2012 Grantham University Military to Civilian Transition Manual

7/31/2019 2012 Grantham University Military to Civilian Transition Manual

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Grantham

UniversityCareer Center

Military-to-CivilianTransition Manual

2012


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Dear Service Member,

I would first like to thank you for your service to our Great Country in the form of your dedicated Military

Service. A new world is opening up for you now. I am honored to receive the opportunity to assist you with this

process.

You will find that your military service and experience is highly sought after in the civilian world. Manyemployers attempt to recruit their employees directly out of the military because of the quality of training, work

experience, ethic, and professionalism that are linked with your military experience.

With great pride, Grantham University considers itself a military friendly institution. This manual is another

way that we are able to give something back to you, a service member of our Great Military.

Today, there are four major barriers to soldiers getting employed quickly within their chosen professional field:

Thebrandinginformationthattheyputforthintotheirresumedoesnotmatchtheircareertoolsortheirprofessionalgoals.

Manysoldiersjobsearchtoolstendtobeoutdatedandnonfunctional Manysoldiersdonotbuildaprofessionalciviliannetworkaheadoftime;therefore,theyareunable

maximizetheuseoftheirconnectionstoobtaininformationaboutthehiddenjobmarket

ManysoldiersdonotutilizecivilianjobsearchsitestotheirfullestpotentialIt is the intent of this manual to assist you in combining your military training, experience, achievements and

awards with your education to create functional job search tools, and to arm you with information so that you are

able to conduct a productive and successful job search within your chosen profession.

Grantham University has been serving the needs of working adults and military members for over 60 years. We

pride ourselves on being a military friendly institution. We want to help our military members and veterans in

any way that we can. Therefore, please feel free to keep my contact information and contact me any time with

questions.

Sincerely,

Shanna M. Fowler

Career Services Manager

Grantham University

Phone: 1-800-955-2527 ext. 280

Fax: 1-866-752-6028

E-mail: [email protected]


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Table of Contents

Topic: Page Number:Transition Process 1

Separation Checklist 2

Career Testing 3-4

Professional Branding 5-6

Creating an Online Professional Presence 7-9

Building Your Online Profile Using LinkedIn 10-13

Sample LinkedIn Profile 14-15

Joining Professional Associations 16-17

Civilian Resumes 18-26Sample Civilian Resumes 27-30

Civilian Cover Letters 31-34

Sample Cover Letters 35-37

Federal Resumes 38-44

Sample Federal Resume 45-47

Federal Cover Letters 48-51

Sample Federal Cover Letter 52-53

Professional Portfolios 54-58

Sample Electronic Professional Portfolio 59-74Worksheets 75-82

KASE 76

Career Qualifications Research Worksheet 77

Career Planning Worksheet 78

Branding Worksheet 79

Application Tracking Form 80

Interview Cheat Sheet 81

Personal and Professional Reference Sheet 82


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The Transition Process within the Military

There are many steps in the transition process, especially within the individual military branches. The

process changes from branch-to-branch, and is different for each individual. In many cases, the servicemember is asked to make a list of where they would like to transition out of, and then the military will

review its own needs and transfer the military member according to those needs. This is one way that

the military helps the service member get ready for their civilian job search with little out of pocket

expense to the service member. Depending on the branch, this transfer can take place years prior to theservice members separation date.

The Transition Assistance Programs (TAPs) are one way that the military can assist you in preparing foryour civilian transition. Each branch has a unique version of their TAP program, and there is a chart

below for you to refer to the appropriate branchs TAPs program:

Branch TAPsProgram Website

Army ACAP(ArmyCareerandAlumni

Program)

http://www.acap.army.mil/aww/transition_assistance/tran

s_assist.cfm

AirForce TAP(TransitionAssistance

Program)

http://www.afcommunity.af.mil/transition/

CoastGuard TAP(TransitionAssistance

Program)

http://www.uscg.mil/worklife/transition_assistance.asp

Navy TAP(TransitionAssistance

Program)

http://www.cnic.navy.mil/CNIC_HQ_Site/WhatWeDo/Fleet

andFamilyReadiness/FamilyReadiness/FleetAndFamilySupp

ortProgram/TransitionAssistance/index.htm

Marine TAMP(TransitionAssistance

ManagementProgram)

http://www.usmcmccs.org/tamp/index.cfm?sid=ml

DoD TAP(TransitionAssistance

Program)

http://warriorcare.dodlive.mil/transitionassistance/

While the military does all it can to assist in positioning you for a successful civilian job search, there

are some items that you will need to start doing up to two and a half years prior to your separation date.Below, you will find a checklist of items that you will need to complete up to 36 months prior to your

separation date.

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Separation Checklist

Military Separation Date: MM/DD/20YY

Task Recommendations Actual Start Date Completion DateTake Career Test 36 Months prior to

your separation date

Begin creating your brand 36 Months prior to


Establish an online professional presence 36 Months prior to


Create a LinkedIn Profile to build your

professional network

36 Months prior to


Join professional groups and associationsfor networking purposes

36 Months prior toyour separation date

Create and Maintain your CareerWarehouse (Master Portfolio)


Research the civilian requirements foryour chosen field.


Research companies associated with thefield and create a Top 5 list


Create a clear and measurable JobSearch Plan


Begin creating/building your professional

brand on your social networking sites

24 Months prior to


Complete and Maintain your

Qualifications Inventory (KASE)

18 Months prior to


Create your Federal Resume 18 Months prior toyour separation date

Create a matching Federal Cover Letterto match your resume 18 Months prior toyour separation date

Create your profile on USAJobs 18 Months prior toyour separation date

Create your Civilian Resume 15 Months prior toyour separation date

Create a matching Civilian Cover Letterto match your resume


Create your profile on selected civilianjob search sites


Begin networking with individuals thatare employed by employers on your Top

5 employers list


Begin your passive Federal Job Search 13 Months prior to


Begin your passive Civilian Job Search 12 Months prior to


Begin your aggressive Federal Job Search 6 Months prior toyour separation date

Begin your aggressive Civilian JobSearch


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Career Testing

Career Testing is not a new concept. Career Testing is widely utilized by many companies as part of their hiring

process, and many staffing firms utilize them in order to properly place individuals. Transitioning military

members and veterans are very unique because you tend to be highly skilled in multiple areas; therefore, the

question is where will you be the happiest at. In order to effectively answer this question, many times you willneed outside resources, such as career tests. There are many career tests, and many are at no cost, whereas others

have a small fee associated with them.

The purpose of the career tests is to find out what your strengths are, how those strengths will help you in social

settings, settings that are good for you, and based on your strengths the types of fields that you would likely enjoy.

There are many career tests that are online, and not all tests are reputable; therefore, I have included a listing

below of some common career tests that I have had experience utilizing:

TestName AbouttheExam Fee(IfKnown) LinktoExamPage

CareerTest.net Testdetermines

personalitytypeand

correlatescareersbasedonyourpersonalitytype

results.

NoFee http://www.careertest.net/

CareerPath.com Correlatescareersbased

oncolorsorother

indicators,which

representinterests,

values,andskillswith

availablepositionson

CareerBuilder.

NoFee;

however,there

areafewmore

advancedtests

thatdohave

fees.

http://www.careerpath.com/careertests/

MyNextMove SponsoredbyO*NET

(DepartmentofLabor),thetestisaninterest

profilerthatcorrelates

interestswithcareer

fields,andprovidesthe

individualwithresults

thatarebyeducational

attainment.

NoFee http://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip

StrengthsFinder Thetestlooksforyour

professionalstrengthsby

askingyouabout

professionalsituation.

Theresultsaregenerally

fiveprofessional

strengths,andthe

correspondingbook

expandsuponthe

strengths.

Nofeeifyou

purchasedthe

book;however,

ifyouhavenot

purchasedthe

book,thereisa

smallfee.

http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx

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Remember, your career test results are only as accurate as the information that you put into the test; therefore,

remember that the test is a tool for you to utilize to begin planning your career path, and is not something that has

to be advertized within the workplace.

