How to convert a government resume for private industry
Government resumes are bogged down by excessive formatting, 'core competencies' sections, and lists of duties instead of achievements, which private sector recruiters immediately reject. Trimming this down to a single page and focusing on business impact makes it possible to get past corporate screeners and land an industry job.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Condensing the resume to a single page
- 2Removing professional summaries and core competency sections
- 3Using standard resume templates and focusing on impact percentages rather than responsibilities
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Bro this is too much. Too much crap condense to one page. No one gives an f about your core competencies or prof summary”source ↗
“This is definitely written for government roles, not private sector stuff.”source ↗
“Eyeing for a senior tax spot from regional to maybe even big 4 or a decent industry gig. Need to gtfo of govt”source ↗
Where this came up
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