Home of the Military Transition Resume

Attention All Officers and Enlisted Personnel

Preparing for your next op in life is an urgent matter. You need it to be a successful mission. Failure.. is NOT an option. Are you ready?Enlist in CareerProPlus’ Military Division. We have all the “intelligence” you need. In business since 1986, CareerProPlus offers you our expertise in translating your Military experience to relevant opportunities in the civilian marketplace and Federal Government.

Your Military experience is a valuable asset! As a member of the Military, you gained a wealth of experience, training, and education. You are qualified to work in a variety of positions, both as a team member and a leader. Between the 2nd and 3rd paragraph – can you add:

Top Six Questions To Consider

1. Retiring or exiting the Military! Bewildered? Let us expedite your process.
2. Not sure how to translate your military experience into civilian terminology? Our Military Transition Writing Experts will eliminate the guesswork.
3. Confused how to apply and navigate the Federal Government Application process? We can help.
4. What positions are you qualified for in the Federal Government and Private Sector? Receive Expert Advice.
5. Do you need to improve your resume content to enhance your resume selection on all major recruiter and on-line job boards? Ask us for a free critique.
6. Your current resume is not generating any interviews and you just don’t understand how keywords should be applied and how to earn best qualified or selected. We know the method.

Each year we help thousands of military members successfully transition into new careers. Don’t wait until your terminal leave has expired…

Call 1-800-471-9201 or Contact Us Today.

Company Background

CareerProPlus has been developing professional resumes since 1986. We create strategic and custom resume packages for individuals to enhance their career opportunities.

We remain on the cutting edge of all aspects of hiring in all career fields – Military, Federal Government and Private Sectors.

CareerProPlus combines several decades of industry writing experience with the most advanced technology in the industry to empower us to produce job-winning resume presentations for our clients.

We also pride ourselves in producing results and outstanding customer service. And it shows… 68% of new clients were referred by satisfied customers, with a 99.6% customer satisfaction ratio.

Over 30,000 smiles served.

Who’s next?

Eight Networking Tips for Job Seekers

Eight Networking Tips for Job Seekers

By Barbara Adams, CPRW, CEIP, MFRW, MFRW/T

A lot of people—particularly introverts and the shy—would be extremely grateful if every single job were advertised and posted in one spot, on one designated website; that way, the whole networking process could be bypassed. But that simply isn’t the way it works for the modern job seeker.

The truth is, the best way to find jobs that aren’t advertised is to network. There are many ways you can network; below are a few tips to get you started, as well as strategies for success.

1. Brainstorm for Contacts

Think of everyone who could possibly serve as a contact. Don’t limit yourself to people who could clearly help you out; friendly, accessible people in unrelated fields often have contacts they would be happy to share with you. Also, people who—through either work or volunteer activities—have contact with a diverse crowd can be extremely helpful. To get you started with your list, here are some suggestions:

Family friends	Local politicians
Relatives	Journalists
Neighbors	Business executives
Professors	Non-profit directors
Alumni	Your physician
Former employees	Your hairdresser
Former co-workers	Prominent community members
Public relations officials	Members of professional organizations
Religious leaders

2. Tried-and-True Places to Network—Where the Contacts Are

Local alumni association	Conventions
Class reunions	Club meetings
Cocktail parties	Internet listservs
Fundraisers	Volunteer opportunities
Business conferences	Continuing education classes

3. Be Prepared

Networking is a little like planning a political campaign. While it’s essential that you are honest and relaxed, you should not simply “wing it.” Just as politicians think about what they tactically need to accomplish, convey, and gain when they make an appearance or give a speech, you should approach networking opportunities with a game plan. Before you confidently and charmingly glide into a business conference room, a dinner party, or group event, do your homework. Find out who will be there, or do your best to list whom you think will probably be present. Then, decide whom you would most like to meet. Finally, think critically about what your goals are for your networking function. What information do you want to walk away with? What do you want to convey to the people you meet? But, as is always true, it’s important to be flexible and to perceive opportunities you didn’t plan to confront.

