We as military spouses cover all age groups, all generations, and everybody has their own sets of skills, likes, dislikes, interests and career paths they want to take. And every spouse also has their own career history and level of education.
Nevertheless, even with such a diverse range of people, writing a great resume that gets you the job you want still means you need to abide by a clear set of rules and guidelines in order to make yourself known and then to process through the interview process.
Today, we’re going to talk through everything you need to know in order to create a successful resume, no matter what background you have as a military spouse.
1. Writing from Scratch
Firstly, it’s important to note that every job you apply for needs a new resume. Of course, you’re allowed to tweak your existing resume, but you need to make sure you’re sending a unique resume to each job you’re applying for.
Also, it’s always best to avoid using free online templates. While many spouses are drawn to these because it makes things easy, these can make your resume seem to generic, and you won’t stand out from the crowd.
2. Talk About Your Experiences
As a military spouse, the chances are that you’ve been involved in some military-only experiences, so use these to your advantage in your resume. Have you been volunteering at an event on a base, or have you undergone any unique kinds of training?
If this is the case, make sure you highlight it in your resume because it’s sure to make you stand out in the eyes of a recruiter.
3. Apply at Military-Friendly Businesses
It can be hard for a military spouse to find a job because there’s always the risk of you moving away at a moment’s notice. However, using Google, you can easily find plenty of military-friendly businesses that will be happy to take you on.
We even have the list of the Top 10 Military Spouse Friendly Companies! *note, these are sponsored: we’ve partnered with these companies who want to hire you!
“Simply research these businesses in your local area, and then write a standard resume like you normally would, making sure you’re honest and highlight your current situation in order to receive an interview,” shares Nick Harris, a resume editor for Elite Assignment Help.
4. Highlight Your Skills
As a military spouse, hand in hand with some of the considerations above, you’ve probably learned some skills during your lifetime which can really help to pay off in the world of work. Perhaps you’ve developed incredible organizational or communication skills?
These are prime and highly sought-after skills in the workplace, so don’t underestimate yourself and your abilities. Take these and your past work history and showcase them. Use real-life examples. Be proud of who you are and what you’ve achieved, and this will reflect your success to any supervisor reading your resume.
5. Use Online Tools
A resume is your first impression on your new company, and first impressions count. If your resume is full of mistakes, typos or errors, and is poorly structured or missing information, this is going to reflect badly on you.
Even if you’re not a competent writer, there are plenty of online services out there designed to help you perfect your resume. Here’s a few to get you started.
Via Writing / My Writing Way – Use these two websites as a way to correct and improve the way you use grammar in your resume.
Resumention – This is a resume writing service to help edit and perfect your resume or to write one for you from scratch.
Boom Essays / Essay Roo – As recommended by Essayroo review, use these two leading proofreading services to highlight and correct any errors in your resume.
State of Writing / Simple Grad – These are writing resources where you can look up tips and advice on how to improve your general writing skills.
OxEssays / UKWritings – Use these online tools, as reviewed by Best British Essays, to structure and format your resume.
Academadvisor / Writing Populist – These are two professional career writing blogs to help you with tips and advice on how to write your resume.
6. Don’t Forget a Cover Letter
It’s important to make sure you don’t forget this part of the resume. Of course, you don’t want to repeat your resume in your cover letter simply, but instead use this as your opportunity to showcase your personality, and to give more of an insight into why you would be good for that specific job.
With a perfect resume and cover letter package, by following all these guidelines, you should be able to create a stunning application that an employer won’t be able to resist.
Grace Carter is a business editor at Academized.com and Paperfellows.com services. She curates guidelines for writes, creates presentations and manages blog content. Also, Grace develops a public speaking course at Assignment Writing Service, an educational website.
This article has been modified to meet updated editorial standards at Military Spouse, which may include the augmentation of material that reflects the expertise and experiences of our staff.