As our interests change, so will our career test results, which is why we can be happy for years in one position,

and then suddenly the position no longer brings us the same happiness. Career tests are a tool that we utilize to

gauge our interest and skill level within a specific career field; however, it is up to the individual to create a clearplan to get to the career goal listed (if that is something that the individual is interested in pursuing).

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Professional Branding

In todays job market, an employer wants to know the applicant before they are hired, and they want to know the

applicants skill level. Applicants have to do things that will set them apart, and applicants must be able to market

themselves effectively in order to quickly obtain a position. This professional marketing is calledBranding, and

Brandingis the name of the game in the current job market.

Branding is not something that is done quickly, your brand is something that has to be nurtured continuously, and

it must be continuously added upon. You want your brand to have a clear message about you, professionally, and

your professional knowledge. You want to build and expand your brand so that it is recognized by professionals

within your field and by employers.

Branding is at the heart of professional networking; therefore, the first task that you want to complete is to modify

all of your social networking sites to ensure that all your sites are sending out consistent messages about you,

professionally. The last thing that you want to happen is to have an employer confused due to the personal

messages that you are sending out on social networking sites like: Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace; therefore,

you want these sites to be consistent with your other branding tools (professional networking sites, web pages,

blogs, etc.).

In addition to sending out consistent messages,you will want the content of each social networking profile to be

professional in nature. This is very important, as there have been several cases where current, and in one case

recently a future employee, wrote disgruntled messages about a company, and they were then terminated by said

company, or the offer of employment was withdrawn. Dont include any content, including pictures and wall

postings that you would not want a current or future employer to view at their leisure. You want your

professional brand to say that you are professional, knowledgeable, educated, and a skilled individual that has

extensive experience within your chosen professional field.

It has long time been said that it is not what you know or how many people you know, it is all about who you

know. This same principle pertains to people and associations that you choose to affiliate yourself with; therefore,

make sure that the people that you formally associate yourself within in your professional networking groups areprofessional and respectable, and make sure that you are affiliated with associations that are going to benefit

you and your brand. Associations are great tools that will assist you in developing your professional brand an

expanding your network.

A great example of how a professional association assists in the development of a professional brand and

expanding an individuals professional network is SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management). SHRM

assists professionals in the development of their brand because it is a highly respected association within the

Human Resources field, especially because of all of the professional development opportunities that it provides its

members. In addition to all of the professional development opportunities and career specific information that the

association provides its members, the association also has an internal social networking tool that allows human

resources professionals to expand their professional network online, as well as through live in-person events.

Branding is more than having an online presence; it is also about being able to network and being able to

communicate your skills, experience, and knowledge to other professionals in a very short amount of time. You

want the content that you convey verbally to other professionals to coincide with the content that you have put outfor the world in the form of social networking sites, and other online tools.

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In order to effectively create and maintain your brand, you should create the following statements that

should also be mentioned in detail within your online presence:

9 3035secondexplanationofwhatyoudo

9 3035secondexplanationofyourprofessionalgoals

9 3035secondexplanationofyourcurrentplanstoattainyourprofessionalgoalsstated

9 30secondexplanationofyourprofessionalhistory(TheHighlightsrelatingtohowyougottowhereyou

arenow)

9 10secondstatementofyourcurrentprojects

The above statements are calledElevator Statements, which means that you should be able to get through the

content of the explanations within a short elevator ride, and you should be able to get the same information from

the party in which you are sharing the elevator ride within the same elevator ride. These statements also come

very useful in an interview setting because you rarely want your answers to exceed 35 seconds within a first

interview, unless the interviewer is asking for a detailed explanation.

It is important that you keep the messages conveyed in your Elevator Statements consistent with the messages that

you are sending out in your online presence. Consistency is the key, and consistency will make you more

memorable and many people will consider you more of a professional if the messages that you send out are

consistent with your written messages. This skill directly correlates with your verbal and written communication

skills, which are highly sought after skills by many employers.

Branding will take time to complete, and it is up to the professional to decide how they are going to proceed. The

remaining portions of this section will focus on how to create and maintain an online professional presence, and

how to create profiles and how to be active in professional networking communities like LinkedIn. The previous

three items are crucial in the development of your professional brand, and they should be tools that you utilize

frequently to maintain your professional brand.

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Creating an Online Professional Presence

Most people have some sort of online presence; however, they tend to have a personal online presence, not a

professional online presence. When looking for a job, employers will view your personal online profiles as well

as your professional online profiles; therefore, it is important that your general online presence is giving the samemessage whether the profile is professional or personal.

In order to maintain a professional online presence, it is important that you remove any content from all of your

social networking sites that you do not want a potential employer to see. Please keep in mind that your photos are

generally viewable to employers, as well; therefore, dont forget to remove any pictures that you dont want an

employer to see. Prospective employers will review your personal and professional profiles to get a general idea

of how you will fit in with their company and/or departmental culture.

When you are branding yourself and creating an online professional presence, you want to have the same message

for each of your social networking sites, including: Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook. To better create a

professional presence, it is good to have a professional website and a professional blog that attaches to your social

networking sites. You can link your website and blog to your social networking sites, especially if you begin to

write articles that are related to your career field. The purpose of the blog and website is to show the world that

you are a true professional within your field.

Creating a website is incredibly easy, especially with all of the website builders online. The most common

method is through Yahoo because of their advanced webpage builders, and their previous association with

GeoCities. I have included a list of some of the more common web hosting sites and services below:

HostingSite Pricing

Information

Includes

Domain?

Link

JustHost.com $4.45(Promotional

Price)

Yes http://www.justhost.com/

iPage $4.25(PromotionalPrice)

Yes http://www.ipage.com/ipage/index.html

FatCowGreen

Hosting

$4.67(Promotional

Price)

Yes http://www.fatcow.com/fatcow/special

promo.bml?offer=INMAN&LinkName=No_Name

Inmotion

hosting

$5.95(Promotional

Price)

Yes http://www.inmotionhosting.com/

Hub $4.95(Promotional

Price)

Yes http://www.webhostinghub.com/

BlueHost $6.95 Yes http://www.bluehost.com/

IXWebHosting.

com

$4.95(Promotional

Price)

Yes http://www.ixwebhosting.com/

HostMonster $5.95 Yes http://www.hostmonster.com/YahooSmall

Business

$7.45 Yes http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting

IPower $4.95(Promotional

Price)

Yes http://www.ipower.com/ipower/index.bml

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Building a website increases your online professional presence, and it allows you to further build your

professional brand. You can utilize blogging features, email domain features (if the webhosting company offers

that feature), and you can even send out newsletters to help further build your brand. Remember, the better your

brand is built and the more well known you are amongst your peers within your field, the easier it will be to get a

job within the hidden job market.

There are other methods to building your professional online presence other than social networking, building awebsite, and maintaining a professional blog, and one of those methods is to join professional associations. Many

professional associations have online social networking tools and applications that are hosted within their

Members Pages. This tool allows you to connect with association members, and the association members are

generally other professionals within your career field. Many hiring managers will post positions within the

Member Only Pages of a professional association, and will utilize the social networking tools provided within the

site to review association members in order to locate potential candidates for their open positions; therefore, the

utilization of the association social networking tools provides you with another method to tap into the hidden job

market.

