Transition Insight

Tips for Completing Your Resume

By Barbara Adams, CPRW, CEIP, CMRC, CFRW
www.militaryresumewriters.com and www.careerproplus.com

Since online applications replaced snail mail, Fed-Ex, and other delivery methods, I am sending a cover constantly asked how important sending cover letters are now. I always recommend letter for online applications unless the job vacancy states otherwise. First, you should determine the type of cover letter to send.

Below is a list of different types of cover letters you may need to use, depending on your application situation. In future articles I will explain each type of cover letter in detail and provide a sample.

• Customized Cover Letter Example
• Sample Targeted Cover Letter
• Cold Contact Cover Letter
• Sample Cover Letter Requesting a Meeting
• Cover Letter Applying for More Than One Job
• Employee Referral Cover Letter
• Sample Letter of Application
• Cover Letter for a Job Promotion Example
• Cover Letter Example for Unadvertised Openings
• Networking Cover Letters
• Sample Referral Cover Letter
• Sample Cover Letter with Salary History
• Sample Cover Letter with Salary Requirements

Before you apply for your dream job, check out these tips that will make your cover letter stand out. Your goal is to explain the value you bring to an organization. Gain the hiring official's interest and get called for that all-important interview.

Tip #1: Keep it brief.
Your cover letter should not go over one page. Use short paragraphs and bullet points whenever possible. Do not regurgitate information used in your resume. Avoid flowery or excessive words when fewer words will get your point across equally well.

Tip #2: Be assertive and proactive.
Explain what special skills and qualities you can bring to the job. Don't explain what the job will do for you. Avoid empty clichés, such as "I am a self-starter", or "I'm a people person". Use active words and phrases. Avoid "are" and "is".

Tip #3: Tailor the cover letter to the specific company.
Don't write generic praise about the company. Be as specific as you can and demonstrate your knowledge of the company. Research the company using its own website, as well as business information sites such as www.hoovers.com. Look for recent company events, product launches, or technology initiatives that you can reference in your letter.

Tip #4: Revise your cover letter for each application.
One size cover letter does not fit all. Different aspects of your background will fit different jobs. Focus on relevant job experiences and skills. For instance, an employer for a publishing organization won't be interested in your sharpshooter skills.

Tip #5: When writing about non-professional experiences, translate them into "business-speak". Always demilitarize your experience and avoid using acronyms.
Explain how your deployments have prepared you to work in diverse and multi-cultural environments. Provide an accomplishment relating to a human capital success.

Tip #6: Address your letter to an individual rather than a department.
Call the company directly to identify the proper addressee. Use formal language (Mr., Ms., Dr.) when addressing them and never just their first name—even if you know them personally.

Tip #7: Your first impression counts.
Maintain lots of white space. Use small paragraphs and bullet, indent, and/or bold accomplishments that match the position.

Tip #8: Let the hiring official be the judge of your skills.
State your skills and qualifications, but don't tell the hiring official that you are the best person for the job. It can appear arrogant and presumptuous. Match the skills the job vacancy lists so you eminently appear to be a good fit.

Tip #9: Proofread! Proofread! And Proofread again!
Check grammar, spelling, and especially the spellings of names. Have somebody else read your letter—they can pick up on things missing from your letter.

Tip #10: Follow up with a brief note thanking the hiring official for their consideration.
State that you are very interested in the position and hope that you will be strongly considered.

Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global (CPG), the parent company of www.careerproplus.com and www.militaryresumewriters.com, has been a member of the careers community for the past 20 years. Ms. Adams holds four prestigious industry certifications. CareerPro Global is the only ISO 9001-2008 Certified Career Service in the industry, as well as one of the fastest-growing Military, Federal, and Civilian Resume-Writing and Careers-Coaching companies. The team of Certified Professional Federal and Military Resume Writers at CPG assist thousands of clients in applying for and gaining employment each year. We can help you land your military to civilian job.

Unemployment rate for young veterans remains high

By Rick Maze

With just 18,000 net jobs created in the U.S. for the month, the overall national employment rate is 9.2 percent and the unemployment rate for veterans of all generations is 8.8 percent, according to the employment situation report released last Friday by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For young veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan era, the unemployment rate for June was 13.3 percent. All of those numbers are worse than in the May jobs report.

The June report also shows that female veterans are experiencing the same problems as women in general in finding and keeping jobs in the weak economy. For men, the veterans' unemployment rate for June is 8.7 percent. For women, the rate is 10.2 percent.

