Based on President Trumps new initiatives… if you are considering transitioning to private sector make sure you are prepared with a shorter (two-page) private industry resume that is targeted toward your next job.

Your new private industry resume is actually a “Career Change Resume.” The private industry company that hires you will likely be very different from the Federal government — one of the largest employers in the U.S. with a massive budget. Your private sector target might be a large, global corporation, small business, or even a nonprofit organization. Regardless of the position you want to pursue, you will likely face a number of challenges when creating your new Federal-to-private industry resume.

GUIDELINES & WRITING TIPS FOR CREATING YOUR NEW PRIVATE INDUSTRY RESUME

1. Decide on a resume format: Choices include reverse chronological, functional and hybrid. Tip: A hybrid format will give you the flexibility to highlight skills you want to emphasize, or key transferable skills, at the top of the resume followed by your work experience in reverse chronological order (the most recent experience first and the oldest experience last).
2. Ensure your resume is easy to read: Create your new resume document in Word. Use custom margins that are the same on all sides (top, bottom, left and right). How long should it be? In general, your new resume should be 2 pages; 1 or 2 pages for a new grad. There are exceptions of course. Tip: Enhance the readability of your resume by incorporating white space. A densely written resume will be too hard to read. by ensuring you include white space.
3. Don’t use crazy fonts or many different fonts. Use an easy to read sans-serif font. Calibri and Arial are two examples. There are many others. Don’t use font a font size that is too small (smaller than 10 point). Consistency is important. Tip: Use bold TO emphasize selected text.
4. At the top of your new resume, list your name, address, email and phone number. If you are searching for a position in the area in which you live, noting your address is important. Tip: Use a professionalsounding email. For example: yourname@gmail.com. Do not use a work email. Do not list your SSN. It is not necessary to note your citizenship or veteran’s preference. Tip: You can add a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one

5. A LinkedIn Resume is highly-recommended addition to your private sector job search and networking. Use your two-page resume to build your LinkedIn resume. Consider your target keywords and skills in terms of your target new position.

6. Create a profile section to reinforce the skills and qualifications that are relevant to your target job. You can also add a bulleted skills list, but keep that section short. Tip: You could feature a few impressive accomplishments at the start of the resume after the profile.
7. Do not list hours worked per week, salaries, supervisor names, and other compliance details required on a Federal resume. For each work experience (back 10-15 years), list your job title, dates of employment (mm/year-mm/year or year to year); employer name, city, and state. Tip: Earlier work experiences can be summarized at the end of the resume.
8. Write a concise overview of your job duties. Keep it brief. This is not a Federal resume. Your content needs to be easily scannable and clear to the reader. It is important to include only information most relevant to the job you are targeting. Tip: Take the time to review some private sector resumes samples to become familiar with different styles.
9. Accomplishments are the STAR of your private industry resume. Feature strong, quantifiable accomplishments. Tip: Front load your accomplishment with metrics and add bold text to ensure the most important part of the accomplishment jumps off the page. For example: Reduced inventory $4M by implementing lean manufacturing techniques and other process improvements
10. Education: If you are a new grad your education can be included at the start of the resume after your profile. If you are an experienced professional, you should list education near the end of your resume. List degrees and school names. Tip: You can omit graduation dates if you are not a new graduate
11. Professional Training, Certifications & Awards: If you have space to list training, be selective and list only training classes that are most relevant to your target job. Same goes for certifications. Honors and awards are typically featured in Federal resumes, but less frequently on a private sector resume.

Federal Resume Guidebook, 7th Edition

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