Building your brand is not just limited to the building of web pages and consistent information on your personal

social networking pages; it is also for your professional networking pages as well. The most well known

professional networking site is LinkedIn; however, there are many more professional networking sites that youcould benefit from, and I have included a list of those below:

SiteName Purpose Link

Biznik Communityofentrepreneursand

smallbusinesses

http://biznik.com/

Cofoundr Communityforentrepreneurs,

programmers,designers,investors,

andindividualswhoareinvolvedin

theprocessforstartingupnew

ventures.

http://cofoundr.com/

E.Factor Onlinemarketplacecomprisedofentrepreneursforentrepreneurs.

http://www.efactor.com/

Ecademy Businessnetworkforprofessionalsto

createandmaintaincontactswhile

sharingknowledge.

http://www.ecademy.com/

Entrepreneur

Connect

Onlinecommunitiesfor

entrepreneurstoconnect,

communicate,andsharetheir

knowledge.

http://econnect.entrepreneur.com/

FastPitch Abusinessnetworkandplatform

whereprofessionalscanmarket

businessandconnect.

http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/

Networkingfor

Professionals

Aprofessionalbusinessnetworkthat

providestheplatformforonline

networkingwiththeinperson

networkingthroughevents.

http://www.networkingforprofessionals.co

m/

LinkedIn(Most

Common)

Onlineprofessionalnetworking

platformthatallowscollaborationand

connection.

http://www.linkedin.com/

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You do not have to limit yourself to one networking site, as you can create and maintain multiple online profiles.

Please keep the following in mind: the more profiles that you have, the more work you must do to ensure that the

information is up to date and the more work you have to do to stay active within the online communities.

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Building Your Online Profile Using LinkedIn

Many people think of LinkedIn as an electronic resume, and some even consider LinkedIn as an electronic

portfolio. People consider it an electronic resume because all of the information provided is the same type of

information provided on a resume submitted to a potential employer. Many people consider it to be an electronic

portfolio because it includes affiliations (generally in the form of groups) and professional recommendations.Because it does contain similar information to a resume, many employers will recruit from LinkedIn, and they

will review applicants LinkedIn pages if they are able to.

Remember, if you have a LinkedIn page, you have a public presence online; therefore, when building your

online LinkedIn profile, there are several items that you must keep in mind:

1. Theprofileis visiblepublically, meaning thatanyonethat Googlesyour name could potentially find

yourprofile.

2. Many recruiters and hiring managers are turning to professional networking sites, like LinkedIn as

potential recruiting arenas; therefore, keep this as professional as you would your resume and

professionalportfolio,asthisisconsideredyourprofessionalreputation.

There are many professional networking sites, as you saw in the previous section; however, the most common is

LinkedIn because it is cost effective and widely utilized within the United States, as well as internationally.

Because LinkedIn is the most widely utilized professional networking site, the information going forward will be

specific to your professional profile on LinkedIn.

The first thing that you will need to know about creating a profile on LinkedIn is that there is not a fee for creating

and maintaining a professional profile, nor is there currently a fee for being actively taking a part within the

professional networking groups. There is a cost to have more advanced profiles. Having an advanced profilegenerally means that your profile meets one of the following criteria: has exceeded a specified number of group

memberships (50 is generally the limit), and/or you have signed up (generally when you created your profile) to

utilize their employment center where they marketyou by sending your information throughout their network and

having your information appear higher than non-paying members in employer searches.

Creating the profile on LinkedIn is quite easy, you will sign up much the same way you would any other social

networking site; however, please bear in mind that employers will see your email address and other information.

Because potential employers will see this information, please make sure that all information, including your email

address, is professional in nature and supports the professional brand and message that you are portraying.

The initial LinkedIn sign-up process is very easy; however, making your profile 100% is a little more

complicated. The easiest place to start is at the beginning; therefore, gather your employment history.

You will need the following items regarding each employer:

9 Theemployersname9 TheCityandStateoftheemployer

9 Yourstartingandendingdates

9 TheCareerField

9 Asummaryofyourdutiesandaccomplishments

9 Yourprofessionalgoalormissionstatement

9 Asummaryofyouremployment

o Numberofyearswithinaspecificfield

o Knowyourspecialties

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Entering your employers information is the easy part; however, when you detail your summary of duties and

accomplishments, make sure that you are painting a positive professional portrait of yourself. You will want there

to be a reoccurring theme of work ethics, values, accomplishments and even duties in your position summaries.

For instance, if you are employed within the Labor Relations field of Human Resources, you will want the labor

relations theme to run within the applicable job summaries. You may also want themes, such as: honesty,

integrity, enforcement of regulations, company culture, communication, etc.

Just like with your resume, you will want to enter your employment information in reverse chronological order.

This means that your present employer will be the first employer seen closest to the top of the section, and your

oldest employer will be closer to the bottom of your profile.

After you have entered your employment information, you will want to enter your formal education. You should

start with your current degree that is in-progress, and then enter the completed degrees in the order of highest

attained degree to lowest attained degree. If you wish, for networking purposes, you can include your high school

graduation information on your LinkedIn profile. When listing your education, dont forget to include

associations and activities that you participated in; however,I would recommend not including professional

associations that give away your sexual orientation and your religious practices, as these are private and have

no place on a professional public profile.

After you have entered your employment and educational history within LinkedIn, you should begin your profile

summary. Remember, the profile summary will be the first item that an individual sees (just below your name)

upon viewing your public profile; therefore, think of this as your Qualifications/Skills Summary on your resume.

You will want to highlight your professional experience and the number of years of experience within a specific

field that you have. You will also want to enter your professional goals and aspirations here to let the world know

what you are setting out to do, professionally. Listing specialties is designed to assist you in being viewed/found

in key word searches conducted by other LinkedIn members and even in Google searches completed by non-

members. Including the specialties brings another level of professionalism to your profile; therefore, I would

recommend including specialties within your profile.

Remember, this is an electronic resume; therefore, you do want to include any honors or awards received. Those

that are in the military should have a very extensiveHonors and Awards section because each award,commendation, and medal should be listed in this section.

Each profile has a Settings area at the bottom of the profile. These settings can be very tricky because

employers have different thoughts on different settings. For the most part, your settings should not change. The

only settings that could change several times are whether or not someone should contact you regarding CareerOpportunities and Job Inquiries. These are also the settings that many employers disagree on. Manyemployers will only recruit a potential candidate if they are not looking for career opportunities; however, others

will not contact a potential candidate unless they state that they want to be contacted for Career Opportunitiesor Job Inquiries. There have been instances where individuals have received more offers and contacts if theyare not looking for another position; however, the reverse has also been true.

There are many other sections that are optional because they pertain to specific career fields; therefore, please feelfree to add them if they pertain to you. Adding additional fields like Achievements and Experiences may help

you in the long run; however, make sure that you are as specific as possible regarding the information entered.

Generally speaking, if you add these fields, they are managed by LinkedIn applications; therefore, make sure that

you are utilizing the applications in a way that is going to present you in the best professional light.

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Many individuals have extreme difficulty getting their profile to 100%; therefore, I have included some

basic information that a LinkedIn member will need in order to bring their profile to 100%:

9 Haveyourcurrentjoblisted

9 Haveatleasttwopreviouspositionslistedinyouremploymenthistory

9 Haveyoureducationalhistorylisted(youshouldlistdegreesinprogressorinstitutionsthatyouhave

attendedandhavetransferrablecreditfromifyoudonothaveanycompleteddegrees)

9 YouneedtohaveacompletedProfileSummary

9 Uploadaprofessionalphoto(thisphotowillbeabletobeviewedbyanyonewhoviewsyourprofile)

9 Includeyourprofessionalspecialties

9 Haveat least3 recommendationsfromotherLinkedInmembers(Youwillgenerallyrequestthesefrom

yourprofessionalconnections,anditisappropriateforyoutoreciprocatearecommendationwhenone

iswrittenforyou.)

The purpose of LinkedIn is for professionals to connect with each other, and even share information. In order to

do this, professionals need a forum; therefore, LinkedIn has the Groups feature. Anyone, including associations,

can create a group within LinkedIn for professionals to connect and discuss relevant issues related to their careerfield. Each group will have differing membership settings; therefore, if you join a group and your Groups Pageshows that the membership is pending, this not abnormal.

It is best to join groups that are going to allow you to network with other individuals within your career field.

You can locate these groups through key word searches within the LinkedIn Search Feature. Once you find agroup that is of interest to you, you will click on Join and it will take you to a group settings page. You will

want to make sure that your settings are appropriate for the group and for the type of notifications that youd liketo receive.

