My chosen field is project management. I have the PMP certification, and I have my resume down to one page. Is it preferable to keep my military job titles, or substitute with the equivalent for project management: such as, use Project Manager, Project Manager I, Project Manager II, and so forth. I was recently asked by a recruiter to change all the titles to Project Manager. But, I am looking for thoughts from others.
Answers
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Hi William, very solid advice from both John and David, so I am going to come at it from a different angle. Step back from your resume details and ask yourself if it accurately portrays the range of experience and skills that you have acquired over your career. Don't be afraid to let your resume go to 1.5 -2 pages if needed as it would be the norm to see an executive in the civilian sector at your title and tenure to be at more than one page. If you can do it at one, terrific , but in addition to project management , have you highlighted, with examples, your skills and accomplishments in?
1) Leadership of teams--against goals
2) Development of People against development plans--including yourself
3) Managing budgets
4) Driving change to successful conclusion
5) Managing Conflict --either within teams with different opinions or conflicting priorities
6) Persuasive speaking
7) Negotiation
8) Public Speaking
The list goes on, but I suspect you have a wide range of these skills which are all applicable to managing a project . You don't have to be an expert in each one and you don't even have to like doing all of them, but they can separate you from a large pool of candidates to be seen as a leader and driver of change, who is therefore capable of managing large scale projects.
Just something to reflect on , I want to be sure you don't minimize your abilities and market value. In the end, your resume must feel right to you.
Thank you for your dedication and service to our country. GOOD LUCK!
Best Regards, Mike
I would agree to list the military position title with a project management equivalent in parentheses (or after a colon or dash, whatever you prefer). While civilians (including me) may not fully understand the military title, it's important context. A few brief bullets under that position title should convey the project management scope of responsibility and accomplishments. If you can phrase scope and accomplishments in terms that are meaningful in the civilian world that would be helpful.
PMP certification is a great thing to be able to list on a resume.
Good luck!
David
Hi William,
My recommendation points you to obtain the specialization. No one starts with any specialty. You obtain it through coursework and certification tests.
Develop your cybersecurity and IT skills and credentials quickly, in only 12 to 18 credits. Later, you can apply your credits toward a degree. See http://learn-more.umuc.edu
Combine the cybersecurity specialization with your US Govt security clearance, and your golden. SAIC is having a job fair for cleared professionals. See https://jobs.saic.com/key/upcoming-saic-job-fair-VA.html
Best of luck.
Mr. Green,
Thank you for the pointer. I was thinking the exact same thing about using a parenthetical title.
I like the Robert Half guides as well as the PMI and Glassdoor.com data. My issue is that i am not going to get the good gig, so to speak, as I do not have that specialization in cyber or IT, nor am i going to get it soon. Oddly enough, my specialization is that i am a generalist project manager--meaning, I can and have done projects in most industries.
My preference would be to use Military title first then in parenthesis the civilian equivalent.
Simply being in Proj Mgt is not enough to get the best jobs. You need a specialty, like Cyber Security, that adds a dimension to your skillset that others dont have.
Check Robert Half salary guide.
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