When military service members come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they often find that they need to prove themselves in a different environment-the employment scene. However, by acting on the ideas in The Military to Federal Career Guide, the latest job search resource from popular fed careers expert Kathryn Troutman, transitioning military personnel can gain confidence about securing a new job and starting a new life-through federal employment.
Beyond the service members who have been on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, Troutman's expertise will also be helpful to those leaving duty from other military bases here in the states as well as abroad. For instance, Andrew-one of 12 case studies in the book-was just hired as a civilian Human Resources Specialist for the Air Force. His latest military assignment had been with the Army Reserves in California. Andrew hired Troutman's Baltimore, Maryland-based firm, The Resume Place, to write his winning resume, and the document's cutting-edge format received praise from the hiring manager.
"Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, are looking to hire people with military experience," notes Troutman, author of the earlier best-seller, The Federal Resume Guidebook. "But in most cases, military to federal resumes have been so unclear that they could make an HR person go cross-eyed. I've created a resume format for re-entering military personnel that really makes their accomplishments stand out." In addition to the innovative military-to-federal format introduced in her new guide, Troutman also created the original federal resume style accepted widely by U.S. government agencies since 1995.
What other resume insights does this pioneer of the federal resume deliver in her new guide?
- how to make resume writing easier through small doable steps
- how to skillfully focus your resume toward target jobs using crucial details
- getting attention by pulling keywords from vacancy announcements
- tips for highlighting leadership, teamwork and communication skills
Though the subtitle "Ten Steps to Translating Your Military Experience into a Competitive Federal Resume" emphasizes the resume, this book covers much more territory. It truly is a one-stop resource for transitioning military on how to land Federal employment. Other crucial terrain that you'll discover inside its pages includes:
- How to match your military experience to the jobs you're most qualified for (an innovative and extensive chart assists the reader)
- Instructions for writing KSAs, an often required application narrative
- Insider insights on how to approach applying for federal jobs
- Tips for following up on your application and handling interviews
- Details of veteran's preference programs (yes, veterans do have automatic preference in hiring as well as security clearance which can take a year for others to obtain)
The Military to Federal Career Guide is Troutman's seventh book on federal employment. Todd, a former Army Sergeant with 10 years in the service, found that her award-winning book Ten Steps to a Federal jumpstarted his federal career search after a year of unsuccessful applications. He landed an Information Technology Specialist job with the Library of Congress and credits Troutman's advice. "Your book was what I needed to help me realize that all my training and experience could be used to give the person looking at my application a better picture of who I am," he wrote in a note to the author.
As with earlier titles from Troutman, a valuable companion CD-ROM comes free with the new Military to Federal Guide. On the CD, readers will find 10 handy type-over resume samples in Word. Her ground-breaking military-to-federal resume format works well for regular service members and called-up reservists applying for federal jobs as well as those seeking federal contractor employment.
"In the past, veterans have had problems landing on their feet," said Troutman. "One solution is for returning military personnel to realize that they can use skills developed in the military to continue to serve their country, but on the civilian side. My book can help them make a smooth transition."
AboutThe Author:
Katherine Troutman is the leading federal job search trainer at the Defense and Federal agencies across the US and Europe. For more than three decades, she has helped jobseekers apply for employment with the US government through her resume and job search coaching service, The Resume Place. Troutman's Ten Steps to a Federal Guide and The Student's Federal Career Guide were both selected as the best career titles in their initial year by the Publishers Marketing Association.
For interviews, review copies, or info, call Megan, The Resume Place Press, 888/480-8265 or 410/744-4324 in Baltimore, MD. The Military to Federal Guide can be pre-ordered at www.resume-place.com. (Pub Date September 1, 2005; $38.95; ISBN 0964702576)