If you are a member of professional organizations, you will want to make sure that you join their LinkedIn groups.

Joining their groups allows you to interact with group individuals and be privy to information that may not be on

the association site yet, which gives you an edge over other professionals that are not part of the field. Joining the

group is also another way for you to network with other members and be active within the group setting.

Groups offer a variety of benefits. One benefit is the networking capabilities and the social interactions between

you and other group members within the discussion forums, events, and webinars. Another great benefit is that

many hiring managers will post open positions within a group for individuals within the group to apply for. This

is part of what many recruiting professionals call the hidden job market. An advantage of applying for a job

this way is that you are a familiar individual because you are a member of the same group as the hiring manager.

That hiring manager can not only view your profile, but they can also review your discussion postings and

responses to get a feel for your skill level and level of professional knowledge. In a case where you are a

member of the same LinkedIn group as the hiring manager that you have applied with provides the potential

employer with several writing samples and a general feel for the type of verbiage that you utilize on a regular

basis, which potentially speaks for whether or not youd fit within the company culture.

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Participating within groups is highly important. If the information that you provide is accurate and helpful, many

individuals may decide to follow you within the group, or even connect with you. This following tactic allowsyou to build and expand your professional network very quickly. This practice of participating in discussions and

events also is branding opportunity for you. The content that you post within LinkedIn, or any social networking

site, should coincide with the professional image that you want portrayed about yourself. If you want to be known

as a professional within your field, you must participate in discussions and show the professional field that you

know your stuff. You can prove that through interactions, webinars, networking events, and even your publicprofile.

Many groups and associations will have local chapters within specific areas that have regular meetings. If you

join a local group within LinkedIn that does have regular meetings within an area, you will want to use your

judgment regarding safety and make sure that you take measures to ensure your own safety, such as notifying

someone at home where you will be and what time you will be back.

LinkedIn is a type of electronic resume, and it does have features that allow you to utilize your profile in such a

way. For example, the profile does have a tool that will allow you to view and download your profile in a .PDF

file format. You will notice that the document that is downloaded is similar to a resume, and it does have your

recommendations on a separate page, as it tells the reviewer that # recommendations available upon request. I

have included a copy of the PDF File from my public profile at the end of this section. The profile also has afeature that allows you to share your profile with other users of LinkedIn to help you increase your connections

and to remind your existing connections to update and maintain their profiles.

LinkedIn does have features that allow you to utilize it like an electronic professional portfolio. For instance, it

has the letters of recommendations that are available for anyone to see that is visiting your public profile. There

are features that allow you to post projects and items that you may include in a Creative Portfolio. There are also

applications that allow you to collaborate on documents. There are many applications that you can add to the

profile to truly make your profile an electronic portfolio, and each item that you add allows a connection, or

outside reviewer in some cases, to view more of your work, knowledge, and experiences.

Remember, LinkedIn is a professional social networking tool; therefore, it is important that you are responsible

when adding information and files to your profile. Once content is added to the site, it is difficult to removebecause the item is often cachedinto the site and will not be removed until the cache is cleared. You should only

include information and files that you would want a potential, or even current, employer to see.

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Shanna FowlerCareer Services Manager

Summary

5 Years of Human Resources and Employment Recruiting experience

5 Years of Retail Management experience5 Years of Higher Education experience

5 Years of Student Services Experience

3 Years of Career Services Management experience

It is my goal to provide quality information to students to make them successful in utilizing their

credentials within their own job search.

Specialties

Student Services, Career Services Management, Student Retention, Employee Recruitment,Customer Service

Experience

Career Services Coordinator/Manager at Grantham University

January 2006 - Present (5 years 3 months)

Currently manages Grantham University's Career Services Program. Duties include: reviewing and

updating Career Services' materials and resources on a designated schedule, make changes to the

materials as needed, reviewing the usage of all services to determine the services used the most

and to determine the reason that other services are not being used, creating and updating all

training materials for the program on a designated schedule. In addition to creating and

maintaining all Career Services' materials, I also create, market, and facilitate all Webinars for

current students and graduates to attend for their own professional development.

5 recommendations available upon request

Cash Manager at Barnes and Noble

September 2007 - March 2009 (1 year 7 months)

Balanced all drawers and store safe. Tracked shortages and overages to review whether or not

trends are appearing for specific employees and customers to ensure shrink is managed, and even

reduced. Managed and trained a staff of 10. Handled any store complaints and managed store

returns.

Customer Service Representative at T-Mobile

June 2005 - January 2006 (8 months)

Answered incoming customer service calls regarding the following: billing inquiries, technical

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problems, service issues, phone upgrades, and plan/usage reviews.

Cash Manager at CompUSA

August 2003 - June 2005 (1 year 11 months)

Managed a staff of 20. Balanced all drawers and safe. Directly responsible for reducing store

shrink through proper training and vigilance. Handled all chargebacks between credit card

companies and the store. Responsible for training all new hires. Managed applicant database and

was responsible for phases one through three of interview process (application, application

review/call backs, and first interview).

Rides Lead/Office Clerk at Worlds of Fun

April 2002 - October 2003 (1 year 7 months)

Managed a crew of 37 for three seperate rides. Responsible for disciplinary action, training, and

communicating processes to team. Also responsible for interviewing, hiring, and terminating park

employees in the Park Operations Department. In this position, I was responsible for maintaining

an employee and applicant database.

Education

Grantham University

Bachelors of Science, Multi-Disciplinary Studies, 2009 - 2011

Grantham University

Associates of Arts, Multi-Disciplinary Studies, 2006 - 2009

LIBERTY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLHigh School Diploma, General, 1998 - 2002

Activities and Societies: Future Business Leaders of American (FBLA), Advanced Debate,Advanced Forensics, and Student Council

Honors and Awards

Grantham University Service Award July of 2006

Grantham University Chairman's Award December of 2008

Grantham University Student Advising Award June 2010

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Joining Professional Associations

We discussed professional associations previously in the online networking and branding sections of this manual;

however, we did not discuss how to select professional associations and what goes into joining professional

associations. We will be addressing these subjects and other subjects within this section.

Selecting the professional associations that you would like to be a member of can be tricky, especially if you are

not sure how to find the associations. Looking for a listing of associations can be as easy as a Google search;

however, selection on which association to select can be a little more difficult. Most associations will have a

member cost associated with them; therefore, you will want to review the cost of the membership versus the

benefits that you will receive as a member.

Before joining a professional association, will want to know if they offer some of the following benefits:

9 Discountsonprofessionalcertifications

9 Professionaldevelopmentopportunities

9 Accesstodiscountedprofessionalcertifications

9 Webinars

9 Memberonlyresourcesandpublications

9 Accesstomemberonlycontentpertainingtoyourprofessionandnews/changesthatareoccurringin

theprofessioncurrently

9 Networkingopportunities

9 Networkingtools

9 Annualconferences

9 ConventionsandSymposiums

9 Mailedpublications

Generally speaking, your membership fee will not be significant; however, the fee will generally merely grant you

access to member-only content and provide you discounts on events, certifications, conventions, etc. The purpose

of joining professional associations is to obtain the most up-to-date information pertaining to your profession and

to give you the opportunity to attend events and conferences that can easily turn into excellent networking

opportunities.

Many universities, including Grantham University, have student chapters of professional associations. These

provide an invaluable resource to students, as they provide a forum where association members can have

professional development opportunities facilitated by professionals of that field and even have another

engagement opportunity with their instructors.

If a professional cannot join a student chapter of a professional association, most cities have local professionalchapters that one can join. Most of these local chapters will also have a membership fee, and they will generally

meet on a monthly basis, maybe more frequently depending on the organization. Most associations will haveprofessional development opportunities available to attendees at each meeting. These opportunities are not only

great opportunities to professionally develop within your field, but they are also great networking opportunities, as

these professional local chapters are a large window into the hidden job market. Many times, potentially vacant

positions are discussed and even unveiled at these events prior to the positions being formally posted on an

organizations website or even a local online job board, like Monster and CareerBuilder.

