No matter how much time you served in the military one thing for certain is that when it’s time to leave you’ll want to capture all the things you’ve done and all the jobs you’ve had. Your resume is the best to market yourself to the civilian sector. Now as we all know the military uses A LOT of acronyms and the terms we use are foreign to civilians.

I will admit I struggled with this when I first started this journey. I wrote what I thought was a great resume and once I had someone proofread it for me they quickly pointed out that it needed to be changed. I’m so happy that I took advantage of some of the great resources available. I utilized a service from Hire Heroes USA and was paired with a transition specialist. During our first encounter, she took a copy of my resume and rewrote it, free of charge. Once I received my updated copy my mind was blown. All the information was spelled out in a way that anyone could easily understand exactly what my military duties entailed.

My transition specialist even explained how companies are now using Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Matching to rank and sort resumes based on how well they match the position profiles. She told me about a fantastic website called Chat GPT. This site is SO helpful. It allows you to generate text, translate language and even offers suggestions for you to tailor your resume for a specific job description.

Once my resume was finalized, I felt so confident entering the job market. I highly recommend anyone that is transitioning out of the military to take advantage of ALL the free resources offered to military members such as Hire Heroes USA and webinars for resume writing from USO Transition Program. Also don’t forget to take classes on your installation for resume writing as they are typically offered by the Military and Family Readiness Center.

Building your resume is just the first step in mastering your military transition. Explore more blogs in this series by visiting My Military Lifestyle.