Why Military to Private Sector Career Transition Is So Difficult

Comments from Career Transitioning Professionals

“After 27 years serving in the Army, I have never found anything harder than transitioning from the Army to civilian life.”

“I understand what you are going through, I retired from the Navy in 1997 and the transition was so difficult.”

“The private sector is not anything like the military and takes a little to get used to, but again it just takes time and patience.”

“I’ve sent my resume out over 100 times and nobody is paying any attention to me.”

Why Career Transition Is Challenging

These are the comments that I either see on social media or comments that have come to me directly from people who are struggling to make career transitions. Here are a few steps that will address challenges that exist in career transitions.

CAN vs SHOULD

·        In the military, you may have had some choices with regard to where your skills, training, education, and career were headed, but you likely did not have total freedom of choice.

In the private sector, you can do whatever you want to do. Most people never slow down in their lives to figure out the difference between what they “CAN” do and what they “SHOULD” do. When you enter the private sector, this is your opportunity to finally focus in on what you “SHOULD” do with your life based on your unique giftedness.  People who make this investment find Clarity, Confidence, and Direction.

Translation

·        The work you performed in the military was likely called something different than it is in the private sector. You need to translate your language.

A 25-year non-commissioned army officer came to me looking for help with his career transition. In the deserts of the Middle East, he drove and guided convoys of supply trucks across the desert. These trucks carried supplies, vehicles, weapons, etc. While a corporation involved in trucking in the private sector may not be transporting tanks, they are transporting goods that need to be delivered safely and on time. I taught this military officer how to translate his resume’s language. Doing so led to him receiving calls for interviews for supply chain and logistics positions.

Leadership Paradigm Shift

·        In your military career, you likely led by command and control techniques. You might have possessed more stars and stripes than others. Therefore, when you laid down an order, there were people under your command who had no choice but to respond and take action.

In the private sector, 21st Century Leadership involves building deep, meaningful, authentic, trusting relationships. Trust must be earned. It is not mandated. In order to attract and to retain talent, 21st Century Leaders must learn to coach, inspire, grow, mentor, and develop employees. Private sector employees can leave and find another job at any time. A different leadership approach is required in the private sector.

A New Resume Strategy

·        You may have been taught to write a government resume that stretches to 5-10+ pages. In the private sector, you have a matter of seconds for a gatekeeper to find a reason to slow down to read your resume. You need to execute a different strategy to achieve a different result.

A clean, clear, logical resume that is built with the resume owner’s new audience in mind, wins. Most resumes are built with the resume’s owner in mind. This approach requires a paradigm shift to implement a different strategy if one wishes to achieve a different result. If your current resume hasn’t generated desired results in 20 tries, you’ll likely get the same resume results when you try 50 times and even 100 times. You need a different strategy.

This is a very short list built to demonstrate just a few of the paradigm shift challenges that exist when one leaves a military career to enter the private sector.

Jeff Snyder’s, Career Transition Coaching, Career Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

“I’m Stuck”, Said the Job Seeker

Many job seekers get stuck because they don’t see the strategic paths from where they are that lead to where they want to go.

While your resume is always about you, it should always be written for the benefit of another person. We’ll call these other people the audience for your resume.

• If in your profession, you use language, acronyms and/or abbreviations that 100% of your audience does not use or clearly understand, you might get stuck.
• Most people write resumes about themselves as if they’re writing their resume for themselves.  This approach will frequently get you stuck.
• If your resume’s audience can’t figure out who you are, where you are, how to contact you, what you’re great at and how you can specifically solve their problems, you’ll likely find yourself getting stuck.
• If you're ready for a leadership role and you're sending out resumes that carry laundry lists of technology rather than evidence of what you've done to lead, guide, mentor and grow other people, you'll likely get stuck in the hands-on individual contributor role you're in today. 
• When employers are asking for job candidates who are visionary, strategic, collaborators who can influence, guide and execute and you aren't crystal clear as to which of those traits describe you, it will be very difficult to write a resume that addresses the traits and behaviors employers are seeking.
• Your resume should give evidence of accomplishments, contributions and the value you've created for past employers in order to demonstrate that you can create similar value for the future employer.

Research by The Ladders suggests that you now have 6 seconds to make a first impression when you share your resume. In those first 6 seconds when a resume reviewer puts their eyes on your resume, you’re making a first impression whether the impression is a good or a bad impression.

