Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville , MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

Sir,
This was posted by a fellow E-9, Michael Quinn.
“Numbers mean sooo much when it comes to qualifications.

Yet this is EXACTLY where many transitioning service members & veterans get it WRONG. We just start tossing evaluation numbers into resumes/profiles and it just looks...STRANGE.

Think about it:

Responsible for $2.8M worth of equipment

- who cares

Led 2,000 Soldiers in....

- nobody leads 2k people in the private sector

- maybe we have 3-5 direct reports

Managed a $330M annual budget

- did you really? or was it resource management? is this even required for the job?

Over 20 years of experience doing...((nope))

- you've got 20+ years of "defense industry" experience

- nobody outside of the gov't does the same job for 20 years

- sounds stale or "over-experienced"

Managed the operations for 17k people in 45 countries

- how does that apply to the job you want?

- better explain how (like I did)

- it still never got me a job

- I just had to keep explaining how the heck that is possible

At the end of the day, your NUMBERS are required...but they must align with the requirements of the roles you seek.

We need numbers to ensure you meet labor category requirements, so recruiters see you as qualified & you are considered for the position.

BUT MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER.

Align it to the role.”

Connect with Michael Quinn on LinkedIn and you will find his on line workshops very helpful. I am enclosing an article about establishing the career prior to starting the search. Actually the resume should match the position you are applying for, a standard resume is only helpful in a job fair.
You are 0.5% of Americans who serve and you made it to the top 0.1% of enlisted service members. It all starts over again, none of this is understood in the civilian world, unless you are personally networking into interviews. Use your network, now before you are gone and they are working with some other E-9. Thank you for your service and God Bless.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/come-prepared-transition-process-gap-between-civilian-jerry-welsh/

Heather Darnell ⋅ Pinehurst , NC U.S. Army, Master Sergeant ⋅ 16 years served

I agree that well-meaning TAP advisors and other transition specialists can inspire veterans to inflate their titles so my advice is to be aware of that. I also recommend communicating things like how many people you managed at a time, what types of deadlines you were able to effectively meet, and how many outside agencies/service branches you coordinated with to achieve a common goal (if applicable).

Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn , VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

I would agree with most of Tim’s answer. Be prepared to use both the military title and the private sector equivalent. Try to gauge the target company’s familiarity with military terminology and adjust your approach as needed. Be able to quickly describe the role and not just rely on the job title. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn , VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

I would agree with most of Tim’s answer. Be prepared to use both the military title and the private sector equivalent. Try to gauge the target company’s familiarity with military terminology and adjust your approach as needed. Be able to quickly describe the role and not just rely on the job title. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Christopher Dilley ⋅ Jacksonville , FL Johnson & Johnson ⋅ 19 years experience

As a veteran that is attending job fairs for J&J, the civilian titles that I have seen are way over inflated. In my opinion I would use the military title, but our company is very veteran friendly

Tim Feemster ⋅ Dallas , TX Foremost Quality Logistics ⋅ 40 years experience

I would use both if you know the direct equivalent in the organization. If not, say it could be multiple of ...... based on the organization. Tech companies are loose with titles and older established firms would be more predictable for the actual equivalent.