The Obama administration and Congress are trying to find ways to help veterans find work, but this has proven difficult. A major hiring initiative launched by the Obama administration to get veterans into the federal workforce resulted in a net increase of just 2,000 more veterans being hired.

Last week, the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee introduced two veterans' employment bills. One, HR 2433, would create a new retraining program for older veterans who are out of work and would make it mandatory for separating service members to receive briefings on how to find post-service jobs. The second bill, HR 2443, would create tax credits for small businesses to encourage the hiring of veterans.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said his goal is to reduce veterans' employment to 5 percent within two years. "In today's economic environment, finding meaningful employment is difficult, and it's no different if you are a veteran," Miller said in a statement. "We must come together as a nation to keep our promise to those who have protected not only our liberty, but the American way of life. It is our duty to welcome these men and women back into society and match their skills with jobs."

Miller's committee will hold a hearing this week on HR 2433, the Veteran Opportunity to Work Act, or VOW Act. The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee already passed a comprehensive veterans' employment bill, the Hiring Heroes Act. The bills have significant differences that will have to be reconciled before final passage.

Military and veterans' groups have been pressing congressional leaders to pass veterans' employment legislation quickly so the unemployment rate for veterans drops by Veterans Day on Nov. 11. Congressional aides said it is more realistic to hope that Congress could pass legislation by Veterans Day that might result in some improvement next year.

Miller's Tax Credit to Hire Veterans Act, referred to the House Ways and Means Committee for review, would provide a $25,000 credit for new hires who are veterans, with a business able to claim the credit for up to 25 new employees. These would have to be new hires, not replacements for existing employees, and the veteran would have to be employed for one year and work at least 38 hours a week for a business to claim the credit.

This is not the first proposal to use tax incentives to get businesses to hire veterans. Miller's bill joins a pile of similar ideas pending before the ways and means committee, where tax legislation originates. Miller said the bill could be taken up as part of a package aimed at simplifying tax law for small businesses, a priority for House Republicans.

Utilities look to Veterans for Hiring Spark

Faced with as many as 200,000 retiring engineers, power-plant operators and other employees in the next decade, the utility industry is reaching out to military veterans to bulk up its workforce.

The Troops to Energy Jobs program aims to capitalize on veterans' skills, like their focus on safety, that make them uniquely qualified to work in an industry like energy, where "safety is paramount," said Arizona Public Service President and CEO Don Robinson. The two-year pilot program is set to begin September 1.

APS is among five utilities in the pilot program. The other utilities working on the initiative through the Center for Energy Workforce Development are Dominion, American Electric Power, Southern Co. and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

The program comes at a time when nearly one of every three energy employees in the country will be eligible for retirement by 2016, said Tom Farrell, president and CEO of Virginia-based Dominion Resources

"We've had good results with veterans," says Robinson, adding that APS employs about 700 veterans, or about 10 percent of its workforce.

Lori Sundberg, APS senior vice president of human resources, said that energy companies like hers will be looking to hire veterans across all departments, from technical positions to security and office jobs, like financial and legal work.

California Pilot DMV program gives Veterans Choices

A new program initiated by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) will help connect veterans in California with the services and benefits they have earned through their prior or current service in the U.S. Military.

When a Californian applies for a new driver's license or renewal, or if they apply for an identification card, they will notice on the new application forms a check-off box that will permit the DMV to share the applicants contact information with CalVet. The veterans will then be sent information that gives a brief outline of services and benefits and includes a postage-paid reply card that the veteran fills out and returns to CalVet. Once the card is received the veteran will automatically begin receiving information about services like education benefits, employment assistance, disability and compensation payments, health care benefits and much more.

"The most challenging thing we have to do in this department is to ensure that veterans in California are educated about the benefits and services that they have earned through their honorable service in the military," said CalVet Secretary Peter J. Gravett. "This partnership has the potential to help our department connect with nearly every one of the nearly 2 million veterans living in this state."

The CalVet Services initiative has as its goal to help returning service members and their families with the sometimes difficult task of reentering civilian life. By utilizing online tools like its Reintegration form, the Department links returning veterans with service providers and resources. This program offers CalVet the opportunity to inform veterans and their dependents about veterans benefits and how to obtain these benefits through the process of application and representations of claims. CalVet's partnership with DMV augments this program by allowing many military and service members who may not have been reached before, with the opportunity to share their contact information with CalVet so that appropriate benefits information can be provided to them.