What is the real purpose of your veteran resume?

In simplest terms, your resume is your professional story, or your written “Elevator speech”, and while there are only a few general types of resumes, there are infinite numbers of styles and in some instances, your personality can be reflected, good or bad, by your resume appearance.

Your resume has one main purpose, which is to get someone to want to talk to you, and in this incredibly competitive job search landscape, that can be frustrating. So what do you do?

Have you had your resume reviewed or even prepared?

There are a number of people out there that have made it their career to professionally develop resumes. In many cases, these professionals do a really good job developing a resume that has quality points, quantitative points, and stylistic appeal that you, their paying customer, see as a great looking product.

Keep in mind, the real end user of your resume is the hiring manager, recruiter, or talent professional who is the gate keeper to your dream job.

Oftentimes, veterans transitioning into civilian careers will have their resume reviewed by friends, colleagues, or mentors, their colleagues, their mentors, or they may even utilize a resume review service, and this leads to even more confusion and frustration.

Why? Because if 10 people review a resume, there will be 10 different recommendations, as resume review is extremely subjective. Those free resume review options you see on job boards, are often times solicitation for services. In other words, they want to sell you their resume prep services, and if you elect to have your resume professionally done, a new resume review will still find flaws.

This happened to me during my transition from the U.S. Navy as a veteran. I reached out to the representative company that initially reviewed and re-worked my resume, and after telling them that I received very critical feedback on a resume that one of their representatives prepared, I was told that their review and prep professionals were actually independent contractors with autonomy to review and critique.

After this happened, I came up with a plan.

Get multiple recommendations and pick and choose the things you like.

When I want to cook something new, I take the approach that I look at 3-5 different recipes for the same thing, then I create my own recipe, taking on those particulars that I really think will make the best recipe for me. Sometimes, I simply find the best recipe without needing to make changes.

The same should hold true for your resume. Get 2, 3 or more recommendations. Apply those you like and dismiss those you don’t until you have the resume that YOU can own and that tells YOUR story.

Have a couple of different “master” resumes.

These “master” resumes are always your starting point, and you absolutely should tailor your resume to the specific job you’re applying to or looking at. Keep all of your resumes, making sure you don’t mix them up, for after-action analysis. You can test a couple of different resumes to see which is getting you noticed.

You can also reach out to one of your connections that work for a particular organization that you are targeting. Ask this person if they would be willing to review your two “master” resumes to see which one resonates the most with their talent acquisition and hiring manager for a position you are interested in.

This can help you pick your “#1” resume.

It’s your resume.

At the end of the day, your resume is YOURS—it’s your unique story as a veteran and professional.

It does not get you a job, it gets you attention, interest, and ultimately interviews. Keep in mind, if you have a resume prepared for you, then it may not really be “your story”. If you do go this route, make sure that when you get an interview, you can talk your resume.

One final note: I have been guilty of defending my resume to the point where I get quite testy when I receive feedback. I would think, “my resume is perfect… who are you to tell me otherwise”.

This is faulty thinking at best… Most recommendations I have received have been through a diverse lens, and I came to realize that I needed to be open minded to the fact that my resume is not perfect, because…

…wait for it…

NO RESUME IS PERFECT.

Advice by: Jim King, Chief Programs Officer, U.S. Navy Retired, 256.883.7035, jking@ssv.org

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