4. There Are No Boundaries in Networking

Informational meetings, business conferences, college reunions, and parties are all obvious networking opportunities. However, the reality is that invaluable contacts and enviable opportunities often surprise us. Good networkers are flexible people who approach connection making as a fluid enterprise that extends far beyond hotel conference room walls. You never know who will step onto the adjacent elliptical trainer at the gym; who will be parked behind you in a grocery store line; who will sit next to you on an airplane. Don’t let these opportunities pass you by. While it may have been sheer luck that you bumped into an affable CEO, your savvy approach to networking can turn a banal exchange into a pivotal moment in your career path. Always be ready to make a contact and exchange business cards. Additionally, your new contact may be able to give you relevant names of his or her friends and colleagues.

5. Follow Up

After you meet with a contact, it is absolutely essential to write a thank-you note, if the situation deems appropriate. Advise your contact how much he/she helped you, and refer to particularly helpful, specific advice. Everyone—even the most high-level executive—likes to feel appreciated. Keep in touch with your contacts via email, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. This way, they may think of you if an opportunity comes up, and they will also be forthcoming with new advice. It’s important to stay on their radar screens without being imposing or invasive.

6. What Goes Around Comes Around

If you want to be treated with respect, treat others with respect. If you want your phone calls and emails returned, call and write back to the people who contact you. If you want executives to make time for you, make yourself available to others whom you might be able to help out.

The higher up you climb in the professional world, the more you’ll find that everyone knows everyone else. Thus, if you’re impolite, curt, condescending, or disposed to burning bridges, you’ll cultivate a reputation that will serve as a constant obstacle. Remember, the people who seem “little” or unimportant now will one day be running companies and making decisions. If you treated them with kindness and respect when they were “green,” they’ll remember and return the favor later.

7. Make It Easy for Your Contacts

When you call, meet with, or write to a potential contact, make it as easy as possible for them to help you. Explain what you specifically want, and ask detail-oriented questions.

Be sure to avoid making general demands, such as, “Do you know of any jobs that would be good for me?” This sort of question is overwhelming, and it puts an undue burden on your contact.

8. Stay Organized

Keep a record of your networking. It’s important to keep track of your contacts. List contact names, addresses, phone numbers, companies, job titles, how you met them, and subsequent conversations you’ve had with them.

Networking is extremely important for discovering those “golden-nugget” positions that you know are out there, but are not published. Just when you think you’ve tried everything to land your next job, keep trying, and keep networking.

 

Barbara Adams is the President and CEO of CareerPro Global, Inc. (CPG). For more than 20 years, Barbara has grown CPG into one of the largest federal, military transition and private sector resume and career coaching companies by keeping her finger on the pulse of continuously changing federal hiring trends. She has cultivated a niche market in the preparation of job-winning Senior Executive Service (SES) applications. Barbara is the co-author of Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service (to be released in June 2011), author and administrator of the Certified Military Resume Writer (CMRW) and Master Federal Career Coach (MFCC) credentials. Barbara and her team of senior certified writers have assisted clients through the complex SES application process with the development of more than 2,400 SES applications.

Pro Can Help You Craft Civilian-Friendly Resumes

By Tranette Ledford
Decision Times

If you want to work as a civilian, you have to talk like one — résumé included. You speak a language foreign to most civilian employers.

No matter how many commendations you have or how skilled you are, hiring managers don’t know what OCAR is, they’ve never referred to a job as an MOS, and they won’t have a clue what you’re talking about if you say you got a degree through SOC.

As one of the most important tools you’ll use to land interviews, your résumé needs to be written in words employers easily recognize. If they don’t “get” your background and abilities, you’re not going to get the job.

Helping people get jobs is what Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark are all about. Together and separately, they’ve authored dozens of books related to career transitions and job searches. Résumés are their specialty.

In one of their newest books, “Expert Résumés for Military to Career Transition,” they offer recommendations for how to develop the kind of résumés that lead to job interviews.