Your resume's first impression should be clean, clear and logical enough to entice a data-overwhelmed resume reviewer to slow down to read your resume. 

Your resume's first impression is either an impression that will open an interview door or it is an impression that will keep you stuck in your current situation.

Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

How Do I Write a Resume That Opens Interview Doors?

It’s About You but Never for You

While your resume is always about you, it is never for you. The purpose of writing a resume is to help someone else, someone in your resume’s audience, to get to know you quickly.

By quickly, I’m mean real fast.  Research suggests that resume reviewers give your resume 6 seconds of initial attention.  In those 6 seconds, it is your job to demonstrate what you have to offer that aligns with what your audience is seeking. 

The goal for your resume in the first 6 seconds of your audience’s resume scanning process is to give your audience enough evidence that your resume is worthy of their time to read.

You have to earn your audience’s commitment to read before they’ll move past visual scanning mode.

People Don’t Read Anymore

Think about it.  Our minds have been conditioned to scan 120 characters in a Tweet. When people write comments on Facebook, how often are those comments short and incomplete sentences? It isn’t that nobody can read. The reality is that most people will start out scanning before they commit to reading.

Write your resume so that it can be visually scanned in 6-10 seconds and make sure you are delivering what your audience cares about more than what you care about.

Your Resume is a Highly Complex Document

If you’ve ever struggled with resume writing, it’s okay.  Writing a great resume requires a mix of Technical Writing, Business Writing and Creative / Strategic Writing.  Knowing exactly what matters to your resume’s audience is where you begin the process of creating your own resume.

Jeff Snyder’s Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

"As You May Have Noticed, I am a Director of Information Security"

“To be frank, I was really looking for someone just to write my resume. I was not looking for guidance. As you may have noticed, I am Director of Information Security and have very little time to devote to resume writing.”

This message came to me a while back.  When I read it, I cringed.  Why did I cringe? 

Because the best resume writer on the planet who might have come up with the best resume examples and the best resume templates can't write a resume for someone else without first having proper information.

The only person who has walked in your shoes is you. You are the only person who can properly talk about your accomplishments, contributions and the value you've created for businesses you've worked for in the past. If you’re not willing to put information on the table for a talented resume writer to help you, the resume writer can’t help you.

It’s great that this person is a Director of Information Security but that doesn’t matter at all in the context of getting a great resume written.  When a person needs help with anything in life, it is wise to show humility by stepping aside in order to let the expert they’re reaching out to step in and stand by their side.

I call this “getting out of your own way”.  There are times in life when the greatest gains will be achieved when we’re able to get out of our own way in order to let someone help us in areas where we’re not the expert.

Before you even consider engaging a resume writing service, you need to be willing to participate in the resume writing process. 

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Chief Information Security Officer Resume Writing Testimonial

"I Knocked It Out Of The Ballpark"

When Seeking Resume Writing Advice, Focus On Results Rather Than Opinions

I recently read an article on LinkedIn entitled THINGS YOU SHOULD REMOVE FROM YOUR RESUME IMMEDIATELY.  If you want to read this article, simply click on the article title. I provided the hyperlink to take you to the article.

When I cut and pasted the text of this article into a Word document so I could read it later, it came out to 12 pages.  While I agree with some of the article’s points, I don’t agree with every point.

Instead of arguing over opinions, know that my resume writing opinions come from results, results and only results.  Here’s what you need to know about what I teach my clients about resume writing.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Governance, Risk, Compliance Resume Writing

5 for 5!

Why Can't You Write My Resume...I Gave You My Last 3 Job Descriptions

Your last 3 job descriptions describe what you were hired to do in your last 3 jobs.  If a resume writer could simply compile the descriptions of what you were hired to do to create your resume, there would be no skill involved in the process of writing a resume.

A great resume is far more than a record of what you signed up to do in past jobs. A great resume shows a record of what you signed up to do, what you actually did and the value that was created as a result of your efforts.

It is your Accomplishments, Contributions and Results that need to be demonstrated on your resume in a language that aligns with the language of your resume’s audience. 

While your resume is always about you, it is for your audience 100% of the time.

What you were hired to do in previous jobs should actually be allocated the least amount of real estate on your new resume.

