Resume writing

I’m working on a Resume Writing question and need guidance to help me study.

I’m retiring from the army after 22 years of service. As for my jobs I was an Air traffic Controller as well as Medical Logistics/Supply Manager. I am looking for a job in Supply Chain or Airport Operations or any Management position. Below are the requirements for a corporate program i’m applying for. I need a resume 2 pages max as well as a cover letter for the Hiring Our Heroes foundation.

*Cover letter – addressed to Elizibeth Johnson that shares more about why you want to be a part of this program. I have half the resume work done but it needs work that I can send after acceptance.

Format

• No more than 1-2 pages
• Use .5 to 1 inch margins – otherwise it looks like you’re overcompensating
• Use a classic black font, such as Garamond, in size 11 or 12.Check out this article on the best and worst fonts to use on your resume.
• Don’t get fancy.Applicant Tracking Software can’t process complicated tables, special characters, crazy colors, or goofy doodads.

• Do NOT include an objective statement. They are passé.
• Do NOT include “references available upon request.”This is assumed.
• Current Position = Present Tense, Past positions = Past TenseIn your current positon you manage, develop, and forecast, in your former positions you managed, developed and forecasted.
• Your resume should have 5 basic sections in the following order: Header, Professional Summary, Summary of Skill/Qualifications (bulleted), Experience, and Education.
• Name in 16 or 18 bold, the rest in size 11 or 12 plain (consistent with rest of resume)
• Do not include your full address.Instead list the city where you want to work
• Include name, city, phone number, appropriate civilian email address, and LinkedIn URL (make sure you’ve shortened it).

Header

Summary of Qualifications

BLUF: Tell people about your awesomeness

Employers already know you want a job in xyz, so there is no need to tell them (and waste space) on your resume stating “I am seeking a new position in xyz.” Instead, give them a brief professional summary of your experience, skills, and knowledge. Make them want to read more about you.This is the most important section of your resume as it will determine whether the reader keeps reading.Take out the fluff!

Skills/Qualifications Summary

• They should be bullets.
• Be wary of soft-skills.
• This is a great place to include certifications and technical skills.
• These will change for each and every job for which you apply.

Professional Experience

• Combine your military experience into one big chunk and don’t worry about whether you did a specific task in your second year of the Army or in your seventh.
• Remove unit names and locations – you’re wasting real estate!
• Use 3-5 actionable bullet points under each subsection (the so-what affect)
• Use ACTION words at the beginning of a bullet that connote ownership of a task.For example, words like Lead, Managed, Designed, Responsible for, Implemented, etc.See list of action words for more ideas if you’re at a loss for words.
• Use quantifiable data to demonstrate how you achieved the mission
• Include the name of the university, the name/type of the degree, and the years attended or graduated.
• Include volunteer service at the very bottom, especially if volunteerism is relevant to the company’s mission statement/values
• Do not include a bunch of random military awards or irrelevant certifications.
• Do not just copy your OERs/NCOERs.
• Always send your resume as a PDF and with a professional file name.
• Have several others trusted friends and mentors proofread your resume for you.
• Create a master resume with tons of bullets that you can then tailor to each individual job description.
• Make sure you are checking your resume against each job description in www.jobscan.co

Instead of just listing your duties, tell your interviewer what you did and the results you achieved. I was taught that this is called the “so-what affect”. If you can read your bullet point and say “so what?” after it, you’re not doing it right.

“Identified contracts with unliquidated obligations”….SO WHAT? Let’s try that again.

“Researched funding issues to identify contracts with unliquidated obligations, avoiding $2 million dollars in wasted funds.”

If it’s not 100% obvious to the people w

Do your bullets follow the CAR format: Challenge, Action, Result?Does your bullet answer the “so what?”Most people leave the “result” off their bullet.If your accomplishment can be described with a number, quantify it. For example, change “negotiated contracts” to “surpassed overall profit goals by 24% on all negotiated contracts”…sounds better, eh?

Education