5 Tips for Transitioning Government and Military When Emailing Your Resume to a Recruiter

Have you ever emailed your resume to a recruiter and simply said something along the lines of “Here’s my resume. Let me know what you have for me.”

Recruiters see hundreds of resumes from job seekers each week. The more specific and helpful you can be when communicating with a recruiter, the better your results will be.


Bill Lewis, Recruiting Manager with L-3 Communications GS&ES, and a service member for 23 years, suggests using the following steps when emailing your resume to a recruiter. In fact Bill believes this so strongly, he has printed these job seeker tips on the back of his business card:


• In the subject line include your full name, job title of the position you are interested in, and your security clearance.
• In the body of the email introduce yourself briefly, similar to your elevator speech or your 30-second commercial. Set yourself apart by stating accomplishments, not responsibilities. Keep. It. Short.
• If you are willing to relocate add the location(s).
• Paste your resume into the body of the email so it’s immediately accessible, but also attach your resume.
• Make your resume complete and easy to read. (Remember our article that 
a recruiter spends an average of six seconds reviewing a resume?)



Bill concludes with the following advice:

“There are many candidates whose skills match yours. Tell us why you are the best!”