One of the biggest challenges you face as a career minded Military Spouse is developing a resume which best showcases your professional qualifications, skills and accomplishments. As a Military Spouse, it is likely that you have:

• held numerous positions for short periods of time,
• been unemployed during PCS moves or when located in an area with limited opportunities,
• been 'under-employed' in a position because you were unable to find a vacancy commensurate with your experience or education, or had
• limited opportunity to advance or promote because you have regularly changed employer.

Marketing the skills you have to a potential employer can be difficult if you do not fully understand the purpose of your resume and explore the different ways in which you can present it.  

Your Resume is your Marketing Brochure

Do not make the mistake of thinking your resume is your professional biography - a chronological list of all the places you have worked with a description of your duties in each position. Instead, think of it as your marketing brochure. The aim of your resume is to convince an employer that they should meet you....that you are a proven performer with the skills and abilities to produce that same type of performance for them. It is impossible to effectively market your resume to an employer unless you first research two areas:

• The Position - Skills, Abilities and Level of Performance. Use the internet, the position description (if you have one), informational interviews and networking to learn about the functional skills, abilities and expected level of performance in the prospective position. Once you have a good understanding of what 'product' the employer needs, you can tailor the way in which you showcase your previous positions and accomplishments to highlight those skills which will be of interest to the employer and to leave out those which will not. 

• The Company - Mission, Vision, Values and People. It is also important that you tailor your resume to demonstrate that you are 'a good fit' for the company as well as the position. Use the company website and informational interviewing to establish the 'personality' of the team. While Boeing seeks 'leadership and innovation', Wittenberg Weiner Consulting, LLC looks for 'a can-do attitude and strong corporate work ethic.' Ensure your resume reflects the same values and work styles as your potential employer.

Choosing a Resume Format that works for you

Once you have identified the type of information which you need to convey to a future employer, you must decide how to format this information in a resume to best market yourself. Your company research may have given you an indication of the type of format preferred by your potential employer, but as a Military Spouse, you must also consider which format will best sell your skills and abilities without drawing too much attention to those aspects of a transient military lifestyle that may cause concern for an employer.

Excluding CVs and the unique form requirements of the Federal Resume; there are 3 main types of resume format you should consider. Remember that based on your research, the format which best sells your skills, abilities and accomplishments for one position may be different to the format you use for another.

• Chronological. The chronological resume is the 'traditional' resume format. It depicts your employment history chronologically, beginning with your most recent position and going back in time (usually 10 years as a maximum). This resume works well for Military Spouses who have:
  • remained continuously employed and have advanced within their target occupational field, and
  • want to stay in their current occupational field.
• Click HERE for an example of a  Chronological Resume format.

• Functional. The functional resume lists skills and accomplishments under functional skill set headings
  rather than by employment position. The strict functional resume does not include any position title, employer information or employment dates but some functional formats will list positions at the end of the resume but exclude the dates they were held. This resume works well for Military Spouses who:
  • have gained the majority of their skills in non-traditional employment such as volunteer work, or
  • have very large gaps in their formal employment history.
• Click HERE for an example of a Functional Resume format.

• Combination. The combination resume incorporates the functional approach as skills and accomplishments are listed under functional areas, but it also includes a smaller chronological section underneath which lists information about position titles and employers. In the combination format, you can choose simply to list these details, or you can expand this section to give a short description of either the employer/ company, or the nature of your responsibilities in that position. This type of resume works well for Military Spouses who: 
  • have held a number of jobs but are seeking to change career fields,
  • have gaps in employment or repetitive job duties in a number of positions, or
  • wish to highlight skills from a job other than their last held position.
• Click HERE for an example of a Combination Resume format.

As a Military Spouse, you need to identify which format will best market your skills and accomplishments for the industry you are in, and for the position you are targeting. 

Once you have decided on a resume format, review our Section by Section Resume Tips for Military Spouses.