There are many mistakes veterans make when it comes to creating a resume shortly after getting out; maybe it doesn’t look flashy enough, there is too much content, or maybe too little content. In my experience, the biggest mistake is what I call the “Rambo Resume”. This is when service members, specifically combat arms/special operations veterans, begin spewing on paper how bad ass they are. We get it, you were a SEAL with “Two long-term JCETs to PACOM conducting FID operations alongside the host nation in support of OEF-P, JSOC, and DOD mission parameters and being awarded a CAR and BSM for my actions while assigned to SDV-1 as the S3 and LNO to the Philippine Army.”

Can you imagine a civilian hiring manager reading this on a resume? Me, as a corporate recruiter for a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, if that resume showed up on my desk I would toss it for the sheer fact that the individual has no grasp on reality.

Here is an example of a resume submission by a client who had the sense to know that his resume needed a drastic overhaul. Here is what he was sending to civilian companies before thankfully making the right call and reaching out to me:

US Army, Ranger Airborne Infantryman, 3rd Ranger Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment, SOCOM U.S. Special Operations Command, JSOC Joint Special Operations Command