The appearance of external hyperlinks within this webpage does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Army of these Websites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the U.S. Army does not exercise any editorial control over the information you find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this Army Website.
Jobs
Job seekers find the Internet a great place to search, learn about and apply for job opportunities. Websites make it easy for job seekers to browse offerings from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations and federal agencies. Learn more about how to search the Web effectively or create winning electronic resumes and use them to apply for jobs from the Searching the Web and Electronic Resumes tutorials.
EMPLOYERS WHO WANT TO HIRE VETERANS
Look for good career opportunities and apply for jobs directly through company websites. Browse employer links or search employer websites by selecting occupational categories and locations where a company typically hires. To search this database, click EMPLOYERS WHO WANT TO HIRE VETERANS.
Targeted Websites to Find and Apply for Job Openings
Browse job opportunities on federal agency websites or identify other Internet or recruiter websites that often have openings. Click a link to begin browsing.
Federal Employment Opportunity and Application Websites
Internet Employment Opportunity and Application Websites
Recruiter Employment Opportunity and Application Websites
Searching the Web
Today, the Internet allows employers and job seekers to interact almost instantaneously regardless of geography and time zones. As a smart job seeker, you have explored occupations, industries, companies and locations. You have inventoried your skills, training, education and experience. You know what you want and, for you, the Internet is a powerful tool for achieving your objective.
To be successful in your Internet search, you should begin by identifying those skills and abilities you want to market for your next job. Know the location where you want to work and the types of jobs that interest you. When you conduct an electronic job search, you'll use words or phrases from the list of skills and job titles to locate employers and find job opportunities on company and job search sites. As you build your list of target companies, be sure you thoroughly research each one to ensure the employer and job are legitimate.
Once you're ready to submit an online resume or application, be sure to safeguard your identity at all times. Never provide your social security number, too much personal information, such as your date of birth or spouse's name, or credit card numbers over the Internet. Be particularly careful about providing information to an email address outside the United States. Keep in mind that U.S. commercial email addresses end in .com, .net, .org or .edu, while foreign addresses end in two-letter country codes (e.g., .ni for Nicaragua or .de for Germany).
Be prepared for an immediate response or no response at all. Some online applications disappear into a "black hole" while others generate an interested phone call. Federal applications, in particular, can take some time before you receive a response.
Above all, don't become discouraged. While the Internet offers unparalleled access to information and contacts, the best job search campaign is a balanced one. Continue to build your career transition team through networking, and be sure to use other resources. Don't be passive by posting your resume on the web and expecting employers to beat down your door. Take charge of your job search and fight to win!
Once you find job listings that seem right, do some heavy-duty analysis to make sure that the opportunity is worth your time. First, compare the job listing to your objective. Is the job what you're looking for? Is it located where you are willing to live? If a salary is listed, does it meet your minimum requirements? Can you live on the salary in the geographical location? Don't forget that cost of living changes as you change locations. Finally, but most important, are you qualified? If all this looks good, step back and get skeptical. Read the job listing again. Is this a permanent position or a temporary one? Is it salaried or commissioned? Does it seem too good to be true? For example, "Earn up to $1,000 a week in your spare time." Does it require an investment on your part? Be careful, the Internet is full of sharks.
Electronic Resumes
By now it must be obvious that using the Internet to find jobs requires a resume. You either send a resume to an employer in response to a job listing or you post a resume on a resume bank website. So, if you've already got a resume, you're all set, yes? Unfortunately, no. In some cases, you will be able to fax a copy of your resume to an employer or send an email message with your resume attached. In others, you may be required to send or post an ASCII version of your resume or create a resume using the website's special resume builder. No matter what the application process, you'll want to consider how your resume will be viewed and then make some changes.
All employers using the Internet to find new recruits have one thing in common — they like and know how to use technology, which enables them to narrow the search to the best-qualified applicants. What most savvy employers have discovered is the power of keywords. Typically, these savvy employers scan all resumes, regardless of how they are received, for keywords in which they are interested. Employers aren't the only ones who scan for keywords. Job listing website operators do too. What happens to the resumes that don't have the right keywords? Well, you know the answer to that question.
Obviously, the goal is to have your resume selected for review. Here's how you can maximize your chances.
Start with a good traditional resume
An electronic resume is nothing more than a carefully reformatted version of your paper resume. (Tips for writing a resume can be found at Creating Effective Resumes.) Why bother with a traditional paper resume? Well, for one thing, you never know when you will encounter an employer looking for someone just like you. You'll need to keep paper resumes with you for such opportunities. Additionally, most interviewers will ask for a copy of your resume. At that point, they're looking for a bold and beautiful version that will catch their eye and help them see your qualifications.
Check for keywords
Make sure that your resume contains the keywords that describe you and your qualifications. Start by reviewing your skills, experience, training and education. Look for the words that really mean something. Ignore the meaningless words like "responsible for" and "in charge of." Zero in on action verbs that talk about what you did. Examples of action verbs include: managed, analyzed, drove, repaired, supervised, diagnosed, planned and constructed. Look for the words that help describe what you did. What were the results you achieved? Did you save money, reduce downtime or increase productivity? Stick to the bottom line. Your military awards and medals are something to be proud of, but few employers will scan for them. Finally, make sure your training, education and certification are available for the scanner to catch. Forget training that employers won't care about and don't use military acronyms and terms unless you're sure that the employer will understand them. To check your work, read a few job listings in which you're interested. Highlight the requirements specified by the employer and then visually scan your resume to highlight the words that match up with those requirements. If you can't find matches, then you either need to revise your resume or question your qualifications for the job.
Create an ASCII version of your resume
If you're clueless about ASCII, don't worry. ASCII is just a form of computer file that is easily understood by many kinds of computer programs. In short, it's a stripped down version of your resume file that doesn't contain special formatting or symbols. Word processing software, like Word, can easily create an ASCII file. Just "Save As" and select "Plain Text" or "Text Only" as the type of file you want to create. Your file should have an extension (the part of the file name after the period) of txt.
Clean up your resume
Remember that a computer will be scanning your resume. The computer is not impressed with bold or italic type and may be confused by special characters.
Make the following changes to your resume:
- Change bullets to asterisks or dashes.
- Get rid of columns or tables. Use block paragraphs. Scanners and computers read left to right.
- Check for misspellings and grammatical errors. Misspelled keywords will be skipped over by the scanner.
Check it out
Once you're finished with the conversion and cleanup of your resume, open it using WordPad, Windows' simple word processing program. Print your resume and then review it. If you've done your job right, it should look good.
Tailor it
Tailor your resume to each job opportunity. As a minimum, before sending your resume to an employer, review the job listing. Identify the requirements and compare them to the keywords contained in your resume. If you're posting your resume to an online resume bank, make sure you do the same type of check. Review job listings that interest you and make sure that the resume you are about to post would qualify you for consideration. If you have posted a resume and aren't getting results, it's time to modify your resume.