When you pursue a new career after your military service, the specialized training and accomplishments from your previous military roles can be showcased on your resume along with the new degree and skills you have acquired for your next career.

Here are some important resume tips for impressing an employer with both your new career skills and your past military experience.

#1-Choose the right resume format.

The first task is to choose the right type of resume. There are two main types:

• The traditional chronological resume shows a person’s previous jobs in reverse chronological order. (See Easy Steps for a Chronological Resume-TEMPLATE), This type of resume may not be the best choice for a veteran because military service and civilian employment may not seem related.
• A functional resume is constructed using categories of skills rather than a list of jobs. (See Easy Steps for a Functional Resume-TEMPLATE). This type of resume may be a better way to showcase a veteran’s abilities as he or she enters a new career field (Dakota County Technical College, n.d.).

#2-Brainstorm a list of your military duties and accomplishments.

Make a complete list of your duties while you were in the military; remember to include both hard skills you learned (computer knowledge, report writing, management) and soft skills (teamwork, organization, dedication). Look at your complete list and evaluate which skills would be relevant to your next career. Include these on your resume.

#3-Avoid all military acronyms, codes, and jargon.

Employers may be confused if you use military language and may misunderstand some of your important qualifications. Resume expert Linda Thornburg (n.d.) offers these examples of acceptable translations from military to civilian terminology:

• “Instead of saying that you ‘commanded’ other people, say that you ‘supervised’ or ‘directed’ a group of people to achieve a general result.
• “Replace the terms EPR/OPR, NCOER/OER or Fitness Report, with ‘performance appraisal.’
• “Instead of referring to a battalion, command or squadron refer to an ‘organization.’
• “Refer to your ‘subordinates’ as ‘employees’ or ‘team members’ “ (para. 8).

CareerOneStop (n.d.), a service of the U.S. Department of Labor, has compiled a helpful list of civilian alternatives for military terms which can be found here.

#4-Use a Key Qualifications section to start your resume, not an objective.

It is no longer best practice to state an objective at the beginning of your resume. Employers are not primarily interested in your personal goals.They want to know what skills and qualifications you will bring to the position.

Here’s an example of a statement that might appear in a Key Qualifications section of a resume submitted for a manager position:

     KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• (Example) Trained a team of 20 individuals in procedures resulting in smoother workflow and reduced project completion time

#5-Choose the right headings for the skill categories if you use a functional-style resume.

Look carefully at the job posting you are applying for and choose 4–6 relevant headings for the skill categories on your resume. The skill categories will allow you to describe relevant skills you used in the military and your new career skills which the prospective employer is looking for. The skill headings you use will depend on the type of job you are applying for.

You can find a list of over 50 possible headings for skill categories here.

#6-Always create statements for your skill categories using keywords from the job posting.

Don’t simply list your job duties on your resume. Describe your skills and accomplishments using keywords from the job posting. This practice will (1) increase the number of civilian terms used in your resume, and (2) help both applicant tracking systems and human readers see how your qualifications match the position. 

Here’s a useful pattern for creating impressive skills statements:

WHAT you did, HOW you did it, and the RESULT (stated or implied):

Example: (WHAT) Reduced  backlog of 60 customer service tickets (HOW) by devising a method of prioritizing and scheduling responses (RESULT) enabling the service team to complete 100% of their ticket resolutions  

IMPORTANT: Use numbers and percentages in your skills statements whenever possible to convey the measurable impact of your success in using that skill. (See previous example)

 #7 Describe relevant military education

 If your military training courses are relevant to your new career, e.g., safety training, include the information on your resume using civilian terms so the employer will understand the relevance. It may be best to list relevant military training beneath “Additional Education and Training” rather than placing military education beside your college degree beneath "Education."

#8 Are my security clearances worth mentioning on my resume?

Some civilian jobs require the ability to handle sensitive or confidential information. Listing your security clearances on your resume may give strong evidence of your trustworthiness in protecting information. A description of types of security clearances and when to include them on your resume, can be found here (Thorburn, n.d.b).

Sources:

CareerOneStop. (n.d.) Learn how to describe your military experiences in terms that civilian employers can understand. U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.  URL

Dakota County Technical College. (n.d.) Resume writing guide for veterans. URL

Thorburn, L. (n.d.a) How to list security clearances on your resume in 5 steps. URL

Thorburn, L. (n.d.b) How to write a military to civilian resume (with example). URL

Revised 22 August 2024