Tips to get a job overseas (Iraq and Afghanistan)

Here are a few tips to land that overseas job.
(US Citizens)
1. Get a passport. Make sure you have enough blank pages in your passport just in case you are given a short notice to deploy.
2. Make sure your bills, credit, taxes, and child support payments are squared away. This can easily disqualify you from part of the pre qualifications.

3. Get your resume professionally done. Use somebody that can translate military experience into civilian talk. List your experience in a way that will easily translate to the corporate world. You should provide enough detail for the recruiter to gain a good understanding of your background. Tailor your résumé to the position(s) for which you are applying. If you don’t want to pay somebody, google is your best friend. You can also find resume examples you can use for the layout. Make sure you have a plain text formatted resume so you can copy and paste a clean version into websites that require it.
4. Find out who the contractors are working in the area that you are targeting. Research the companies that interest you to become knowledgeable about each company and to determine where your skills may be a fit before applying. I have a list of these contractors here.

• Go to each contractors career section and REGISTER a new account.
• Upload (or copy and paste) your awesome resume into their database.
• Setup a daily job search agent. I would specify only the country you want to work in, and no more details. Leave the job titles and keywords out. Sometimes companies just need able bodies in country and will have a generic description of a job title. Don’t let these opportunities pass you up. You will get daily emails from these companies that post new jobs. Be the first to submit your resume out of the thousands that will apply for them.

5. Keep updated on what’s going on overseas and who is winning contracts in the industry. http://www.defense.gov/contracts/
6. Network with other contractors. They know whats going on in the field.
7. Try to be flexible in starting a new career, regardless of job title, location, or responsibilities.
8. Research and see what the recruiters are actually looking for. Check out this article.
9. Get in shape. The military requires you be under 40% body fat. Check your stats here.