Get in Step: Finding Your Way to Civvy Street - Part 3

What’s Your USP?.....You!

I left the last entry a bit open ended, having covered what I consider the “golden rules” of CV writing. And whilst I don’t claim to be a professional writer, I’ve had great success with my own (got me in a tmc3, didn’t it?!) – and positive feedback from those I've helped to write their own.

So, having followed those rules and got a template together, what next?

Content. Content. Content.

I've said before, and will doubtless say again, that the tendency for veterans to undersell themselves is staggeringly common. All the pride and hard work, the commitment to professional development and standards, years of hard earned skills, all reduced to a single line, under a bland that says “…good time keeping…”

Is that the best skill you can identify looking back on your military career? I seriously doubt it.

But I think I know why it happens. It’s the confusion about the appropriate “translation” of military experiences into civvy-friendly terms, and the feeling they might be “caught out” for lying. This cycle of fear leads to the belief that skills learned in uniform aren’t transferrable.

Setting the scene

I’ll admit a veteran's background is hard to describe. Their postings, drafts (or hotel suites if you’re ex-RAF!) have been so varied, in terms of time and geography, that explaining them to a civvy who has no idea what a NAAFI is can be a minefield.

And showcasing a single skill? That’s going to be tough, there are so many! What if it looks like I’m boasting? How do I do it…?!

Simple. We summarise.

Consider this - does a civvy employer need to read about the 18 months spent at HMS Collingwood, followed by a holdover period at the PSG in HMNB Portsmouth (you can tell I’m ex-navy, right?) and the two stints at Northwood, split by a leadership course for a month back in Collingwood? Not really.

Of course, they want what you learned on that leadership course - that’s a desirable (and marketable) skill and you’ll provide a real-world example of when you’ve used it in your experience section; the location of where you were taught it is, frankly, irrelevant.

You’ll note I’ve underlined two key words: skills and experience. I’ve done this to make a critical point – that the proper use of well presented, logical sub-sections on a CV can be the key to a veteran’s success, clearly articulating a sought-after skillset, ultimately helping recruiters find what they’re looking for. You.

Understanding what a CV is, and what it isn’t

One of the most profound moments in my transition from military to civvy life was when I finally accepted what a CV really was.

Not a boring list, and certainly not a novel that documented every second of my life. No.

A CV is a collection of impact statements, tailored to suit the role being applied for, that quickly guides a recruiter from your skills to picking up the phone and offering you an interview.

I realised that a CV was more akin to a map – and not a complicated one!

So, as a picture paints a thousand words, here’s an example of a format I used….

A good CV starts with an impact statement that aligns with your Covering Letter. It doesn’t need to be war and peace, but it needs to hit those key selling points - points mirrored, even repeated, throughout your CV.

What do I mean by that?

Well, one example common to veterans will be an opening statement that including something like:

“Dedicated manager, with over 20-years’ experience leading and developing teams”.

This simple opener has identified two key skills - Management and Team Development – not to mention the implied work ethos and natural people skills – and thereby providing the opportunity to expand upon them in our Key Skills section, and evidence them with an in-situ example in our experience section.

Building it up

No two CV’s will be the same, and I don’t mean from person to person. They will also be tailored, by the same person, depending on the role they are applying for.

Let me give you an example.

I came from a dedicated networking background, and a niche one at that. When I decided to leave the Royal Navy, I applied for two jobs – one as a network engineer and the one I eventually accepted in cyber security.

There are, undoubtedly, a multitude of skills a Network Engineer can bring to cyber – but they need to be evidenced appropriately.

This to, was a lightbulb moment. Understanding the value of crossover skills.

Each CV needs to carefully consider which part of skill is going to be focused on. A cybersecurity consultancy is understandably less interested in my skills in setting up an IPSec tunnel (nerd alert) than they were in my understanding of the security concepts.

They’d prefer evidence of ensuring departmental compliance with a standard, over cabling up a LAN.

These are not, however, mutually exclusive skills. They were learned on the same path but led to a different destination. A destination of my choosing.

This isn’t unique to me, or even to a “technical” role. Someone looking to get into teaching, for example, may wish to trim the key skills section and draw the reader to the experience section to showcase a more heuristic skill set.

This doesn’t change for a veteran.

You don’t need to list every ship, unit, or station you’ve ever been too. Choose relevant roles, draw out the pertinent skills relevant to the role, and offer an example of them in use.

I’m from an Infantry Regiment, how do I show those skills?!

Let me be clear – I’m not picking on Infantry soldiers; I’m using their background to make a point.

I spent some time with a young Royal Marine on a trip to Coventry recently. A few jars in, and he told me he was struggling to find a job as people “didn’t get it”.

Of course, they don’t, how could they? What he did was, for most people, was the stuff of films. People don’t really go to sandy places and get shot at, do they?

Yes, they do. It’s a sad fact of life that young men like him serve their country and then struggle to find employment afterwards.

But there are ways they can help themselves – and it all comes back to formatting. Or translating. Or whatever you want to call it – it amounts to the same thing.

Veterans can justifiably translate their military roles into civilian equivalents to support their professional futures.

Let’s look at a hypothetical example…

Does a Management Consultancy care that you were the Armoury Officer at a base in the north of Scotland in 1992, do they even know what an armoury officer is? Or an officer? Possibly not.

But what about all the jobs you did at the same time? How many times, in all your postings, did you wear two, three…ten different hats?

Maybe you were a Divisional Officer with responsibility for 100 people?

Did you arrange their training? Maintain their professional records that would follow them through their careers?

If you’ve answered yes to this, or anything similar, ask yourself another question – how would describing yourself as “Departmental Development Lead” (or words to those effect) be lying?

All you’ve done is made yourself relevant, and marketable to a wider audience. If there are questions, you’ll answer them confidently at the interview. And would bet a lot of money, you’ll do that confidently. Because the interview environment is a veteran’s dream.

Sitting in front of a couple of people spinning a dit? Please!

Summing it up

The key is to remember that a civvy knows you’re a veteran. It’s probably why they sought you out, but you don’t need to force it on them.

They will be interested, yes, but not impressed. They will be curious, but the lifestyle will confuse them.

Your CV will, therefore, be an insight into an interesting background, offering a glimpse of what value they are going to get.

If you take nothing else from this entry, take this. Your CV does not need to be long to be good. It needs to be specific and tailored – and it needs to hit those selling points time and again. Every word, every line, should have been considered for its value – if its not bringing any, ditch it.

Remember:
• Start with an opening paragraph – briefly introduce yourself by describing your skills
• Hit those skills again in a Key Skills section – and flesh them out a bit.
• Give an example, maybe two of them in use in your Experience Section.

I want to finish by addressing an area some people struggle with. The dreaded “Education and Qualifications” section. Yes, if you have them – flaunt them. Why not? But don’t feel you need to include something just because you feel you should.
Don’t be embarrassed about it. I’d suggest most applicants are selling experience over education. And Id bet the roles that do require certain qualifications are targeted at those who already have them.

If that’s not the role you’re looking for, why worry about it? I wouldn’t.

I’m not saying don’t go out and get some certifications, far from it. Leaving the military opens so many opportunities for free courses you’d be daft not to take advantage. But don’t rush into it because you’re ashamed they’re not on your CV already – there’s plenty of time.

But that’s for another entry…

Until next time,
Dave

Catch up with all blog entries in this series.