My friends came over the weekend and brought two small gifts for my children. One gift was a small stuffed animal and a book, the other a small puzzle; but what stood out was the presentation! Clear cellophane wrap around the book and beautifully tied rawhide ribbons in a bow that was so beautiful I didn’t even want to open it, or at least wanted to store it somehow to give it away again. Presentation makes a difference! So I keep this in mind when I look at client resumes. I like a resume printed on a good quality printer, no smudges, on thick, unbleached paper, and if you email it, no italics and I like a little white space. Whether you’re delivering your resume in person to a company or passing it out at a networking event, make sure you have a fresh manicure and a good haircut. Clients often want to know a clever way to combine their chaotic work history and how to package the gifts they’ve earned throughout their military lifestyle. Should they opt for “spouse-friendly employers” or hide the fact that they are spouses on the run; they recall hiring managers making comments about why they should or shouldn’t hire a candidate. Consider these tips as you search for your dream job, and remember that the law of attraction applies to resumes too, so regardless of my advice, if you love your resume, others will too!
1. Appearance matters.
First impressions count, so make your resume pretty! Consider limiting any bold or italic fonts, as these often look cluttered if the resume is scanned; Better yet, try creating a clean PDF version of your resume as well so it can be sent to jobs electronically and doesn’t lose its professional appearance. Hiring managers don’t like hard-to-pronounce names, so if you have a hard name, put a nickname in parentheses next to it for the job search; they can learn to pronounce Vandana after they hire you. If you have an equally exquisite email address, consider changing that too. While friends may enjoy emailing [email protected], consider renewing the email on your resume with your initials or first and last name and Internet provider; It will look much more professional. You never know if a human resources manager is spying on MySpace or judging her personal address. Also, make sure your home and cell phone voicemails are brief, professional, and clear while you’re looking for a job.
2. Don’t play hard to get:
You don’t want a potential employer calling your home and freaking out over your sarcastic recording. Bottom line, make sure you include a correct name, email, and mobile number that you can access at all times. Try to send resumes when you have time to interview too. If you work full time, take night classes, and are about to have a baby, you may not be free for potential interviews, and if a company calls you in and you postpone the date, another candidate may be hired instead. the act. because they appear first. Perhaps postponing the résumé until summer vacation or three months after giving birth will increase your chances of being selected.
3. Make up for lost time:
Spouses often struggle with the proverbial gaps in their resume. Stop worrying so much about it and just think about what you did during that time that would still be worth listing. When you have a gap in your career, it’s okay to include those extra part-time jobs you just took to earn some money, and remember to word them as professionally as possible and include transferable skills, like customer relations or multitasking, to that your future employer sees some benefit to the job. You can also fill in a gap with any volunteer work or education you may have completed, especially if it’s relevant to the job you’re looking for. If you have a long gap in your resume, try to fill the gap with some bullet points instead of a long explanation in a cover letter that should focus solely on your strengths. If the blank space is so big that you can’t fill half a page, then take an introductory computer class and volunteer at organizations associated with the type of work you want to do, join some professional organizations, or attend a conference. so you can have something current to brag about.
4. Boldly define the benefits:
Job selection experts aren’t mind readers, so don’t assume they’ll understand military spouse jargon; Make sure your resume is clear and to the point. Write your resume with the needs of the company in mind rather than highlighting what you’re looking for. Resumes are not job descriptions of what you did, but rather a personal press release showcasing accomplishments in clear, succinct bullet points that highlight your strengths, your transferable skills, and past contributions that will make you stand out and pique your interest in instead of a summary of your entire employment history. Businesses should be able to quickly see your credentials and spot highlights that make you a good fit for their company.
5. Size doesn’t matter:
While one really good page is better than two average pages, don’t shrink or start shrinking the text to comply. Remember that short and sweet is all you need; and I say go for the more modern “profile” instead of a generic goal (job description you’re looking for). The company knows the target if you are applying for a job and a profile summarizes their selling points. One-page resumes are back in style, so consider moving some of those accomplishments into the cover letter and pairing the resume content so it looks more like a sales brochure than a dissertation. In addition to choosing a simple, clean font, have your resume professionally edited and avoid any jargon. Note that a positive tone and active tense in the first person reads more engagingly.
6. Do not pretend:
Some spouses hire a fancy resume writer who rephrases what they’ve done in previous jobs into percentages and dollar signs of what they’ve accomplished, but then are stumped during interviews when asked about their own resume. Do not mention that you are a database expert if you have never worked with one. And instead of sprinkling buzzwords and clichés on the resume, make the resume authentic. Think about your top strengths first, and then use a strong verb that describes where you really stand out rather than what looks good on paper. Not only will your confidence shine through, but once you’re hired for the job, you’ll end up being a much better match than if you overdo it on your resume and end up in a job that requires “attention to detail.” hate.
7. Peeking is not cheating:
Go grab a coffee at the local library or bookstore and take a look at the resume book section. Do a search online, or better yet, ask friends who have good jobs if you can use their resume as an idea template. I’m not saying to plagiarize a resume manual word for word, but reading other people’s resumes can “remind” you that they also awarded you something that you forgot. It may even be helpful to go back to your old employee handbook that outlines your previous job description to help refresh your memory of your skills and successes. As long as your ideas come from enough different sources and really resonate with who you are, you’re not cheating.
8. Tell your friends to brag:
As with everything else in military life, it never hurts to be over-prepared. When you go to an interview, take a few extra copies of your resume in case you need to pass it on for a second interview, you never know. If you wrote “references available upon request,” make sure you actually have references and have a pre-written pager of these references and their contact information ready and available. Don’t forget to let people know you’ve used them as a reference so they don’t blow your cover and say “Sara, who” when a future employer actually calls.
9. Don’t assume:
Don’t assume the hiring manager knows how you’re connected. If you know someone well in the organization, include their “contact” in the first paragraph of your cover letter. Some spouses assume that an employer knows they are computer literate or have references available upon request. It never hurts to include all relevant job skills. Another assumption people make is that the HR professional reviewing her resume knows all the jargon associated with each job. He wants to stay away from abbreviations and jargon no matter how common he thinks the word is.
10. Show off your stuff:
A beautiful resume that sits on your computer won’t get you that job. Contact all military spouse job resources and post your polished resume. Also, print out a few extra copies and take them with you so you can pass them out to your network. Also try traditional job search sites and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince, and the same goes for your job search. Buy some nice folders and put some resumes in them to drop off at your idea organizations. If an organization isn’t hiring, ask them if they can keep your resume in case something opens up.
Now let’s get started!
o Write down everything you have done in the past about your work history from your first job until now. Include any relevant volunteer work, seminars, and training you’ve received, and next to each item list the skills you’ve acquired, such as answering a 5-line phone, introducing yourself to a group of 50, generating X dollars in income, etc. . .
o Create a skeleton resume with the main content you want to share with potential employers and then save it as a “skeleton resume” on your computer; and then you may want to create two different resumes for the two addresses you are targeting. For example, one resume might include all of your military volunteer work and be great for applying for that perfect position with a spousal-friendly employer, and the other resume might look more corporate and include just your work history, a P.O. Box, and that.” great” corporate contact in the cover letter.
o Ask mentors (outside the military) to review your resume and give you honest feedback. Please consider the resources available to you on base or email me at [email protected] to schedule a resume consultation, which includes editing, discussing your resume, and lots of support, training you to take the next step in your career!
If you would like to work with me as your coach or have any questions about the profession, please feel free to write to: [email protected] and subscribe to The Military Spouse Coach e-zine which offers low cost, high quality training products that you can take advantage of. !