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There are many professional associations associated with every career field imaginable; however, I have made a

small listing of larger associations associated with common degree programs and professions below:

HumanResources Financial ComputerScience Engineering CriminalJustice

SHRM ABA ISACA ACM IACP

NHRA AFP CHMBA ASEE ACA

PIHRA AAA ACM ASME NAPPO

CUPAHR FPA CCIA IEEE AJA

HCI SFSP ICCA FEDcia

ERA IMA CompTIA IPA

ASTD AAFA AITP NSA

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Civilian Resumes

The first step to writing a resume is to decide who and what you are writing your resume for, your TargetMarket. You must consider your audience and consider the type of experience that the receiving party wouldlike in their ideal candidate, you can find this information in the job description. For many military service

members, this means translating your training, awards, achievements, and experience into verbiage andterminology that the civilian world can relate to.

The key item that you must keep in mind when writing your resume is time. A typical recruiter and hiring

manager will receive 900 or more resumes for a posted position, and that number can be higher if the job was

posted on a job board site like Monster or CareerBuilder. Because of the sheer number of resumes received, it is

highly important that your resume be organized, concise, and easy for the reviewer to skim through, as the

average reviewer only spends 5 seconds skimming any given resume received for an open position. Throughout

the process of writing your resume, keep the matter of time in mind: 5 seconds is all you have to impress a

potential employer.

The first step to doing this is to electronically record all of yourawards, accomplishments, training and

experience (If Applicable) in one document (Example:KASE Worksheet). This document could be a Word orExcel document. We will use this document later when creating your actual, career-specific, resume. You shouldkeep the information short (Example: Supervised up to 30 employees, Proficient with de-escalating situations,Expert in Microsoft Office Programs, Experience coaching employees in a team environment, etc ). Within thissame document, you will want to record all of your supplemental skills that you possess (Example:Highly

Organized, Good People Skills, Professional Demeanor, Fair, Courteous, etc). The last set of information thatwill be kept in this document are descriptive action verbs that describe some of your duties within your

employment history (Examples: analyzed, budgeted, chaired, coached, edited, established, improved, introduced,

motivated, organized, persuaded, reported, researched, reviewed, saved, solved, supervised, trained, translated,wrote, etc).

The second step is the fun part! You get to decide the type of career that you want to break into. This is the fun

and creative part of the job search, so think outside of the box. You need to first decide on the career field,which will probably be a field linked to the type of degree program that you are currently completing or may have

already completed. You are able to utilize your results from the career test that you previously took for guidance

in this area, should you choose to. The next step is to narrow down the actual career that you want to seek within

that broad career field. For instance, Computer Science is a very large career field that contains careers like:

Computer Programming, Computer Networking, Information Technology, Information Security, Project

Management, etc. You will want to narrow down to a range of three to five careers within a given career field.

You will be working with one of these careers at a time from this point forward.

Once you have decided on your desired career(s) within the given career field, you will want to begin determining

why you want to get into that particular field. If it is merely to utilize your military experience and training within

the civilian world, or even a specific company, then write that down (Example:I want to break into the HumanResources Field because I want to utilize my people skills to make an organization the one of the best places towork in the area). We are going to use this information to create yourobjective statementlater on.

The next step is to decide which awards, accomplishments, training, and military experience are relevant to the

career that you have chosen to target your resume towards. Remember, your resume is not your application, it is

merely a reflection of your skills and experience within a specific career or career field. The goal of the resumeis to get you in the door for an interview with a specific company, hiring manager, or a specific job. You will

complete the actual application, which will contain your employment history, during the initial employment

screening process (initial interview) with your potential employer.

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We will now begin writing objective statements. You will want to brain storm statements that are linked to thecareer field using the statements that you recorded earlier regarding why you want to break into the specific

career. Remember, yourobjective statementis telling the employer the career field that you are breaking into andwhat skills you bring to that field and to the employer. In employer specific resumes, you will want to tell the

employer exactly why you want to work for them and theskills that you uniquely possess that would be a

remarkable assetto their organization and its mission.

The objective statement is the first sentence that an employer will read about you; therefore, it needs to catch their

eye so that they will want to read what other skills you possess that could potentially be assets to their

organization. This statement should be short and should, in some ways, mirror the job descriptions overall theme

and purpose. When writing this statement, you will want to add some powerful action verbs that you recorded in

your document discussed at the beginning of this process (KASE Worksheet). Many employers will merely

complete database searches with some of their desired key words; many times these key words do include the

company name and position title. Often times, the database search will only pull up your resume if the desired

key word is in the objective statement.

Objective Statement Example:

To utilize my ten years of labor relations and recruiting experience combined with my formal education toattract the right talent and retain existing employees in the role of Human Resource Supervisor at XYZ

Company.

There is an alternative to writing an objective if you are uncomfortable writing an objective statement at this time;

however, in todays market it is not a bad thing to have the objective statement and the alternative on your

resume. The alternative objective is merely listing the career field/job title below your name on the resume.

Objective Alternative Examples:

Shanna Fowler Shanna Fowler Shanna Fowler Shanna Fowler

Project Manager Computer Programmer Recruiter Trainer

I highly recommend doing both objective types because the objective statement is a great way to personalize your

resume towards a specific job and company, and the alternative quickly lets the recruiter decide who to forward

your resume to.

We will now begin compiling a list of skills that you have to bring to your future employer. To do this, you must

understand what skills the employer is looking for. According to recent Career Builder Hiring Manager and

Employer Surveys, employers are seeking the following skills: Communication (Oral and Written), Honesty,Integrity, Interpersonal Skills, Motivation, Initiative, Strong Work Ethic, and Team Work Skills.

Professional Skills Profile Example 1:

x 11yearsofhumanresourcesexperience x Excellentorganizationalskillsx Over5yearsofretirementbenefitsexperience x Familiarwithregulationsrelatingtobenefits

x Over3yearsofemploymentbenefitsexperience x Polishedverbalandwrittencommunicationskills

Education is one of the most important parts of your resume because it can solidify your knowledge and

experience, but it can also hurt your application if you provide too much information. Many times applicants will

provide too much information by providing their high school graduation date, which allows the recruiter and

hiring manager enough information that they can accurately calculate your age within two years, which can leave

you open to agism.

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Education Section Example 1:

Grantham University Kansas City, MO

Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice Expected Completion Date: 04/2011

Sample High School Kansas City, MO

High School Diploma Completed

Your Education section should only include your formal education completed at an accredited college and/or

university. The section should not include professional training and certifications, as these should have their own

sections within your resumes. In many fields, professional training and certifications are just as important as your

formal education and experience; therefore, these need to be proximately listed in your resume.

Professional Certifications Section Example 1:

Professional CertificationsSenior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) Completed: 01/2011

Professional Human Resources (PHR) Completed: 12/2008

Professional Certifications Section Example 2:

Professional Licensures and Certificationsx FirearmsLicense x ConcealandCarryLicense x PeaceOfficerLicense

Professional Associationsx MissouriPeaceOfficers

Association

x ProfessionalLawEnforcement

Association(PLEA)

x AmericanFederationofPolice

andConcernedCitizens(AFP&CC)

If you have military experience, that experience already gives future employers a good idea that you meet thebefore preferred skills, because Leadership and Communication skills are skills that the military prides itself on.

These are also skills that should be listed in this section. Other examples of skills that could be listed are as

follows:Advanced Excel, Advanced Word, Advanced Outlook, Advanced Access, Advanced Power Point,

Programming C, Programming in C++, Programming in HTML, Oral Presentation, Organization, ComputerNetworking, Written Communication, etc. Begin compiling all of your skills in an Excel document.

