Written By: Beth L.
Welcoming individuals from all walks of life, our latest initiative aims to arm you with the tools needed to develop a cyber-ready resume. Whether you come with military experience, are currently in transition, or serve on active duty, these guidelines are designed to help everyone seamlessly prepare for a successful career in cybersecurity.
First, we appreciate Military One Source and this article on “How to Write a Civilian Resume,” Writing a Civilian Resume for the First Time | Military OneSource
Whether you have a resume or are starting from scratch, we think starting with a NEW Word document is a good idea. Sometimes, formats and errors have made their way into that resume you cut and pasted or changed over the years. Here’s a template to follow for your contact information section:
FULL NAME
Location
Mobile Phone | Professional E-mail
Secret Clearance | Open to Relocate
A well-written summary should follow your contact information; we suggest this template:
EXPERIENCE 1 | EXPERIENCE 2 | EXPERIENCE 3
Who are you, and what is your experience? What fields of work have you accomplished and have proven results? What role are you looking to land?
Here’s an example from one of our student’s resumes:
LEADERSHIP | NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR | CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
Diverse Network Administrator who has extensive experience in management and customer engagement. Proven ability to adapt in fast-paced environments to meet deadlines and produce results in alignment with customer engagement metrics. High performer in team environments looking to transition into Cybersecurity and Network Analyst role.
Next, you’ll want to document your skills; this template is clean-looking. However, there are applicant tracking systems out there that may not read the information in tables.
| CERTIFICATIONS | SOFT SKILLS | TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES |
|---|---|---|
|
List Certifications Earned |
Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
Tech 1 | Tech 2 | Tech 3 | Tech 4 | Tech 5
|
We encourage Total Cyber attendees to showcase their work as follows:
Total Cyber Solutions June – Sept 2023
Cybersecurity Engineer Program
- Three-month intensive cybersecurity program geared towards teaching foundational and intermediate security, networking, SOC, Splunk, Python, Risk management, Critical Controls, and other cybersecurity skills.
- Obtained three industry certifications.
- Skill Description 1
- Skill Description 2
- Skill Description 3
Our curriculum comprises official CompTIA CertMaster Learn and CertMaster Labs and our custom-tailored labs, instruction, and study materials. We encourage our participants to utilize the excellent research that CompTIA provides on this resource page: What Kind of IT Jobs Can You Get with IT Certifications | CompTIA
Visit the CompTIA link and Select a Certification that you’ve earned. Visit the job descriptions and look for one or two that target your desired job. Review the bullet points associated with that role and select 2 or 3 that resonate with an exercise you loved and completed in a class. Do this for at least two roles. Once you have your bulleted lists, select three you are most comfortable speaking to as if you are currently working in a job where you perform those tasks and can provide examples of projects you completed in class.
Many of our Total Cyber program attendees have military experience, and sometimes, the translation into civilian language requires some assistance. One resource we’ve found to help with that is from Hiring Our Heroes, Resume Engine
Military to Civilian Job Title 2022 – Present
One to two-sentence summary of role and responsibility.
- Responsibility and Result 1.
- Responsibility and Result 2.
- Responsibility and Result 3.
- Responsibility and Result 4.
Don’t forget to list all your jobs before the military, those you think no one cares about, fast food work, construction, and more. Those are excellent icebreakers and conversations.
Last, list your education, languages you speak fluently, and awards.
Congratulations, you’ve completed a chronological resume!
Useful resources mentioned:
Writing a Civilian Resume for the First Time | Military OneSource
What Kind of IT Jobs Can You Get with IT Certifications | CompTIA
