5 Tips for Creating a Resume as a Veteran

Joshua Harris is an entrepreneur and the founder of Agency Growth Secrets, a digital marketing company. Agency Growth Secrets provides a high-end training platform that lends support to its partners that are scaling their own digital marketing agencies. Harris is at the forefront of the entrepreneur laptop lifestyle. He is passionate about mentoring other business owners and helping them grow as successful entrepreneurs, especially US military veterans. He strives to inspire veterans to create businesses of their own. Harris’s entrepreneurial experience has been featured in publications, like Entrepreneur and Forbes. Below Josh Harris gives practical advice to veterans during their transition into the civilian workforce.  

I love seeing veterans turn into entrepreneurs, but I realize sometimes that’s not always a feasible option.

Life happens.

And sometimes you can’t swallow the short-term risks of entrepreneurship without having a steady flow of cash. 

So for those instances, I want to give some helpful tips for creating your resume as a veteran, so you can land the job as quickly as possible. 

Tip #1: 

Customize each resume and cover letter to match the job you’re applying for. Does this take more time upfront than sending the same copy & pasted resume to 100 employers? Absolutely. But you will likely get hired quicker and have to send fewer resumes. So it’s well worth it. 

Tip #2:

Read and re-read the job description. Highlight key phrases. Note the specifics they’re asking for. Make a list of the particular traits, experience, and expertise that they’re looking for. Then, make a list of your personal accomplishments/experiences to find the overlap.

Tip #3:  

Translate your military experience into easy-to-understand civilian words by looking at the overlap between your own experience and the key phrases they listed in the job description. When you write out your experience on your resume, adjust the military lingo, so it includes the exact phrases they listed in the job description.

Tip #4: 

Don’t be generic. Your key strengths/skills should not be the same as everyone else; rather, they should match the specific list of desired traits and experiences that are outlined in the job description.

Tip #5: 

If you’re applying for a job that you’re not passionate about (aka a short-term solution for a cash problem), then be honest with yourself that it is a short-term bandaid that you need to find a long term solution for. 

This means you need to take some time to evaluate what you’re truly passionate about. Then you need to layout the exact strategy and steps that you will take (outside of the 9-5 hours) to move closer to the industry/mission that you are truly passionate about. This requires setting goals and deadlines, so you don’t get stuck in a career that you hate.

Again, I’m not a fan of the 9-5 lifestyle, but I used to live in that world. I know for some people, the “normal” job is a necessary step before they can go full speed into the world of entrepreneurship.

Bonus Tip:

Find a veteran-owned business. Fellow veterans have a much easier time translating military-speak into civilian strengths. And they will know which jobs within their business will be best suited for you and your experience.