How to Write an Excellent Army Resume

1How to Write an Excellent Army Resume Writing an Army resume presents many new challenges to those individuals who have been members of the Army and military. These individuals are generally required to work a tour after boot camp that can last upwards of four years. On one hand, these people have learned valuable tools and skills that they would not have had the opportunity to learn working as a civilian. Because they have been out of the workforce for a few years, they may not have an extensive work history to fall back on.The other disadvantage that these individuals tend to have is that their newly developed skills require the knowledge of specific military jargon. This jargon often incorporates more than one job task into one simple phrase. Civilian companies and their managers may not know what job duties are clumped in the term "technical enhancement," for example. This jargon often leaves employers confused and with a lot of questions.This type of jargon must be simplified in the Army resume. Job seekers must remember that their potential employers may not have been in the service and that they will have to break down their job duties into civilian terms. Explain what you did in lay-mans terms. For example, explained that you used specific software in your job duties or that you trained individuals how to maintain military vehicles such as tanks, trucks and airplanes. There are a lot of people who don't know what happens on a daily basis at the Army base, and you must explain this in your resume.Those individuals that have been in the service for an extended period of time often have difficulties as well. They tend to include more military jargon, as this is the way that they communicated on a daily basis with their co-workers. These veterans tend to copy their job descriptions exactly as they are listed in their military manuals. It is important to remember that those manuals are filled with jargon that a civilian employer will not understand. The jargon is too difficult for these people to understand and it must be broke down into different job tasks, even if it means your resume ends up being more than one page long!After you have found a way to eliminate your Army jargon, you will want to describe your awards and recognitions in a comprehensible manner as well. Explain the award and what you did to receive the award using terms that potential employers will be able to understand. Many career counselors may tell you that you should try to downplay your military experience. This is not necessarily true, as you most likely possess all of the character qualities that the employer is looking for. You will want to show that you learned discipline, teamwork and dedication during your duty. These character comments are definite assets to potential employers. If you had any levels of security clearance, be sure to include those as well. These facts will show that you are dependable and have character, so much that the government trusted you with confidential information.The one area that you may need to tone down is your active combat experience, unless it pertains to the position that you are seeking. This area might disturb future employers and it might not be a great idea to tell them if you killed anyone during combat either. Active combat rarely comes into play in the corporate or retail world and you may choose to just explain that you did participate in active combat without getting into extreme detail. The employer will appreciate the fact that you played an active role in protecting the country.The main thing to remember while developing your resume is that you want it to be easy to understand. Have a friend or family member that does not have military experience read your Army resume. This will help to ensure that the resume is understandable and still covers all of your achievements that you have acquired.