“Our book explains how to tailor your résumé to transition from military careers to civilian careers by using strategies and vocabulary,” said Enelow, a certified résumé writer and career-transition coach. “One example is the transferability of skills strategy.

“Say you’ve been a commander and now you want to be a human resources manager. You need to talk about organizational development and work force optimization. These are words the human resources industry understands. Likewise, if you’re a mechanic, you don’t want to talk about your work on a Bradley tank. You want to talk about your experience in fleet management and vehicle preparation and maintenance.”

Enelow advises service members to research the industry in which they want to work and learn the vocabulary relevant to that career field.

“Job ads are good places to get the terminology,” she said. “Also subscribing to industry magazines and publications. To learn the lingo you need to immerse yourself in the community in which you want to work.”

She outlines other strategies, such as including a work summary on a résumé.

“Paint the picture of your experience with your summary,” she said. “The value of any summary is that it gets you through that first quick review and tells who you are and how you want to be perceived.”

Dwayne Dupeire has spent 18 years in the Marine Corps. An ordnance officer and chief warrant officer 3 at Camp Geiger, N.C., Dupeire plans to retire when he reaches his 20-year mark. But he’s already prepared for the job search. As soon as he began thinking about his retirement he hired a résumé service to put his military experience into a civilianized marketing package.

“I know my strengths,” Dupeire said, “I have a good background in leadership and dependability. I’m in charge of an armory with more than a billion-dollar account. But I’m not a résumé writer and I knew someone else could do it better than I could.”

Dupeire contacted CareerProPlus and sent the company a data sheet that listed every job he’s held and every place he’s worked.

In return for about $700, he received a résumé that converted 18 years of military service into a document that summarizes his best qualities and highlights his managerial and supervisory abilities “civilian-style.”

“It may sound like a lot of money,” he said. “Paying for a professional résumé ups my chances for the kind of job I want. So it pays for itself.”

CareerProPlus is an extension of CareerPro Global, Inc., headed by Barbara Adams. Her team has been studying hiring trends and the labor market for some 20 years and developing résumés that meet the demands of employers. Adams said that while today’s market is increasingly a good one for military members, transitioners may be overlooked simply because their résumés contain military jargon.

“Some clients have several decades of experience in jobs and in very unique skills that might not be easily understood without some translation,” she said.

“They also may be looking to have two or three different résumés to match different industries. Other clients will need only one résumé and because of their experience, they won’t require as much converting.”

Best Qualified! Dreams Can Come True!

Two recent emails from clients who found their dream positions utilizing CareerPro Global services. Are you looking for a new job? Your dream job? What are you waiting for? Call us. We can assist you make dreams come true.

Landed Job as Assistant Management Analyst

“Good morning Ms. Adams,

“I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate Peggi Bass and what she meant to me in my job search.  Before I contacted Career Pro Global, I had called many other companies with no success in getting help with my resume.  Either the companies were too expensive or the folks on the other end of the phone were rude and unresponsive.

“At the time I called, I was very desperate. I had worked in one office for eleven years and had reached job burnout.  I loved the agency that I worked for but I was just ready for a change.  I was almost at the point where I was just ready to put in my two weeks notice.  I had been applying for jobs but had not been getting many bites from the Federal Government, which is where I wanted to stay since I have twenty four years invested with them.

“As soon as me and Peggi started communicating about my resume, everything started clicking right away.  She assured me with my education and valuable experience, combined with the resume she was building, I would have a better than average chance to get a new job.  Peggi was quick, efficient, caring, very detailed and kept the lines of communication open during the whole process.  She made me feel like I had known her for years.

“Once the resume was done, I posted it on USA Jobs, Monster, Career Builder and other job sites.  I started getting hits immediately for interviews and I was so excited.  Peggi had geared my resume towards a Management Analyst job, which is what I wanted and my education, skills and experience fit that career path.  One day I saw an Assistant Management Analyst position posted at my agency and applied..  It was the first job I had applied for since the resume was done.  I immediately got the interview and eventually got the job.  The folks that interviewed me loved my resume and wanted to know who did it and can they take some ideas from it themselves.  It was awesome.

