Civilian Job Search as Veteran

Evening Everyone,

I wanted to know what you have found to be most helpful in finding and being selected for employment as a civilian? I know some people use recuirtment services and some do not. I am just looking for help with my resume and best practices for interviews but whatever you toss me that you think would help will definitely be most appreciated.

R/

 

Your resume should be tailored to job skills you learned in your time enlisted that are transferable to the civilian job you're applying for. Resumes are just marketing tools for yourself to get an interview. The interviews are what land you the job. Be passionate about the job you're looking to land.

This is what I have on my resume after I served only one tour, as I wasn't a lifer. I also list it under education so it is still relevant to today's resume.

EDUCATION
United States Marine Corps / Infantryman
1991 - 1995, USA
Developed the ability to work well in high pressure/stressful situations while executing difficult job tasks in a fast paced-environment.

Supervised and responsible for the lives and actions of a thirteen-man team during operation Restore Hope in Somalia.

Fine-tuned the ability to organize goals and achieve them.

 

Also try and get rid of as many military terms/mos names as possible by finding civilian equivalent ones.

If you had to fill out Fitreps or performance reviews draw on those or any awards to help with job experience.

 

Really depends on the particular civilian job/career you're chasing... While your resume is what it is in terms of your experiences, training, education and such, how you present that information can be vastly tailored to meet the needs of a particular job/employer

Also, a Cover Letter is always recommended anytime you submit a resume. Your cover letter should be custom tailored to the specific job you are applying for as well. The cover letter not only highlights the experiences, training and character traits that you're bringing that make you an ideal candidate; but, it should also include Career Goals, Volunteer Work, Public Speaking Experiences, Hobbies, Professional Organizations and such so the employer can see a more 'complete picture' of who you really are as a person.

 

Good Morning


Thanks. I was under the impression that the cover letter was general and not tailored to the job. I wil make that correction

OldGuy03 I really like the way you worded that bullet.

I will certainly stay away from the military jargon but it was kinda one of those things I was still doing and didn’t even realize it until someone asked me what I meant when I used one of the phrases.

I appreciate the help from you all
Thanks for the sanity check

 

If you are looking for a govt civilian job, usajobs is the most common method, but I know many opportunities are now using linkedin as well. That's were the DAF personnel center is posting some direct hire authority positions and where ba as e specific job fairs are getting marketed as well.

For traditional employment, everyone's covered you well. Knowing how to translate that is huge. Dynamic work environments, team.player, leadership, manages stress well, performs well under under pressure, task focused, etc.

While I haven't served, both govt and private sector careers do have similarities in that you need to tailor your resume to the key words for the job your applying. You'll need it to pass the automated filtering or the HR quick skim and make it to the second stack. You'll also want to be able to talk to the specific job and tailor your interview responses to it. Nothing worse than hearing you were passed up because you missed the mark in your responses.

Always follow-up. Always. If they do notify you that you weren't selected, ask for feedback so you can hone your interviewing skills. Sometimes they'll tell you, sometimes they won't, but the answer is always a No if you don't ask.

And finally, network and always be available. Some of my best jobs have come unexpectedly. Not through recruiters, but through word of.mouth or meeting someone at a random place.

Good luck! I've seen people talk about opportunities in different areas on this forum before. Keep an eye open.

 

What line of work are you looking to get into?

From the perspective of a hiring manager, I am mainly looking for attitude, ability, capacity and work ethic.

I definitely agree that the cover letter should be personalized as much as possible.

 

Have your references be *actual* references and not just your beer buddies that will “vouch for you.”

Word of mouth is very big. As an employer, I had contacted the supervisor of a position I was interested in hiring (dental assistant). The army installation here ran a training program through the Red Cross that I worked with directly when I was still active duty so I had prior knowledge of the level of competency from the program. Spoke with the director of the program, and 2 days later I had a resume (that wasn’t really important because I knew what I was dealing with) and met the candidate, did a quick “working interview” the next day.

She started the following Monday.

