There is one simple truth about resumes that every veteran, spouse and transitioning active-duty member needs to know: If you are not getting requests for an interview, something is wrong with your resume.
Read that again. If you are applying for jobs and you are not getting requests for an interview, something is wrong with your resume. There is nothing wrong with you, your skills or the market. There is nothing wrong with employers. There is nothing wrong with veteran hiring programs.
There is something wrong with your resume -- and I can help you fix it.
Sign up today for our free Resume Lab on Thursday, Aug. 22, at 4 p.m. Eastern.
But you don’t want to ask me at first. I know this about you. Veterans are independent learners. I know you do all you possibly can to write a good resume: Google how-to articles. Download resume templates. Crib resumes from a buddy. You follow the directions. And, still, you can’t tell what you are doing wrong.
Even if you reach out and ask friends, family members or a mentor to look at your resume, they all tell you it is fine. You may suspect they did not really read your resume. (This is because they did not. People hate reading resumes.)
I love fixing resumes. I’ve helped more than 22,000 veterans, spouses and transitioning active-duty service members with the job-hunt skills they need. I’ve designed and taught popular master classes such as Checklist Resume, Federal Resume 2.0. and Reverse Resume for Spouses. I’ve coached hundreds of individual clients one on one. I bet I know exactly what is wrong with your resume and how to fix it.
That is why I am hosting a free Resume Lab Master Class for the Veteran Employment Project on Thursday, Aug. 22, at 4 p.m. EDT. Sign up today and reserve your place.
Resume Lab is designed for people who have already done the basics and now need master-level instruction. I’ll be reviewing individual resumes and taking 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.
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 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 don’t want to be one of the examples, you don’t have to do anything.
Just sit back and observe. Since the military does not see other people’s resumes on the job, it is incredibly enlightening to observe the process in action.
If you want to register for one of our guaranteed review spots, send your resume and a 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.
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 definitely like to know when you land a job.
If your resume is not getting requests for an interview, it is sending you a signal that it wants to change. Sign up for our Free Resume Lab Master Class today and get started on finding the job you want most.
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.
