Civilian Jobs & Preparing For Civilian Careers

Searching for civilian jobs after you complete your Armed Forces service, requires a different approach when you prepare your jobs CV. Civilian careers, although having many similarities to some military careers, demand a new way of thinking and a new way of presenting your skills and experience. The key issue is that it is important to draw parallels between your services roles and civilian roles so that the eventual reader can understand the similarities.

There is no simple comparison between an Armed Forces rank and a job title in civvy street, so the underlying skills, accountabilities and authority have to be equated to the job role you want, so that there is a demonstrable equivalence upon which you base your job application.

It also needs saying that a good jobs CV, whether from a military background or otherwise, needs to be understandable by the reader, which means it should be free from the jargon and acronyms which are rife in many sectors, especially within the military.

Writing an effective CV for civilian jobs can be quite difficult, because the emphasis needs to demonstrate specific capabilities and the delivery of added-value to the prospective employer's business.

Competency Criteria

When writing an effective jobs CV you must be aware of the demands and responsibilities required of the eventual job holder and provide tangible, quantified illustrations of fulfilling similar duties and responsibilities.

For instance the main competency criteria may include:

• leadership
• presentation skills
• team building
• strategic thinking
• financial management
• people management

All of which need to be put into terms that equate to civilian jobs, so when writing your CV the reader needs to know more about your people management skills as well as your financial and budget management skills. Be as specific as you can with numbers and timescales and include the numbers of military and civilian employees you managed, where appropriate.

Prepare short 'competency' statements which demonstrate the more intangible qualities of 'leadership' and 'strategic thinking' which will be helpful for an eventual interview, and can be distilled into an information point on your civilian jobs CV.

To help the reader even further with their understanding, try to say to whom and what position you reported, and identify their position in the organization. This helps to put a level on where you fit in and your respective status.

This is why it is not sufficient, when writing an effective CV to refer simply to responsibilities. You have to define the substance of the responsibility or the crucial purpose of the role and then place it into context. The difference then becomes clear: the statement becomes one of responsible TO (i.e. senior management) and accountable FOR. Writing in this way removes any doubt about the true purpose of your previous Armed Forces job role and leaves the way open to describe HOW you discharged your responsibility.

Nothing makes it clearer to a prospective employer or recruitment consultant than specific, concise statements of purpose and delivery. It also makes for a very focused CV that works for civilian jobs applications because it wastes no time in getting it's message across to the reader. Which also says something about the job applicant - YOU!

My Civilian CV Writing Expertise

Quite rightly, my clients demand quality CV writing services and I fulfill this demand by guaranteeing my work so that all my clients receive the highest quality. My approach is to focus the CV or Resume on the future needs of each client so that it is forward looking and demonstrates their potential as well as recording past achievements. I also promise to work with each client until they are satisfied with their new CV or Resume.

Recent clients who have benefited from my CV and Resume writing expertise have included:

Royal Navy Lieutenant leaving the Armed Forces after 24 years and now seeking a managerial role in security management or investigation management involving high level instruction or teaching in these specialist subject areas. Portsmouth, UK

Ex Royal Marine with 40 Commando in Iraq and Afghanistan. Left the Armed Forces and now established a security investigations and close protection business working for banks, insurance companies and private individuals.

Find out more about my Professional CV Writing Services, how you can use my expertise to prepare your civilian CV, and what it all costs, by going to CV Writing Services.

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