Sorry for the drawn out response, but the cliff notes is to use references that can speak to your skill set, work ethic, and personality. That’s all we want as employers, and those references go a long way.

 

As @DZ_ said, what are you looking for? What kind of environment, indoor, outdoor, dealing directly with costumers and public? What do you like, or enjoy doing?

 

What did you do in the military?

What was your job?

Did you attend any military schools?

etc.

Turn each experience into an item the same way a civilian would say I was top of my class at whatever university, have a certificate in this, and have job experience doing these things.

 

Also a good point. Everything including your cover letter should be custom tailored to each job you're applying for.

It's hard to just change how you communicate once you enter the civilian sector. The best thing you can do for yourself is research the company and learn/know their core values and mission statement before your first interview. Communicate (in your resume as well) with them on their level using those terms and you'll find yourself building rapport quickly with hr and hiring managers. Commit to being passionate about the work you choose to do and it won't just be a paycheck but rewarding as well.

 

I had a hard time when I first separated. I had no clue how to word anything on my resume, or even where to look. Then someone pointed me in the direction of The Department of Labor which is a local government office. Linked in is also another great tool. Head hunters there know what to look for for job placement, you just need the correct key words.

 

Look at usajobs.gov. Lots of stuff. Vets get a point preference. It’s GOV but civilian sector. Lots of search parameters. You could double dip.

 

For sure browse usajobs.gov. If you have any kind of disability rating from the VA there are special pathways for civilian jobs with the GOV: USAJOBS Help Center - Veterans

 

Not sure what kind of work you're looking for, but the railroads love vets. Depending on where you live the pay can vary greatly. But out West, Class 1 railroads pay well, have pretty damn good benefits, and best of all, railroad retirement. BNSF and Union Pacific are the highest paying, but they only operate the West of the Mississippi.
I'm partial to train crew, that's what pays the best. Six figures is easy.

 

Thanks everyone,

I’ve gotten a scrub on my resume and making some changes now. I’ve also recently received a Bachelor of Science so I’m going to make sure I capture that.

some job fields I feel want you to have experience for what you’ve went to school for but don’t hire recent graduates.
I’m plugging away anyhow to find what I desire
I appreciate all the help

 

Not sure if you answered, but what career field are you pursuing? Lots of experience in this thread to help you get started.

 

Keep this in mind, you have less than 30 seconds to impress the Human Resources person on that first contact. That, unfortunately is how quickly they decide on whether you are a qualified candidate or not. Pretty ridiculous, but true. So..............it's not you.

 

I have been a part in hiring several veterans for my field. If you feel the calling, check out another career in public service. Cops, firefighters, etc. You still get purpose going to work daily, the camaraderie is similar to your military career, lots of resources for mental health if that’s something you need, etc.

 

I will be honest, as the owner of a company my first look takes 30 seconds or less. It is very easy to determine who I want to speak further with and who I do not want to bother wasting time with.

Things that get you into the junk pile almost instantly:
Multiple words spelled wrong on resume
Poor descriptions on your resume.

Things that will get you a further look:
Great looking resume, with good formatting and grammar.
Listing accomplishments on a resume VS what you did.


Lets say you worked at McDonalds for a few years slinging burgers and frys at the drive thru when you were 16-18. You could describe this as two ways.

McDonald's 2010-2012. I worked at drive through and gave customers their food.

OR...

McDonalds 2010-2012: During my time at McDonalds I worked drive through. Our goal was to accurately organize and give a customer's order to them within 90 seconds of being taken. I was able to maintain this average 87.3% of the time and was in the top 3% of our store for order delivery.

Which one are you going to want to hire....

 

My wife was a corporate recruiter for O&G and still works in HR albeit as a Business Partner. If you feel comfortable, send me your resume and I'll have her look at it.

 

Been a while since I’ve even needed a resume, but one of the things now days is AI screens out a bunch as it’s looking for key words that fit the job description and requirements so I would have a resume that could be tailored a bit to a specific job your interested in as opposed to just a general one