How to Build a Compelling Resume as a Veteran

Even if you are still months or years away from graduation and entering the workforce, having an up-to-date resume is crucial for success. A resume is an opportunity to highlight your unique skills and experiences that are translatable into the language of the civilian job market. 

There is no time like the present to start building your resume. Collect information over time and keep a running record of your accomplishments and expertise to set yourself up for a smoother transition from student to employed graduate. 

Below are three strategies to keep in mind as you refine your resume: 

Building Your Resume

Resume writing needs to be clarified. Most word-processing programs have user-friendly templates. The internet is full of options for how to format your resume. Depending on your career path, experts suggest particular categories for what to include or the order in which to have them on your resume. Be mindful of your industry's best practices and build accordingly. 

One good place to start if you need help finding yourself in the sea of resume format options is with your campus career center. Golden Gate offers a student career center, and student veterans can get specialized assistance through their military-connected and veteran-student career coach. 

Main Resume

Nearly every resume you write and submit to potential employers will ask for different information. You will include various information based on the type of job or work you will be doing. No two resumes are the same, so consider the master resume as a living, breathing document that is constantly changing as you live to include up-to-the-moment details about your life. 

Your primary resume is where you will collect and maintain information about your professional, volunteer, project-based, and professionally related experiences. When it's time to apply for a specific job, you'll go in, pick what you need for this option and pack it neatly into a polished, tailored resume. 

Your main resume may simply be a Google or Word document where you keep a running list of these critical details. You can organize it in chronological order or by topic of interest. You must get as detailed as possible in this version. 

Keep up with dates you worked for an employer, employer names, and titles. Make a list of crucial tasks you performed there. Keep phone numbers and physical and email addresses handy for reference. Maintain a list of volunteer or service organizations where you have served, relevant project-based educational experiences, and the names of professors and supervisors you may use as references. 

Rarely will you include this conglomeration of details on any one resume. However, it will help significantly when focusing on your tailored resume, specific to particular jobs. Your future self will thank you as this information becomes cut-and-pastable for future reference. 

Tailored Resume

The advice here applies to general civilian job applications. Federal resumes for USA Jobs or government positions typically require even greater specificity. 

The tailored resume is one where you will pull from the previous information you've saved in your main resume document and fine-tune it for the job market. It should be a precise snapshot of what your experience and expertise bring to a job. 

Some experts will advise that resumes should be at most two pages, but in many cases, only the first page gets the immediate attention of your future employer. To ensure that your one-page resume captures your most compelling assets, consider the following tips: use narrow margins, keep headings specific to your industry, and aim to stand out remarkably. 

Include bullet-point accomplishment statements that highlight your direct contributions to your professional experiences. Show how you improved the situation, bettered your workplace, and made an impact. Use strong action verbs to replace the word "work." Words like "created," "developed," and "collaborated" paint a more candid picture of your accomplishments. 

While some resume experts suggest summarizing your objectives or creating an elevator pitch promoting yourself, others argue that the resume isn't the place for this. Cover letters and LinkedIn are more appropriate places for these introductions. Keep the resume concise and targeted to the specific job you are applying for. The over-arching goal is to showcase how your unique skill set and qualifications best match the job opportunity you hope to land.