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Why Do Ex Defense Personnel Need Their Resume Redesigned

The retirement age of a Colonel is 54 years whereas that of a Brigadier is 56 years. There are cases where Colonels, Brigadiers and other defense personnel decide to take up a civilian career as the retirement age is 60 for most civilian jobs. Still other defense personnel retire early and join management schools or decide to change their career and start afresh. In such scenarios, the ex defense personnel need to revamp or redesign their resumes before applying for any job.

The reason for this is that although there is an overlap between the roles and responsibilities of military personnel and civilians, there are certain military terms and terminology that might be alien to their civilian employers. Let us look at some of the ways in which military resumes differ from civilian resumes:

1. Format: Most army or defense professionals might have been entrusted with different duties and responsibilities and would have been posted in different stations in India. Hence, the preferred format for military resumes is a functional one where the emphasis is on the skills and areas of expertise rather than the positions held. On the other hand, most civilian resumes follow the chronological format which lists down the different positions and jobs held starting from the most recent one and going down to the oldest one. Hence, an ex defense personnel will first have to change the format of his or her resume while applying for a civilian position.

2. Terminology: A military resume might be filled with defense terminology and acronyms that could only be understood by defense personnel. Hence, it is important for ex defense personnel to simplify the terms and spell out the acronyms which will bring clarity to the resume.

3. Specific skill sets: Typically, employers and hiring professionals spend only 6 seconds going through a particular resume. Hence, it is extremely essential to grab their attention during these crucial 6 seconds. Terms like “Leadership Skills,” “Project Management Skills,” will add weight to a resume. Defense personnel will definitely possess these skills but may have difficulty putting them down on paper. Hence, it is important to focus on specific keywords that are essential for the position at hand.

4. Brevity: Although as an ex defense personnel you might have held various positions, it is not possible to list down all of them in your resume. Be sure to list out the most essential ones that are relevant to the job at hand. Furthermore, you might possess multiple skills as defense personnel but make sure that all these skills are relevant to the specific advertised position. If not, focus on the most relevant ones.

These are some of the ways in which a military or defense resume differs from a civilian resume. Hence, focus on the above points and try and include transferable competencies like leadership skills, team player, calculated risk taker, ability to perform under pressure, project management skills, etc. Most importantly, keep it simple.