Writing a Military to Civilian Resume

Businesses want to hire our heroes, but need to understand what you bring to the job

Whether you served our country for a few years or a few decades, transitioning to the civilian workforce can be challenging. Jodi Allen, Director Staff Operations & Quality at Goodwill Great Lakes is a veteran who served the Navy in a variety of roles, including as an Aviation Electrician, Recruit Division Commander and Command Master Chief. Drawing from her extensive military and civilian experience, Jodi offers four tips on how to effectively translate your military experience into a civilian resume.

Writing “civilian” is different

When you take any new job, there is always a learning curve. Every workplace has its own internal jargon and culture. The scope of change from a military position to a corporate job can feel especially uncomfortable at first. Just know that civilians are used to new employees experiencing some level of “culture shock” when they join a new organization. Your experience will be different depending on where you land, but these three focus areas can help you get started on your civilian resume.

As you well know, the Military is full of acronyms. The recruiter or human resource manager who will be reviewing your resume is not likely to know what any of them mean. If you need to use an acronym in your resume, be sure to spell out what it stands for.

Business terms can be different as well. When I started working at Goodwill, I realized that the document I had been calling a Position Description was called a Job Description at Goodwill. As you interview for jobs, and even after you land a position, keep your ears open so you can catch on to the terms that are used in your workplace.

Even emails are different. I used to sign all my emails v/r (very respectfully). It wasn’t until someone told me they didn’t know what I was saying that I realized my sign off was confusing. Keep this in mind as you follow up after interviews.

Tailor your resume to the type of position you want

When you attend TAP class, your instructor will likely show you a basic resume example. This is a good start, but it is important to make sure that your resume explains how your military experience aligns with the civilian job you’re trying to get. To match your military experience to a civilian job, you’ll need to thoroughly review a variety of job descriptions in your targeted position and industry.

What about if you’re not sure what you want to do? That's what networking is for. If you're able to start thinking about your transition a year (or more) in advance, you can reach out to veterans you served with to learn about their experiences and get advice. You can also talk with family and friends who can help you understand how your experiences and personality traits might make you a good fit for a particular type of job. Although it might seem like a good idea to keep your options open, if your resume is too general, it is difficult for a hiring manager to understand how you might fit into their organization.

Compare your tasks and duties to civilian jobs

Rather than relying on your job title to explain your work in the military, you should focus on your tasks and duties. Once you change your focus from job title to tasks and duties, you’ll see there are many civilian jobs for veterans. These jobs just have completely different names. For example, when I retired, I was a Command Master Chief. This title means nothing in the civilian world. However, once I compared my day-to-day work with civilian jobs, I realized that a Command Master Chief is basically a Human Resource Manager. This insight made it much easier for me to describe my expertise in a way that would make sense to a recruiter or hiring manager.

Be willing to change your resume as you apply for each job

Most hiring managers use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to manage the volume of positions, resumes, and interviews that are moving through their organization. This system will scan documents for keywords to both select and eliminate candidates for each job. If your resume does not include the words the system believes are important, you could end up in the reject pile. The format for your resume doesn’t have to change, but the words within your resume should match keywords in the company’s job description. This means you’ll have to update your resume every time you apply for a job.

Discover how you can find the right keywords to add to your resume

Although it can be difficult to adjust to your new civilian life, finding a job that suits your unique skills and abilities can help. By taking steps to write a resume that meets the expectations of a civilian recruiter, you’re more likely to find a job you will really enjoy.