily be translated into skills and accomplishments that are transferable to the private sector...for example, as a CSM you have exemplary "leadership" skills...while the private sector thinks very much in 'budget' terms, you like anyone else had to work within restrictions created by your limited resources...so emphasize that...the private sector thinks in terms of productivity; you can show examples of how your created "efficiency" in the organizations that you led...and so much more...and focus on results, results, results...for example, on your resume don't say "oversaw the training of 500 war fighters in a two month period"; rather say "oversaw the training of 500 war fighters that led to a 27% increase in efficiency in less than two months"...OK?...make sense?...and do not be humble when it comes to applying for a job.

Also, use a thesaurus to review your resume after you draft it...instead of saying "managed a staff of XX people" say "directed a staff of XX people"...directed is a much stronger word than managed...instead of saying "developed XX people in program ABC" say something like "created a framework for mentoring high performance individuals in program ABC"...again, OK?...make sense.

Reach out to me at gbyrne@nictom.com if you need more assistance...and thanks for your service.

Joseph Corsino ⋅ Pompano Beach, FL The Welcome Home Group ⋅ 5 years experience

Hi,
Our staff works directly with our veterans to translate what they did into what they can do. We don't leave it up to an automated system to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are. Our staff works directly with you to make your transition a more complete process and continues to support your efforts through to your hiring.

Take a look at what we do and see for yourself:
http://www.welcomehomeresumes.org

Jim Flynn ⋅ Olympia, WA State of Washington ⋅ 30 years experience

You have a tough job, SGM. Focus on how you accomplished your mission. So many times, when I interviewed people transitioning from military service to my state-level government service, I would try to see what they could do without looking up the answer in an SOP/AR or other prescribed procedure. Your administrative talent got you to where you were in the military. What was that skill you employed? Let your prospective employer share that. Good luck to you!

Fred Gesin ⋅ Canyon Country, CA U.S. Army, Lieutenant Colonel ⋅ 20 years served

Congrats on retirement SGM! Best advice i receive was keep out all military jargon. Don't state "As SGM I did....." " Much better I found was just state what you did. I was directly responsible for the supervision of X personnel. In that position I did X.

Dr. Lawrence L. Denson ⋅ Union City, GA U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class ⋅ 18 years served

Greetings Sgt. Maj.: check out www.onetcodeconnector.org to get a viable translation of your military expertise.

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

And also, research and enroll in one or more of the programs that VCTP Syracuse offers.
http://vets.syr.edu/education/employment-programs/

Jennifer Youngblood ⋅ Edmonds, WA ⋅ 16 years experience

Hi Antonio,

This site has been useful for some of my clients. Check it out:
http://www.onetonline.org/crosswalk/MOC/

Feel free to let me know if I can help with a review or suggestions once you get a working draft going. youngbloodjenn1@gmail.com

Best,
Jenn

Lori Cox ⋅ Edwardsville, IL AT&T ⋅ 19 years experience

Congratulations on your retirement and good luck in your job search! I am retired from the Air Force and have worked at AT&T for 17 years, so it's been awhile since I went through this but I do remember asking the same question.

My best suggestion is to think in terms of skills, rather than tasks. To start, list the tasks that you do on a regular basis but then next to that, list the skill(s) that task represents. An example might be:

Task = Conduct weekly staff meetings, with sub tasks of scheduling, determining the agenda, recording notes during the meeting, tracking action items and so forth

Skills = Planning, organizing, project management, documentation, etc.

This example may not be applicable, but I hope it gives you the idea. The gist of this concept is that tasks are almost never transferable from one job to another but skills usually are. If these skills don't come up during an interview, make sure you highlight them at the end when they ask if there is anything else you want to share. This question is almost always the last thing they ask and this is your time to really shine -- make sure you have something ready to say.

Another area to think about are the skills that are inherent to being in the military -- such as, adaptability, willingness to learn new tasks, work for different people and travel to different places, ability to stick with a job (you stayed in, right?), loyalty, dedication -- these are things that are important to many civilian compnaies too, especially now-a-days when so many people job hop to find a better position.

I hope this is helpful! Again, good luck!

Charles Ferree ⋅ Charleston, SC Boeing ⋅ 6 years experience

Antonio

Keep your bullet statements to one line if possible. Craig is correct. On your resume and in your interview, keep it problem action results (if possible). It can be quite difficult at times to shorten bullet statements and keep the meaning the same.
Think about all of the performance reports that you had to write and review..Did you want to see fluff just to stretch out something, or did you want something to the point that grabs your attention and stands out? You want your resume to stand out and say "I am the best person for that position"

Thank you for your service

Craig Bush ⋅ Boston, MA IBM ⋅ 11 years experience

Use the P.A.R. format (Problem, Action, Result) and quantify as much as possible the results. For example, number of people managed, time saved, value of equipment responsible for, mission success percentage, etc.

Hiring managers want the "so what" on a resume, and quantifying results gives them that.