Salary/Benefits, What to ask for?

mistabrumley89

Well, I'm finally less than a year from getting out of the Army, and I'm not really sure what I should be asking for in terms of compensation. I've attached a generic resume you can go over. It's still in the works, so please don't burn me too bad lol.



I'm looking to do either Network Engineering or some sort of Information/Cyber Security type work. This will be my first real job that I've had to apply for, and I'm not too sure what to ask for in terms of salary and benefits compensation. I know I can use Glassdoor to get a guestimate, but I'd like an insight on what everyone here would expect if you had the same credentials as I do. The locations I would like to be in are either Las Vegas, Hawaii, anywhere in Florida, Germany, Italy, or South Korea. I really appreciate any insight that can be offered. Thanks for the help!

olaHalo

Are you going to hold out for that perfect job? Or just take what you can get and then look for the job you really want?
With those credentials in Vegas you would find work very easily and cost of living is very low.
What youre worth depends on the area, and a lot of times companies have standard benefits that aren't really negotiable.

kurosaki00

Benefits depends on the company really. You can still ask for some stuff like for example lets say the PTO time is usually 15 days, you can ask for 17.
Or certifications/tuition reimbursement.
Depends on what you want.

networker050184

My first job out of the military with a CCNA was $60k going straight civilian sector. That was around 10 years ago now so I'm sure you could at least expect something similar assuming you can interview well etc.

I will say your resume is a bit misleading though. It doesn't really show you were in the army. I'd think contractor if I read this resume.

mistabrumley89

networker050184 wrote: »

I will say your resume is a bit misleading though. It doesn't really show you were in the army. I'd think contractor if I read this resume.

I haven't really done much "Army" stuff since I joined 5 years ago. Other than basic/AIT, I've never really done any tactical stuff. I've been in strategic units my entire enlistment, usually attached to a NEC.

When I went to my ACAP(transitions) classes, we were all told to "civilianize" our resumes. So, I just took every acronym and tried to reword it to the equivalent non-military lingo. This was just a general resume for the private sector. I have a completely different resume for federal applications.

kurosaki00 wrote:

You can still ask for some stuff like for example lets say the PTO time is usually 15 days, you can ask for 17.
Or certifications/tuition reimbursement.

Good info to know nonetheless. Thanks

olaHalo wrote:

Are you going to hold out for that perfect job? Or just take what you can get and then look for the job you really want?

Since I still have 11 months left, I'm going to try and hold out for a job I would like to stay at for atleast a few years. If I can't find that perfect job by around November, then I'll start to be more lenient with my options.

networker050184

I definitely agree with "civilianizing" it, I did the same when I got out. I'd just make it clear you were a soldier in the army. It's not clear at all for myself as someone who has made the transition so I can certainly see it not being clear to a hiring manager.

mistabrumley89

Thanks for the tip. I will make some changes and re-post it when I get some time

Robertf969

I would move the certs down to the bottom, your experience rocks. I wish I could have made it over to NEC/Strategic positions. I spent almost all of my time in Tactical roles which is making my job search kind of a pain. Also do yourself a favor and remove the (Pending Endorsement) on your CISSP, and definitely do not send that resume out until your endorsement is complete or if you do remove the CISSP from it all together or put "Associate of ISC2".

broli720

mistabrumley89 wrote: »

Well, I'm finally less than a year from getting out of the Army, and I'm not really sure what I should be asking for in terms of compensation. I've attached a generic resume you can go over. It's still in the works, so please don't burn me too bad lol.



I'm looking to do either Network Engineering or some sort of Information/Cyber Security type work. This will be my first real job that I've had to apply for, and I'm not too sure what to ask for in terms of salary and benefits compensation. I know I can use Glassdoor to get a guestimate, but I'd like an insight on what everyone here would expect if you had the same credentials as I do. The locations I would like to be in are either Las Vegas, Hawaii, anywhere in Florida, Germany, Italy, or South Korea. I really appreciate any insight that can be offered. Thanks for the help!

I might have a job in Pueblo Colorado for you if you're interested. Pay would be 70-85k. PM if you're interested.

mistabrumley89

Robertf969 wrote:

I would move the certs down to the bottom, your experience rocks. I wish I could have made it over to NEC/Strategic positions. I spent almost all of my time in Tactical roles which is making my job search kind of a pain. Also do yourself a favor and remove the (Pending Endorsement) on your CISSP, and definitely do not send that resume out until your endorsement is complete or if you do remove the CISSP from it all together or put "Associate of ISC2".

I haven't sent any copies of this resume out yet because of the pending endorsement. This is just a copy I'm working on for when my endorsement is completed. I've received mixed reviews of where my certifications are placed, and I'm not sure exactly what to do with them. Anyone else care to chime in on this? I would like a bigger consensus, but the advice is greatly appreciated.

broli720 wrote:

I might have a job in Pueblo Colorado for you if you're interested. Pay would be 70-85k. PM if you're interested.

PM Sent. Thanks for the help!

dou2ble

Simply putting US Army under the city could be enough. You can also list the name of your AIT course and location under education and training. I also recommend putting certifications last. I like seeing qualifications and strengths first but not everyone does this. If you were to put this then you can add "Active Duty Army" or something like that. Some even write what they're looking for in the resume or cover letter. Have you checked usa jobs? There are a lot of DOD jobs in the locations you listed.

Because Unix administartors are rare I'd be curious to know why you're not certified in it considering you hold so many other ones.

Under some of the experience bullet points you can also add the device or application used. For example, "Remotely patched computer software to comply with current Information Assurance Vulnerability Alerts (IAVA) guidance". I don't know if this is windows based, WSUS, CM2012, etc...A hiring manager might be looking for someone with experience with a specific product. Patching solaris and patching windows are 2 different skill sets.

BlackBeret

It looks good, as others have mentioned you can just put the company as US Army above/below the city. As far as placement of Certs, for 90% of the jobs you apply for, put them last, your experience trumps all. IF you send the resume directly to a contractor, or post it somewhere like clearance jobs, then consider listing them at the top. For most companies certifications are highly desired even if they say mandatory you can be hired without them. For the contractor positions they are actually mandatory, every recruiter I've spoken to for contractors looks at certs first, then the rest.

With that experience you should be able to get a great salary. Decide what you want for particular areas. In a low cost of living area I would say 80+ still, but again this all varies greatly. The same position title, for the same customer, in the same city can have a 40K/year difference in salaries depending on the contract.

One other thing, you're doing great starting the job hunt now, but be warned that every company I talked to when I got out wanted me to call back when I was no more than 8 weeks from separation. Most companies hiring are looking to hire sooner rather than later. Don't let it discourage you, just know that you might not get a lot of hits until you get close, then you'll have to start turning recruiters away.