The final step is to select a template. Most employers like to see resumes within a template format within Word

because it organizes the information more efficiently. There are many ways to locate a template. The first, and

preferred way is to create your own template using the template tool within Microsoft Word. The second way is

to complete a resume search within Microsoft Office Online (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/) and

download a pre-made template. The third, and final way, is to complete a search online and select a template at

one of the many resume sites. Some templates found online are free, others will charge a fee for each templatethat you want to view and download.

No matter the template that you select, make sure that your job duties and your accomplishments associated with

each position are highlighted appropriately. Many times, applicants do not give a complete image of the job,

which confuses the potential employer. Make sure that your job duties put your position accomplishments incontext, as this helps answer the employers question of whats in it for me.

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Professional Experience Example Entry 1:

Labor Relations Manager 01/2007-Present

XYZ Technologies Kansas City, MO

Directly responsible for ensuring that the XYZ Technologies was in full union compliance, as well as federal and

state compliance. To ensure compliance with all three entities, became highly entrenched within compliance

regulations, and created several systems designed to update and verify that company polices were directly in linewith union rules, as well as federal and state labor regulations.

Accomplishments Duties

xCreatedacontinuousscheduleforpolicycreationand

updates,andcreatedclearpolicyapprovalprocessto

ensurecompliancewithregulations.

xCreatedandmaintainsapositiverelationshipwith

unionrepresentativestomaintainconsistent

communicationbetweenallparties.

xCreatedaHumanResourceManualformanagers,in

ordertoassistthemwiththeirquestionsabout

internalpoliciesandprocedures.

xAdvisedmanagersonhandlingindividualpersonnel

issuesinmannerthatwaslegal,ethical,andinline

withestablishedrules.


Employee Benefits Administrator 05/2007-PresentABC Technologies Kansas City, MO

xWorkedwithfinancialorganizationsandinsurancecompaniestoputtogethertheemployeebenefitspackagefor

currentemployees,andcreatedproceduresforCOBRAwithinsurancecarriers.

xQuicklyresolvedanyemployeeproblemswiththeretirementpackageortheinsuranceplanswiththeindividual

venders,andthattheresolutionwasfairtotheemployeeandwithinagreeduponpolicies.

xCoordinatedallannualreviewsanddirectlyprocessedallemployeestimecardswithADP,changesinpay,

processingnewemployees,terminations,andemployeechangestotaxfilingstatus.


Highway Patrol Officer 12/2008-Present

Missouri State Highway Patrol Kearney, MOAccomplishments and Awards Duties

x1of3officersselectedtotrainrecruitsintheonthe

jobtrainingcomponentofHighwayPatrolAcademy.

xCoordinateswithstateandfederallawenforcement

agenciestolocateanddetainpersonsofinterest.

xLiaisonbetweenMOHighwayPatrolandFederal

Agenciesduetopolishedcommunicationskills

xEnforcesstateandfederalhighwaylawstoensurethe

safetyofcitizensandmotorists.

xReceivedacommendationforaccuratereporting. xOftenthefirstrespondertohighwayaccidentscenes.

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If you download a template to use, remember that thousands of people have likely downloaded that same

template; therefore, make sure that you make the template your own by changing aspects of it. You can change

the font, you can add tables, and you can even change the order of the sections. Again, keep in mind thatyour

resume is a unique professional portrait of you; therefore, your unique skills and experience shouldnt fit

within just any resume template, so make a resume template that fits to your personal skills and experiences.

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Anatomy of a Civilian Resume

Contact Information:

1. Full Name (You can only include your middle initial if youd like)

2. The type ofprofessionalthat you are (Example: Human Resources Professional) - This really helps thereviewer quickly know where to forward your document prior to reading your objective statement.3. Mailing Address (Recruiters often verify this information in a specialized verification tool; therefore,

make sure that you list the address where you receive your mail.)

4. Telephone number (Day Time Phone Number) Never include your desk phone at your current job,unless you are applying for a promotion within your current organization.

5. Email address (Primary email address) -Do not include your employers email, this should be a personal

email address; however, the exception to this rule is again if you are applying for a promotion withinyour current organization. The email address that you provide should be professional (Example:

[email protected]).

Objective:

This should be one sentence, and the Objective Statementshould be position, even company specific. Thestatement should includeKey words and Action words that may show up on an ATS (Applicant Tracking System)

search.

There are two primary parts of an Objective Statement, and they are as follows:

1. General Qualifications

a. Could be Experience

b. Could be Skills

c. Could be Education

2. Professional Goals and/or Aspirations

a. Could be as simple as attaining the job that you are applying forb. Could be as complex and specific as having an goal that youd like to accomplish in the position,

if hired.

Note: You can find those key words and action words in the job description, and employers often use the company

name and position title as Key Words for the ATS System.

Skills Profile:

Just like the objective statement, you will want to use key words linked to the position that you are applying for.

This is an ideal section for you to include computer skills and other technical skills. The employer will likelyhave a skill-set of theirperfectcandidate in mind; therefore, you can utilize the job description itself to uncover

these ideal skills for theirperfectcandidate. By doing this, you show that you could potentially be very close, inskills, to theirperfectcandidate.

Note: You should only include 6-8 skills/qualifications in this section.

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Education:

Your education should be listed in reverse chronological order, or highest attained degree to lowest attained

degree. If you are currently working on a degree, you will want to list that information at the top with your

expected graduation date. To prevent age discrimination, do not list your high school graduation date, unless

the employer requests the information. Requesting high school graduation information is not uncommon for

companies that handle confidential or government information.

Make sure that you include the following information related to each educational milestone achieved:

1. Name of institution

2. City and State

3. Degree (Example: Bachelors of Science in Business Administration)

4. Graduation Date or Expected Graduation Date

1. As an alternative to the date, you can just state the word Completed for this section

Note: To prevent age discrimination, do not list your high school graduation date. If you believe that agraduation date leaves you open to ageism, you can just list the word Completed in place of the graduation

date.

Professional Training:

You can have a majorTrainingheading or you can have an Education and Professional Trainingheading, andthen haveEducation as a subheading andProfessional Trainingas another subheading. Both methods are highly

utilized; therefore, it is a matter of which method best compliments your skills and experiences.

If you have a lot of training, make sure that you are only listing the training that is relevant to the position. Try to

limit the training that you list to 3-6 training entries.

The training entries should mirror your Education entries in certain ways; therefore, the entries should

include the following sections:

1. Training Title

2. Completion Date

If you earned a certificate, you will put the name of the certificate in place of the training title and will want to

adjust to Professional Training subheading to the following: Professional Training and Certificates.

Note: The training and certifications listed in this section should be relevant; therefore, try to includeprofessionally related training and certifications, and try to make sure that the information listed is within 10years. There are exceptions to the 10 year rule depending on the type of training and certification; therefore, use

your best judgment.

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Experience:

This is traditionally where one would list their professional work experience that is relevant to the position that

they are applying for. This is the section of your resume where you are telling the employer that you know your

field well by showing the positions that you have held that have prepared you for the duties and responsibilities of

the position in which you are applying for.

There are three acceptable ways to list this information:

1. Employment/Work History: If you utilize this heading, the reviewer is going to expect to see every

position that you have held and have been paid for. This heading is generally only seen on some types of

federal resumes; however, sometimes a job description will ask for this specific information on all

resumes submitted to them. The order should be reverse chronological order.2. Professional Experience: If you utilize this heading, the reviewer is going to expect to see every position

that youve held that is relevant to the position that you are applying for. Relevancy is usually

determined by similar duties and how long ago the position was held. Generally speaking, the positions

listed in this section should only go back 5-7 years and no more than 10 years. The order should bereverse chronological order.

o If you have military and civilian professional experience, you may want to have two sub-headings

under your Professional Experience heading:Related Civilian Experience andRelated MilitaryExperience.

The first sub-heading should be the one with the most recent professional experience.

