Transitioning from military to civilian life has its challenges. Uncertainty abounds. It isn't simply that you will be working for another company (in most instances). There is more to it than that.
As someone recently said, "When I was in the military, if someone had a bad day, it usually meant that someone got killed. Now, in comparison, if someone has a bad day, it means some of our product doesn't get shipped." The change from military to civilian is very different for many people. While much of that is not to be found in a civilian job, there are SOME similarities in the work done at both military and civilian jobs. When you are able to recognize those similarities, you can better transfer your skills from one job to another. Those transferable skills are essential. Being able to take the military jargon out of your resume and replace it with civilian language often makes the difference in how long it takes to find a good civilian job. Most important of all, when transitioning from a military to civilian job market, being prepared is the best thing you can do to ensure that YOU have the edge. What you will need for each position for which you apply:
You can find a plenty of information about each of those subjects on this site. Read, read and read until you are comfortable with each subject area. You can do this, too!Something that will be of immense help to you is the option of viewing a real resume prepared by a service member which was actually used to find a position with a major international manufacturing corporation.Actually, you can view two resumes. One is prepared in the Chronological format and the other is prepared in the Combination format. It is the same information, but it is shown in two different styles so that you can better understand how your personal history might best be presented. Military to Civilian Resume ExamplesFormat #1 – The Chronological Resume formatFormat #2 – The Combination Resume format Which resume you use depends on the information you want to present and how you want or need to highlight certain areas of your background. There is also another format called the Functional Resume format, which you can read about here: Functional Resume Format The more you read, the better prepared you will be, so peruse this site and the various examples and articles throughout. Here are some that may be of special interest to you: ResumesUse these Resume Keywords to boost the effectiveness of your resumeHere are a variety of great resume tips Cover LettersFor an outstanding cover letter guideline, click hereTo understand why cover letters are so important, click here If you are finished reading about changing careers from military to civilian, click here to read about some ways to Boost Your Resume even more If you would like more information about "How to Write a Professional Resume", the following book is a great resource:
It will show you exactly how to make an exceptional resume - professionally and quickly. You'll also find some outstanding articles in the book which will help you with your cover letter and the interviewing process, too. Since this book is sold as an e-book, you can print off as many copies of the worksheets and forms as you need to help you through the easy-to-follow steps. If you need help distributing your resume to the various career and job websites that accept resume submission, you should seriously consider ResumeRabbit. It saves a lot of time and effort. Instead of you having to create accounts at the 75+ websites, then post your resume in whatever format each particular site expects, ResumeRabbit does it for you. You upload your resume once and they do the rest of the work for you. One-Stop Resume Posting to Over 75 Career Sites. Click Here You owe it to yourself to at least take a look at what they have to offer. No cost for looking. It could save you a ton of time when you need it most - while you're starting your job search.
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