“I am now at my new job as an Assistant Management Analyst with promotion potential to a Management Analyst and it goes two grades beyond my previous job’s max.  I feel like a completely new person and my career has been revived.  I owe it all to Peggi and Career Pro Global.

“Thank you so much Barbara, Peggi and the rest of the team at Career Pro!

Edward R.”

 

CareerPro Global Assists Client Earn Best Qualified for the CDP

“ Just wanted to check in and share with you an update on my DHS CDP application. My application met the qualifications; and has been forwarded to the next phase of assessment where it will be reviewed and rated by a panel of senior executives. There were over 2,200 applicants, which is why the HR stated is taking some time to complete the assessment. Results are expected soon.  I am preparing now for the interview, just in case and will touch base with you in the next 2 to 3 weeks.

“Again, thank you so much for your outstanding work on my application.

“ D. G.”

 

 

Excellence in Government Fellows Program Fall 2012

Excellence in Government Fellows Program, Fall 2012

APPLICATIONS
The deadline for applications for the Fall 2012 program is September 28, 2012

All applicants are required to complete an online application that includes:

•Background information
•Current resume
•Supervisor recommendation
•One essay

WHO SHOULD APPLY?
The Excellence in Government Fellows program is for GS-14 to GS-15 (or equivalent) leaders seeking to solve national challenges by driving innovation, inspiring employees and delivering results. Candidates must:

•Have a record of strong accomplishment and demonstrate high-potential in OPM’s Executive Core Qualifications

•Have the ability and interest to commit and contribute fully to the program

•Be GS-14s to GS-15s or the equivalent in the military, state or other pay systems (exceptional GS-13s are also encouraged to apply)

•Be capable of travelling to Washington and other locations for sessions

•Have the support of their agency or department

TIME COMMITMENT AND DATES
During the year-long program, Fellows remain in their full-time jobs, meet every six weeks and spend a total of approximately 20 days in session. Fellows also devote up to five hours per week to their projects.

Fellows are expected to attend all seven class sessions. While exceptions are made for family and work-related emergencies, applicants should review the class schedule and confirm their availability before applying for the program.

•Values, Vision, and Mission, October 22–25, 2012, Williamsburg, VA

•Results, December 4–6 or 11–13, 2012, Washington, D.C.

•Leading People, February 5– 7 or 12–14, 2013, Washington, D.C.

•Leading Change, March 18–21, 2013, Location TBD

•Building Partnerships and Coalitions, April 30–May 2, 2013 or May 7–9, 2013, Washington, D.C.

•Business Acumen, June 18–20 or 25–27, 2013, Washington, D.C.

•Synthesis and Celebration, August 13 –15, 2013, Washington, D.C.

TUITION
Tuition for the Excellence in Government Fellows program is $9,900* and includes:

•All coaching and facilitation;

•Course materials (e.g., books, articles and management tools);

•Assessments, one-on-one coaching and individualized development planning;

•Online collaboration tools;

•Access to the Partnership’s resources, expertise and networks; and

•Invitations to ongoing activities (e.g., events of excellence, continuing education programs).

*Sponsoring organizations are responsible for travel expenses associated with events held outside the greater Washington area. The estimated cost for these trips is $2,200 per fellow.

APPLY NOW!

If you are interested in the program and would like more information, please contact:

Chris Wingo
Senior Program Manager
Partnership for Public Service
(202) 464-2690
cwingo@ourpublicservice.org

TSA pact scraps pay-for-performance system

From FederalDaily.com, 08/10/12:

One of the highlights of the newly negotiated collective bargaining agreement announced this month between the Transportation Security Administration and its airport screeners is the scrapping of the agency’s much-criticized pay-for-performance system.

