GIJOBs

FEB 2017

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Sept Are You a Whiz Steady Eddie? Oct 10 Easy Ways Civilianize 8 G.I. JOBS | FEBRUARY 2017 | GIJOBS.COM TRANSITION G.I. RÉSUMÉ Jan Kick the G.I. Jargon to the Curb! Feb Separate From the Chaff March Résumé Length Matters April Don't "Manage" Too Much May How to Organize Your Résumé by Major Jobs June Don't Sabotage Yourself July Education and Experience Aug Does your Résumé Pass the 8 Second Test? UPCOMING G.I. RÉSUMÉ ARTICLES MILITARY CHAFF is deployed by ships and aircraft to deter incoming missiles and rockets. Chaff is white noise. Chaff is interference. Chaff detours. The people who do the hiring and recruiting are bombarded with chaff every day, and it takes two forms – countless résumés that cross their desks, and the extraneous information that masks the important messages in your résumé. SO HOW DO YOU REMOVE THE CHAFF? Consider the hiring managers who weed through 100 résumés to fill five positions. Given the volume, they want to eliminate certain résumés instantly. So during their first run-through, you have five to 10 seconds to make sure yours isn't eliminated. Make sure your résumé clearly lists qualifications for the position. That seems fairly simple, but you'd be shocked at how many people fail to customize their résumé for a specific job. For instance, if a job requires a secret clearance, make it clear on your résumé that you have one. If not, you're likely to be discarded, even if you have a clearance. If the position requires a four-year degree, make sure your résumé says so. Let's assume you made the first cut. Now the hiring manager scrutinizes each résumé. This is the "who do I want to interview" phase. First, make sure yours is free of spelling and grammatical errors and that it's articulate. The purpose of your résumé is NOT to get the job, but to get the interview. Remember in high school when you had to do a 10-page term paper? If you're like me, you hadn't written a total of 10 pages of text in your entire life. So you began stuffing the paper with filler words. MINIMIZE WORD COUNT Your résumé is not a high school term paper. Good writers use as few words as possible to get their point across. In business, time is money, and if you devote too much time to filler, you'll be cut. Boldface key jobs, briefly mention job responsibilities with an emphasis on numbers (number of employees working for you, dollars managed, etc.), and list performance highlights in your previous jobs. Replace long lines of text with bullets. If you can't be articulate on your own résumé, why would an employer think you could be articulate with customers, colleagues and bosses? Get in, get out. Save some details for the interview. Your military experience gives you an edge over others. Use it to separate yourself from the chaff. Basic qualifications and concise writing will help you land the interview. BY SHANE CHRISTOPHER SEPARATE FROM THE CHAFF

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