Resume writing is difficult because when it is done strategically and correctly, it is a mix of technical writing, business writing and creative writing.  Many people do well with the technical writing piece.  The business writing piece of a resume is still within the grasp of some.  It is the creative piece of writing that is outside of most of my client’s skill sets.  Too much of any one of these elements will upset the delicate balance of a great resume.

Finding just the right balance of Technical Writing, Business Writing and Creative Writing is required to build a resume that will be most appreciated by the resume’s audience.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, Resume Writing, 719.686.8810

​ I’m a Director, She Wrote…That’s Great News, I Thought in My Mind

My Resume Writing Service

I have been assisting people with resume writing since 1990.  In 2008, I turned my pro-Bono work into an active part of my business.  I didn’t go out and study other people’s approaches to resume writing.  Rather, I collected thoughts from several of my clients as well as from many of my colleagues and peers; people who have reviewed tens of thousands of resumes in their careers.

From there, I set out to build a resume writing methodology from scratch. I started with my own thoughts, the information I’d collected from my colleagues and peers as well as information your audience told me they wanted to see in a resume and began building from the ground up.

What I created is a proprietary resume writing methodology that has opened interview doors for my clients around the globe since 2008 and continues to open interview doors today.  My clients have included Analysts and Engineers, Architects, Managers, Directors, VPs and “C” Suite Executives.

Hiring a Resume Writer

Here are a handful of suggestions with regards to how you might want to go about selecting a resume writer or a resume coach.

• Hire a resume writer who understands your profession and the audience you’ll be sending your resume to.
• Hire a resume writer who can demonstrate client results as a result of their clients using their resume writing approach.
• Be ready to roll up your sleeves to partner with your resume writer or resume coach.
• Don’t approach a resume writer with this mindset:

“To be frank, I was really looking for someone just to write my resume. I was not looking for guidance. As you may have noticed, I am Director of Information Security and have very little time to devote to resume writing.”

 

You’ll Have To Participate

Understand that you are the only person on the planet who has walked in your shoes.  Nobody knows why you are unique or special other than you.  Nobody knows how to tell your stories of Accomplishment, Contributions or the Value you’ve created for previous employers other than you.  The best any resume writer can do is to meet you half way.  If they claim to be able to do more, I suggest that you turn around and run away.

A great resume is a forward leaning document.  This document cannot be written by you handing a resume writer your last three job descriptions.  Job descriptions talk about what you are hired to do.  They never talk about what you did or how you did what you did.  This by the way is what employers told me they want to see in a resume. 

You have to participate in the resume building process.

My Resume Writing / Resume Coaching Options

I offer a 1 Hour Resume Coaching program for my clients who are confident in their writing skills.  These clients are people who want to learn my proprietary resume writing methodology.  I’ve boiled this knowledge transfer down to a 1 hour coaching call. 

For my clients who are not as comfortable with their writing skills, I have a service that I refer to as my Full Resume Writing Service.  My 1 Hour Resume Coaching program is so effective because it addresses both auditory and visual learners, so I deliver this program to my Full Resume Writing clients before I take over as their editor.

I my Full Resume Writing clients to the drawing board to build their raw resume material based on the methodology I have taught them.  When my clients are ready for me to jump back into their resume writing process, I do so as their personal editor.  I take their raw material and turn it into a polished, professionally written resume that is then ready to open interview doors.

Conclusion

Nobody on the planet can write your resume for you from start to finish.  Regardless of how busy you might be, you have to slow down to participate in a knowledge transfer process. 

There is no other way to end up with a great resume.

Jeff Snyder's Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

In Job Search Mode? You Should Do This

 

LinkedIn's New Feature

First, understand that your Resume and your LinkedIn profile both make first impressions in a matter of seconds.

Second, explore LinkedIn’s new feature that lets you tell visitors to your profile that you might consider a career move.

Third, don’t turn on the new LinkedIn feature unless you have strategically optimized your LinkedIn profile to show the best version of you. You are making a first impression when someone visits you on LinkedIn.

Fourth, don't turn on the new LinkedIn feature unless you have a stellar resume that can be visually scanned in a matter of seconds.  You are making a first impression when you send a resume.

Here’s How to Unlock the New LinkedIn Feature

• Go to the top of your LinkedIn Profile and click on JOBS
• Click on PREFERENCES
• Set yourself up to be contacted for opportunities based on your parameters.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, LinkedIn Profile Optimization, Resume Writing, 719.686.8810