Under the new agreement negotiated by the transportation security officers’ new sole representative, the American Federation of Government Employees, TSA will introduce a new system that assesses employees’ performance based more heavily on how well they perform on the job than on how well they score on certification tests.

The current Performance Accountability and Standards System (PASS), which opponents have criticized as subjective and unfair, relies heavily on certification test scores to assess employee competency. Those certification test scores will no longer count on performance scores and pay increases, AFGE said.

The PASS system will be replaced by a new Transportation Officers Performance System, which will assess a screener’s competency in large measure by evaluating actual on-the-job performance of duties.

Other contract highlights are available here on the AFGE website: http://bit.ly/NW7BMy

Federal Pathways Program open to students and recent graduates

Under direction from the White House and its jobs initiative hiring reform, the federal Office of Personnel Management offers its new Pathways Program to current college students and recent graduates. Through internships, graduate programs, and presidential fellowships, the government hopes to attract the best and the brightest into federal management positions while offering newcomers to the job force a great job with the added benefit of assisting with the operations of the country.

Click the links below to find out more about the Pathways Program and how it may be of assistance to you or a family member and to receive Program updates.

http://www.opm.gov/HiringReform/Pathways/

http://www.usajobs.gov/studentsandgrads/

 

 

FAA Integrating Staffing System with USAJOBS

Following the lead of several other federal agencies , the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has complied with the Presidential Initiative to upgrade its federal recruitment services and has integrated its staffing system with USAJOBS. According to the FAA Aviator site,

“On March 30th, AVIATOR was updated to be fully integrated with USAJOBS in order to make applying for future jobs easier. Because of this change, this site has significantly changed. When directly logging into the site with your username and password, you will only be able to check the status of your applications submitted prior to March 30th. You may no longer start new applications this way or access your profile information.

“To apply for a new position or to update an existing application on an open announcement, go to USAJOBS, set up an account (or login to an existing account) to create resumes and upload documents, find the job you wish to apply for and begin your application. Your information from USAJOBS will automatically be sent to the FAA.”

Applicants who applied for positions previously through AVIATOR will have until October 1st, 2012, to access their information. After this date, the site will be disabled, so it’s important you retrieve whatever data you need before then.

CareerPro Global: Using an ISO:9001 Certified Company to Write Your Resume = Professionalism and Results

As part of our ongoing commitment to quality, CareerPro Global (CPG) sends a satisfaction questionnaire to every client upon completion of his or project.  We recently received a questionnaire response so wonderful we wanted to share it. At CPG, quality writing, professionalism, and a commitment to customer satisfaction are our hallmarks. Give us a call and let us make you this happy too.

“At first I was a little skeptical, never having used a resume writing service like this before and from reading quite a few caveats about similar services. But after more research, CPG was the only company with a base in the U.S. that was also ISO:9001 Certified with impressive credentials and awards.

“I submitted my request for consultation via the online form late at night and the next morning Chris Sheppard had responded with a follow-up phone call. Mr. Sheppard was extremely professional, courteous, polite, and most importantly, attentive to my questions and career intentions. I immediately felt comfortable speaking with him. He is a fabulous coach and guided me through understanding the government hiring process.

“Mr. Sheppard introduced me to Joseph L. Tatner, who would be come my expert resume writer specializing in my field, Information Technology (I.T.). Working under a tight deadline in order to meet a couple of job postings before their closing dates, Mr. Tatner worked diligently over the weekend and evenings to transform my programming experience into a noteworthy I.T. Specialist career! Mr. Tatner took the time to consult me via phone to really understand my background and the types of positions I wanted to target.

“The final outcome called for minimal edits and was a professionally drafted, government-formatted resume that fit perfectly into the USAJobs Resume Builder Program! I was absolutely impressed with the choice of wording, the structure, and how he was able to formulate certain skills and competencies from the basic descriptions I provided. With new resume in hand, I immediately began posting to jobs I had saved, and within a week’s time, I have received my first ‘Eligible’ status from a posting where my resume is being reviewed by a hiring manager!

