Writing a federal resume sucks for veterans and spouses. Seriously. It is such a long, drawn-out, misunderstood, totally encoded process. We military folks ought to be issued lollipops, lemon drops and gumballs for every minute we stick with the federal resume writing process.
Because getting sticky with the process is exactly how to get your federal resume finished, submitted, and ready for an interview. Sticky persistence wins the day for federal resumes.
Anyone who has ever written a successful federal resume will tell you it is not all sweetness and light. In our master class, The Undeniable Federal Resume: How Veterans and Spouses Can Land the Federal Job Offer, I teach all the ins and outs of how to write a federal resume for transitioning military members, veterans and spouses. There is a lot of insider knowledge concealed in a federal job listing that everyone needs to know before they start writing. That is one thing.
Then you all start writing. You start to fill out our exclusive federal resume template. You dig into the job announcement. Then you get buried in all the stuff. You can’t find the core competencies. Or the questionnaire is not listed. Or you are overcome with the kind of sugar rush that makes you think that turning in any old thing will be fine.
Suddenly, what seemed clear in the class can get very sticky when you are trying to apply it to your own experience in a particular job. That’s why we are hosting our FREE Federal Resume Lab on Thursday, March 7, at 4 p.m. Eastern. Sign up today!
Federal Resume Lab is designed for veterans and spouses who have already done the basics, and now need master-level instruction. I’ll be reviewing individual federal resumes (no corporate resumes.) I will lead job candidates through a process that helps them achieve that aha moment so they start getting called in for an interview.
Here is how it will work.
1. Pre-Register for the Resume Lab Master Class on Zoom
Here’s how. This will be a closed group. Only registered users can attend the free class, so you don’t have to worry about being embarrassed or exposed. And I promise that I will not go Simon Cowell on you, ever.
2. Bring Your Current Federal Resume
Like I tell all my clients, don’t do anything else to your resume before you come to the class. You worked on it enough already.
If you want to register for one of our guaranteed review spots, send your resume and a federal job listing to us at veteranemploymentproject@monster.com.
If you are not sure but might want to be a candidate for review, just have your resume ready. You can join the queue or not, depending on how you feel that day.
If you don’t want to be one of the examples, you don’t have to do anything. It is cool to just sit back and observe.
3. Speed Rounds
Get ready for speed rounds. We want to see as many candidates as possible so that everyone gets a feel for what resumes are like from every walk of military life -- veterans who have been out of the military for years, National Guardsmen, spouses, junior officers, mid-level enlisted, senior leaders, etc.
Everyone has a different experience, and the advice you get often depends on your career level.
4. Tell Me About Yourself
For the live candidates, I’ll ask you to tell me about yourself in three sentences. I want to hear your name, your current job when you are getting out of the military and what kind of job you are looking for.
5. What Kind of Feedback Will Help You Most?
Reviewing resumes is not personal, but it can feel really personal. I always ask clients what kind of feedback will help most.
- Do you want to hear what is going right on this resume?
- Do you want to know why this resume is not getting any requests for an interview?
- Do you want my thoughts on your layout?
- Do you want to know what kind of career theme you are projecting?
I can help with all those and more.
The only kind of feedback I do not give in Resume Lab is on spelling, grammar or missing words. That kind of feedback takes a focused kind of concentration and an eye for errors I can’t bring here.
6. I’ll Tell You What I See
We will look at your resume together, and I will tell you what I see as a transition master coach. Then I will give you the kind of feedback you requested. If I have some other nugget I’m dying to share, I’ll ask you first and you can decide whether you want it.
7. List 3 Action Items
You will walk away with three action items to improve your resume.
8. Coaching Opportunity
If you have been a live candidate, you can do the changes suggested and return the resume to me for another look to confirm you got it right. We are always interested to hear about your whole job hunt. And we do like to know when you land a job.
Jacey Eckhart is Military.com's transition master coach. She is a certified professional career coach and military sociologist who helps military members get their first civilian job by offering career-level Master Classes through our Veteran Employment Project and on her website, SeniorMilitaryTransition.com. Reach her at Jacey.Eckhart@Monster.com.
Find Your Next Job Fast
Transitioning military, veterans and spouses may be qualified for the job, but they are missing the secrets of civilian hiring. Find out everything you need to know with our FREE master class series, including our next class. You can view previous classes in our video library. Questions for Jacey? Visit our Facebook page or reach out on LinkedIn Jacey Eckhart.
