How to Prepare

The Resume

As you prepare your resume, remember that employers typically have a lot of resumes to go through in a very little amount of time. Your resume must immediately capture and retain the reader’s attention.

DO:

Keep your resume concise. Only include information applicable to the position you are applying for.
Organize your resume with bullets and short phrases or sentences.
Have a separate Reference page. References should be from former supervisors or clients, NOT friends or family. Maintain the accuracy of contact information and notify your references of their use before submitting applications.
Manually check spelling and grammar in addition to an electronic spell checker. Always have at least one other person read over your resume.
Mimic vocabulary and specifically note qualities mentioned in the job summary.
Quantify your accomplishments. Accomplishments, more than responsibilities, will set you apart from your peers. For example:
- “Selected as 2004 Sailor of the Year in a peer group of 250”
- “Promoted to E-5 one year ahead of peers for meritorious performance”
- “Awarded Achievement Medal for leading our maintenance unit to reduce downtime of aircraft by 25% while on deployment in the Persian Gulf”

DO NOT:

Use unusual or ‘creative’ formats, borders, pictures, paper, etc. These distract and do not impart professionalism.
Include an “Objective” sentence or “References Available upon Request” statement. Both are unnecessary and waste valuable space.
Lie or embellish facts. This will only hurt your integrity and you will not be hired.

In order to be efficient and thorough, we recommend you collect all of your transcripts, vocational certificates, evaluations, awards and previous resumes before beginning the process.

As you begin to write your resume, do not be concerned with length. Simply organize all of the relevant information into the appropriate sections.

After you have listed everything that you feel is important, and have made your accomplishments as quantifiable as possible, send your resume draft to a Team Trident representative for review. We are here to help!

Resume Format & Sample

Team Trident has used its collective experience in both military and the energy sector to create a resume format best suited to both the candidate and the employer. We strongly suggest using the following template when organizing your resume:

Downloadable Samples: Adobe Acrobat PDF or Microsoft Word DOC

Contact Information
- First Name / Middle Initial / Last Name
- Address
- Primary / Alternate Phone Numbers (with professional voicemail messages)
- Professional Email Address
Skills Summary
- Brief and concise paragraph (2-3 sentences)
- The first sentence should note years of both formal training and experience in your trade.
- Include one to two sentences noting relevant professional skills.
Key Words List
- Areas of Expertise
- Equipment, Software/Hardware and Professional Skills, and Leadership Traits
Professional Experience
- Reverse chronological listing of current and previous work experience beginning with the current or most recent job
- List employment dates (From-To) followed by employer name
- Position title
- Bullet your role’s primary responsibilities and quantify your key accomplishments
Education & Training
- Reverse chronological listing of current and previous education and/or training beginning with the current or most recent experience

The Interview

Like public speaking, most people get very uncomfortable when they have to talk about themselves to complete strangers. It is true that the best performers are normally also very humble and do not like to brag about themselves, therefore the interview process can seem to be a grueling ordeal!

Team Trident is here to help you prepare for a great interview. We don’t tell you what to say because you know more about your life than we do. Yet we do help you highlight the very best professional and interpersonal attributes you bring to an employer and practice with you so you can put your very best foot forward when the interview takes place.

Work with Team Trident and we will make this process less stressful and very rewarding!