“Even if you think you are a fantastic writer, resume writing is a whole different world…and government resume writing is in a league all its own. I wouldn’t trust any other company besides CareerPro Global to guide you and prep your career for government employment!

“Thank you, Mr. Sheppard and Mr. Tatner, for your professionalism, diligence, and guidance through what can seem a confusing process. I will definitely recommend your service to others.

“All the best, M. H.”

Why Hire a Professional Resume Writer?

by Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global, Inc.

Military personnel can offer a great deal of experience and dedication to the private sector employers. You undoubtedly realize as a highly-respected person serving in the military, “you have worn many hats,” and yet the summation of your capabilities and talents is often inadequately regarded if it is described using military jargon. Most civilian employers do not understand military protocol, and quite frankly, they are not required to because they are not interviewing you for a position in the ranks of uniformed service. Professional resume writers are experienced in organizing, assimilating and interpreting your military career and marketing you effectively. Accomplished and experienced military to civilian resume writers can strategize your qualifications and experience and demilitarize your career, projecting your experiences into a highly effective resume presentation.

Even well-qualified, dedicated, and capable candidates such as yourself has to plan strategies and care enough about the first impression you make with a potential civilian employer to show the hiring authorities your “best side.” It’s a known fact if your resume is going to get the attention it deserves, “make your first impression your best impression.”

Sometimes hiring professionals may not completely understand military acronyms or even the basic hierarchy of the military. Recognized as “Home of the Military Transition Writing Experts,” our highly trained and skilled team has been writing military to civilian transition resumes since 1986, from Desert Shield/Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and all the brave missions in between. We have a deep sense of pride and honor to be able to offer you, who have served our country so selflessly, the very best in writing talent, available to encapsulate your military years for civilian review.

In today’s military, you have traveled across many miles and continents, handled personnel issues, logistics, training; managed materiel, equipment and inventory just to name a few, and many have fought bravely in life-threatening war. How do you explain this to a civilian? How could they ever imagine some of the assignments you have participated in and successfully accomplished? They cannot. But experienced and trustworthy professional resume writers have the ability to interpret and integrate your military background into a comprehensive, easily understood resume. We can transcribe your experiences, accomplishments, challenges, actions and results into the smoothly-reading qualifications and skills employers can relate to – and are looking for.

The first step for the transitioning applicant is to understand his or her talents, skills, and abilities and how those attributes relate to business and industry. Military personnel develop traits beneficial to private enterprises because they are held to the highest standards of performance and operations. Recruiting professionals statistically have agreed military personnel make excellent leaders, once given a specific task: they are decisive, resourceful, disciplined and devoted team players; performing exceptionally well under pressure.

Why do recruiters or hiring managers ever overlook well-qualified military applicants? First, they may not be able to establish (or understand) matched skills from the military resume, perhaps because the language and “buzz words” do not equate to their customary civilian terminology. If the recruiter is forced to decipher too much technical information or military jargon, he or she may be unable to see the value of the candidate.

As a former member of the military, no matter the length of time served, you have much to offer and are the most loyal, well-trained, disciplined, and goal-oriented individuals any employer could hope to recruit. One of the most important decisions you can make to aid in your transition from the military is to hire an expert who can market and emphasize your value expertly in this competitive employment economy we face today.

Our team of Certified Professional and Federal Resume Writers and Career Coaches is here to help launch your civilian career in the most professional manner possible.

Barbara Adams is the President and CEO of CareerPro Global, Inc. (CPG). She has been on the leading edge of SES application development for decades. Committed to providing world-class service, she has also built an SES writing team that has assisted more than 2,500 clients develop their application materials. Ms. Adams has been featured on TV and radio and as a presenter at numerous career conferences. CPG recently sent a team to instruct senior officials at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, in best practices for developing their SES application materials. She is the co-author of the new book, Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service: How to Find SES Jobs, Determine Your Qualifications, and Develop Your SES Application.