3. Experience: Prior to utilizing this header, please note that this is the broadest of all of the acceptable

headers. Within this header, you can list yourprofessional experience, and experience gained throughother avenues, such as: Military Experience, Contracting Experience, Professional Work Experience,Internships, Volunteer Experience, Course Work, Course Projects, etc. Because this section is so broad,if you include experience attained by avenues other than professional experience, you will want to sign-post these to make it easier for the reviewer to understand where the experience was attained from. Allentries should be listed in reverse chronological order.

o Note:If you include course projects in this section, it is a good idea to include a copy of the final

project in your portfolio.

Achievements:

Detail specific milestones that you achieved that can be quantitatively measured. For Example: Increased

revenue by 35% by instituting an electronic communication process.

There are two ways to highlight your achievements:

1. Have a specific section for it just under yourSkills Profile. The problem with this method is that it could

leave the recruiter/hiring manager guessing where the achievement occurred, which can likely land your

resume in the round file.2. Have a sub-heading for achievements/accomplishments under each employment heading within your

experience section on your resume. This method shows the recruiter/hiring manager where the

achievements occurred and allows them to have a visual image on your resume that you consistently go

above and beyond your assigned duties.

a. Note: If you use this method, I recommend utilizing the Table Tool in word processingapplication to create two columns- the first one to the left would be for Accomplishments and the

second one to the right would be for duties. You want the accomplishments on the left because weread from left to right; therefore, the reviewer will notice your accomplishments prior to your jobduties.

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Membership, Affiliations, and Certifications:

You can adjust the section title accordingly (Examples: Memberships and Affiliations, Certifications,

Affiliations and Certifications, Memberships and Certifications. etc); however, this section should give an

employer the perception that you are connected within your profession, and that you are consistently trying to

improve yourself professionally by corresponding with individuals within your profession and obtaining further

professional certifications.

Because employers do want their employees connected to others within their profession, many employers will

review your professional social networking profile to see what groups you belong to, how active you are in those

groups, and to merely view your profile to see who you are connected to and what you state that you are doing.

Often times, especially if you have certifications, this section will be with education or professional training.

Many times, people will rename their Professional Training subheading to Professional Certifications, and this is

an acceptable alternative.

Again, the presentation of this section varies by how this section best puts your unique skills and experience in

context to your reviewer (recruiter /hiring manager).

Note: Make sure that you exclude any information that may be used to discriminate against you in this section.

References:

Remember, you dont have to list your references in theReferences section unless the job description specificallyasks for your references. Keep in mind, you want to protect the personal information of your references;

therefore, it is inadvisable to keep the contact information of your references with their names on a generic resume

stored online.

To avoid listing their personal information, but to keep the References heading, it is more common to find the

below statement in this section instead of references because it lets the reviewer know that you do have referencesand they need to ask you for the contact information of those references:

References will be furnished upon request.

Tips on Formatting the Resume Document:

xUse your space effectively and maintain alignment xRemember, your margins are not set in stone

xUse the table tool in Word to maximize your space xUse bullets to keep information easily skimable

Length:

Remember; think of your resume as a marketing flyerto potential employers. If you think of the document thisway, remember that flyers should only be one page because people dont spend a lot of time reading them. These

same basic concepts also apply to your resume. Try to keep your resume to one page because the reviewer will

only likely spend 5-15 seconds reviewing the document.

If the resume is longer than two pages, the recruiter will not read it, and your resume is likely to be filed in the

round file.

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JaneDoe 7200NW86thStreet

KansasCity,MO64153

HumanResourcesBenefitsProfessional (816)[email protected]

Objective

ToapplymyhumanresourcesandbenefitsexperiencetocreateaqualitybenefitspackageforXYZTechnologies

EmployeesandtoensurecompliancewithfederalandstatehumanresourceregulationsinthepositionofHR

Generalist.

SkillsProfilex 11yearsofhumanresourcesexperience x Excellentorganizationalskills

x Over5yearsofretirementbenefitsexperience x Familiarwithregulationsrelatingtobenefits

x Over3yearsofemploymentbenefitsexperience x Polishedverbalandwrittencommunicationskills

Education

GranthamUniversity KansasCity,MO

BachelorsofArtsinHumanResourceManagement GraduationDate: 02/2011


BachelorsofScienceinBusinessAdministration GraduationDate: 03/2009

ProfessionalCertifications

HumanResourcesGeneralistCertification Completed:02/2011

RelevantProfessionalExperience

EmployeeBenefitsAdministrator 05/2007Present

ABCTechnologies KansasCity,MO

xWorkedwithfinancialorganizationsandinsurancecompaniestoputtogethertheemployeebenefitspackagefor

currentemployees,andcreatedproceduresforCOBRAwithinsurancecarriers.

xQuicklyresolvedanyemployeeproblemswiththeretirementpackageortheinsuranceplanswiththeindividual

venders,andthattheresolutionwasfairtotheemployeeandwithinagreeduponpolicies.

xCoordinatedallannualreviewsanddirectlyprocessedallemployeestimecardswithADP,changesinpay,

processingnewemployees,terminations,andemployeechangestotaxfilingstatus.

EmployeeRetirementAdministrator 06/200505/2007

XYZFinancial KansasCity,MO

xCreatedZYXTechnologiesretirementpackage,andmanagedallcommunicationsregardingtheretirement

packagetoemployees.

xWorkedwithindividualemployeestoexplaintheguidelinesandregulationsoftheretirementplantothem,and

howthebenefitplanthattheyareonwillbenefitthemnowandinthefuture.

xWorkedwithindividualsthathadnotifiedHumanResourcesthattheywereretiring,andexplainedhowthey

couldmaximizetheuseoftheirplan,andhowtobenefitfromtheplanatretirement.

EmployeeRelationsRepresentative 04/200306/2005

BBBIndustries KansasCity,MO

xWorkeddirectlywithindividualstaffmembersonquicklyresolvingproblemswithcoworkersandmembersof

themanagementteamthroughamediationprocess.

xAdvisedmanagementontechniquestoprotectthecompanyinemployeedisputes,especiallyanydisciplinary

actionoranysituationinvolvingpayment(timecardissues,projectpay,bonus,etc)

xTrainedemployeesonthecompanysnewbenefitpackages,andprovidedinstructionstoemployeesonhowto

jointhecompanysgroupinthepackagespresented.

PersonnelRecruiter 02/200004/2003

ABC,Incorporated KansasCity,MO

xCoordinatedwithdepartmentalmanagersontheirstaffingneedsandtheirvisionofanidealcandidate,and

postedalldepartmentsopenpositionsononlinejobboards.

xUtilizingkeywordsearcheswithintheATSSystemandwithintheonlinejobboards,locatedqualifiedcandidates

foropenpositionswithinthecompany.

x Initiatedcontactwithinqualifiedapplicantsviatelephone,andfacilitatedinitialphoneinterviewandthen

proceededtoscheduleonsiteinterviewwiththehiringmanager(s).

References

Referenceswillbefurnisheduponrequest.

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Jane DoeBusinessAnalyst

7200NW86th

Street KansasCity,MO 64153 (816)5955759 [email protected]

Objective

IamseekingapositionwhereIcanutilizemytenyearsofprojectmanagementandanalysisexperiencetoassistinthedevelopmentof

qualitysystemsandgeneralproceduresasaBusinessAnalyst.

ProfessionalProfile

Skills

xOver13yearsofITexperience xExcellentverbalandwrittencommunicationskills

xRetiredU.S.AirForce xExcellentleadershipabilities

xSkilledwithprogramminglanguages xExtensivereportingandprojectmanagementexperience

TechnicalSkillsandExpertise

Languages Reporting Software

x HTML x CandC++ x MSOfficeApplications(IncludingAccess) x MicrosoftVisio

x JavaScript x PL/SQL x CrystalReports x ERwin

ProfessionalEducationandTraining

Education:


BachelorofScienceinComputerScience ExpectedGraduationDate: 09/2011

ProfessionalCertificationsandTraining

x CompTIAA+ x CompTIAProject+ x MCP

ProfessionalExperience

Project Manager 12/2006Present

XYZTechnologies KansasCity,MOx ReviewedandutilizedCrystalReportstotracksuccessesofnewapplicationsonproductivity.

x UtilizedMicrosoftProjecttotrackallprojectsandtoensurealltaskswerecompletedontimeandcorrectly.

x Managedallprojectsrelatingtolaunchingnewapplicationsfrominceptionthroughtheimplementationprocess.

