I'm getting out of the army and back into the real world. I'm shooting for an entry-level job as I don't have much in the way of professional experience for the past 5 years.

I figure 80%+ of my resume is irrelevant to what I'm looking for and that I could easily fit it on a page. If any of you have been looking at resumes and know what to cut out, I'd appreciate the help.

(The linkedin profile this is based on is here.)

Drop the whole summary section. Too much verbage. Not relevant. Should be discussed during interview.

Remember, in your resume, your primary goal is not to be screened OUT. So don't put anything in there that is personal or unnecessary.

Add section on what kind of job you are looking for and what skills you have. Of course, customize these for each job you apply for.

Yeah, it's a lot of throat clearing.

Any thoughts on how to condense the military experience?

Focus on technical skills learned, and leadership or management experiences gained during service.

Think of a resume as an ad for your services (or flirting, if you're so inclined). You want to entice the customer into at least reviewing the product (an interview) or better yet just outright buying it (hiring you). If a piece of information isn't germane to "selling" your services, then I don't think that it belongs on your resume.

I'd strongly consider a list of MO's as well as actual duty assignments if there are any differences. There is often some difference between the two, but the experience and training is valuable anyway.

Don't overlook CPOL. It offers lots of great opportunities for ex-military personnel.

-PatP

I think he's looking to get a job with an IT firm, not an Escort Service.

to-MAY-to
to-MAH-to

lets see....

I wake up everyday and make myself pretty and put on a costume, lay on my backside while management and sales screws me all day.

Escort is the polite word for it.

Why leave a growth industry for one that's about to get flushed?

I go the opposite way - most CV's you get from agencies etc look identical, they all show the same skills and education etc etc, I always have a line in my CV showing my current personal interests - at the very least it shows that I have a life with outside interests and that I might be capable of holding a conversation.

Isn't the covering letter the place to mention your interests?

Covering letter??? Do people still do those?

The agencies have your CV and they chat to the employer to assure them you're human but work like a dog and have always aspired to be a (insert the advertised role here) since the day you were born. If the agent does his stuff and your CV interests the employer then you get an interview.

I've never written (or read) a covering letter in 25 years.

people still send resumes?

the economy is collapsing and I received 3 recruiter emails this morning. One of the recruiters sent me 2 positions. One was SQL Server and the other was MySQL and the MySQL paid 25% more. did I bet on the wrong horse?

Go whatever way you want, but my company has a large recruiting staff and this is the advice we give to people. For instance, I would not list Chess on my resume as a passtime. The resume will pass through the hands of several people, only one of whom needs to say "Chess? Chess players are a$$holes!", and my application stops there.

Dude. That sucks that you have to wear a tie to work.

no tie. just shirt and slacks. the employees dress casual, and the contractors dress up. Sneetches.

to boot, the only guy in this building I work with has been telecommuting the last 2 days, which means I could be home if I wanted to be. So I am getting pretty and traveling the 2 miles for nothing.

I have considered telecommuting full time but I might become a total troll.

I get your point but I think it goes both ways. I got a job a few years back with an asset management firm simply because of the chess entry! The IT head was a ranked at master level and desperately wanted someone to have a decent game with. The fact I could do the job came in a distant 2nd in this particular case