Sr.HelpDeskAnalyst 10/200312/2006

AAASoftwareDevelopment KansasCity,MOx Receivedincominginternalcallsregardingsoftwareproblems

x Closedexistingticketsrelatedtosoftwareproblemsbyresolvingtheissueandcollaboratingwiththeindividualwhocalledinthe

originatingproblemtoensuretheresolutionwassuccessful.

x UtilizedCrystalReportstotrackproductionandcommonissues

x Consulted with senior management regarding the implementation of new software applications, and the effect of the

implementationonexistingprograms.

HelpDeskAnalyst 12/200210/2003ABCSoftwareDevelopment KansasCity,MOx Receivedincomingcallsregardingsoftwareandhardwareproblems.

x Completedbasictroubleshootingwiththereporter.

x Createdindividualticketsforeachissue.Closedtheticketsthatwereresolvedbytroubleshootingandescalatedticketsthatwere

notresolvedbytroubleshooting.

HardwareTechnician 11/199812/2002

UnitedStatesAirForce(HonorableDischarge) KnobNoster,MO

x Receivedhardwaretroubleticketsfromhelpdesk,andtraveledtoeachbuildingtoresolvehardwareissue.

x Workedwithsoldierstosetupnewcomputersandtoresolveknownhardwareandsoftwareissues,includingsoftwaresetup.

References


ncei

r

giesand utilizedz Crys

d icrosoftcr f Proje

nageda alll projectsr ct

r.r Help Desk An

Softwareivede

nt verbal andd writtenellent leadershipe abiliti xtensivei reportinge n aning

ations (Includingl Acce

rts

A roje o track successesc

projectsp e anda toto ee

aunchingn new app

entrnal callsll egardi

ts relatedat o soft

em o ensurer the

l Reportso o track

ith sen oro mana

entation ono ex sts

esks Analystarea Devvo

icationt o skillssmanagemenm experiexSoftware

Microsoftr t Visio

ERwin

sas City,C MO

xpected Graduationr t D

sascations on

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ansroblems

s by resolvings h

as successful.c s

and commono ssus

rding he implemp

.

/20111

x MCP

29


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JohnExample

LawEnforcement Professional7200NW86

thSt KansasCity,MO 64153 (816)5955759 [email protected]

ObjectiveToapplymyelevenyearsoflawenforcementexperiencecombinedwithmyprovenleadershipabilitiestoensure

thesafetyandsecurityofthecitizensinXYZCityasanXYZPoliceOfficer.

SkillsProfile

x11yearsoflawenforcementexperience xPolishedverbalandwrittencommunicationskills

xRetiredUSArmy(HonorablyDischarged) xExcellentleadershipabilities

xSuccessfullycompletedPOSTTraining xProventrackrecordinsuccessfullytrainingrecruits

Education


BachelorofArtsinCriminalJustice Expected GraduationDate:04/2011


AssociateofArtsinCriminalJustice GraduationDate:02/2007

ProfessionalLicensuresandCertifications

x FirearmsLicense x ConcealandCarryLicense x PeaceOfficerLicense

ProfessionalAssociations

x MissouriPeaceOfficers

Association

x ProfessionalLawEnforcement

Association(PLEA)

x AmericanFederationofPolice

andConcernedCitizens(AFP&CC)

RelatedProfessionalLawEnforcementExperience

HighwayPatrolOfficer 12/2008Present

MissouriStateHighwayPatrol Kearney,MO

AccomplishmentsandAwards Duties

x1of3officersselectedtotrainrecruitsintheonthe

jobtrainingcomponentofHighwayPatrolAcademy.

xCoordinateswithstateandfederallawenforcement

agenciestolocateanddetainpersonsofinterest.

x LiaisonbetweenMOHighwayPatrolandFederal

Agenciesduetopolishedcommunicationskills

xEnforcesstateandfederalhighwaylawstoensurethe

safetyofcitizensandmotorists.

xReceivedacommendationforaccuratereporting. xOftenthefirstrespondertohighwayaccidentscenes.

RelatedMilitaryLawEnforcement Experience

UnitedStatesArmy(HonorablyDischarged) 01/200012/2008

MilitaryPoliceInstructor


xCreatedandupdatedmodernMilitaryPolicetraining

curriculumforenlistedsoldiers.

x LetterofcommendationforMilitaryPoliceCurriculum

xCreatedandmaintainedMilitaryPoliceOfficer

Curriculuminaccordancewithcurrentlaws,rules,

regulations,andmilitaryprocedures.

xReCreatedallMilitaryPolicetrainingcurriculainboth

EnglishandSpanish.

xFacilitatedinstructionofclassroomcoursesrelatedto

theMilitaryPoliceOfficerTrainingCurriculum.

xUnitedStatesArmyAchievementMedal

x2UnitedStatesArmyGoodConductMedalsx3MeritoriousServiceMedals

xThroughclearandcommunicatedmetrics,determined

whichsoldierswouldprogresstobeaMilitaryPoliceOfficer,andwhowouldneedalternativetraining.

MilitaryPoliceSpecialist


xRifleMarksmanshipMedal

xPistilMarksmanshipMedal

xCommunicateddisturbancestoteamof6specialist

andledteamthroughtheentiretyoftheresolution.

xUnitedStatesArmyGoodConductMedal

x2MeritoriousServiceMedals

xEnforcedthelaws,rules,regulationsoftheArmyand

oftheUnitedStateswithmilitarypersonnel.

xReceivedletterofcommendationfromCommander

forimplementingproceduresformisconductonbase.

xMaintainedpeacefullivingcommunityforthose

soldierslivingonbasethroughregularpresence.

References


r

way PatrolPa

omplishmentss t a

rs selectede tot tra

ing componente o

n betweenn MO

enciese due o pol

Receivedd a com

Unitedte S

Milita

and writtene commun

dership abilitiesil

ack record n successf

nsas City,t , MO

E

KansasK City,i MO

oncealo and Carry Lice

essionale o L

tion

the onnthetrol Academy.y.

ol and Federalr

unicationt skillssk

r accura e reportr r

onorablyra ischai

ructor

complishmentsi n a

d updated moder

um orr enlistedlis sos

r of commendatie i

eCreatedte all ilitt

English andd Spa

xUnitede Statet

nitedMerr

ills

ng recru tss

Graduationo ate:t 4

Graduation Da

Peacee Officer

cement Ame

a

rney, M

ety o

Often thet

lice tra n ngra

y Police Curriculuurr

xx

ainingn curriculac in

ente Medal

ductd ee

derationn off Policei

erned CitizensC s (AFF

1

Duties

ith state and ee

locatel and detd

and edee

an

30


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Civilian Cover Letters

Throughout this process, remember the following: written communication skills are one of the most sought afterskills by potential employers. With that being said, the Cover Letter that you submit with your resume is the very

first writing sample that a potential employer sees of you, and they will assess your writing skill level utilizing

this document.

Writing a successful cover letter is not just one step. Just like writing a resume, there are multiple steps that must

be followed in order for the project to be completed.

The first step to writing a cover letter is determining the delivery method of the cover letter. Are you going to

send the cover letter via mail, email, or utilizing the submit button of a job search engine? Each of these

methods has some basic guidelines to follow, especially involving the format of the actual cover letter. It is

advisable to have an easily changeable template for each of the methods of submission.

Just like your resume, your cover letter should be targeted to a specific career field, and even position within a

specific company/organization. Unlike your resume, the cover letter should be so granula

2012 Grantham University Military to Civilian Transition Manual

Documents

Transcript of 2012 Grantham University Military to Civilian Transition Manual