Military-to-Civilian Resume Guide with Examples

Throughout your time in the military, you have strengthened your leadership, communication, and disciplinary skills. As a veteran, you have gone through specific training, practices, and development that have helped you gain a strong mindset. 

A military position is similar to a regular role in some ways. For instance, both military and normal jobs will require you to take full responsibility for your duties. The difference lies in the tasks, overall strictness, and the job benefits. 

While the transition from a military job to a civilian one might seem challenging, you can easily create a well-thought-out military-to-civilian resume with the following steps.

🖋 Adopt an ATS-friendly format for your military resume.

To draft up an ATS-friendly military-to-civilian resume, you will need to use a clean background, include keywords from the job description, and use easy-to-read fonts and bullet points.  

🖋 Refer to military-to-civilian resume templates or examples online.

Use your resources wisely, especially when there are numerous veteran resume examples you can find on the web. They can provide you with examples of how the military experience and skills can be translated, what sections to include, and how to structure a military-to-civilian resume.  

🖋 Customize your military-to-civilian resume and incorporate keywords.

Not only do keywords from the job description of the desired job help you structure an ATS-friendly resume, but also help you create a carefully written military-to-civilian resume that both highlights your strengths and is understandable to the employer. 

🖋 Add quantified details to examples you write in the military veteran resume. 

Provide the employer with details, such as the size of the military group you led or the percentage of your successful completion rates on your military-to-civilian resume to give the hiring manager a better idea of your ability. 

🖋 Translate the military terms, titles, or jargon in your veteran resume. 

You will want to ensure that the employer can easily understand your military-to-civilian resume without needing to spend the time to look up military terms. For instance, OIC (officer-in-charge) can be translated as supervisor, and the scheme of maneuver can be described as a plan.

Having a resume objective for your military-to-civilian resume can help you show the employer what you are seeking to accomplish in the selected role or at the company. 

✅ Stay specific about what you are skilled in and what you plan to achieve throughout a civilian career. The employer will want to see a clear statement about who you are in the resume objective of your veteran resume. 

✅ Incorporate the military skills that are relevant to the civilian position in your military-to-civilian resume. Carefully adopt the right veteran resume skills to show that you are qualified for the job responsibilities. 

✅ Leave out unnecessary information to keep your resume objective short. Make sure that your military to civilian resume objective is no longer than two lines.   

A summary statement in your military to civilian resume provides you the benefit of featuring your most impressive abilities at the top of the page. 

✅ List your best traits and expertise, from certificates/awards earned to transferrable military qualities, in your military-to-civilian resume summary. However, you will want to be selective when deciding what to add to your resume.   

✅ Structure your military-to-civilian resume summary properly, with the most important or impressive traits or skills listed in the beginning. Start with a descriptive word and your professional title, followed by your achievements, and closed with additional job-related knowledge and skills. 

✅ Proofread your military-to-civilian resume summary statement for any mistakes. Prove your alertness and attention to detail to the employer by ridding the resume of typos and errors before it is too late.    

Start writing the skill section in your resume by sorting out the list of knowledge and selecting a suitable format for the skills in your military to civilian resume.

1. Simple bullets

• PROS: 
  - Gets straight to the point
  - Easy-to-read

• CONS: No room for details

2. Expanded bullets

• PROS: Clear and provides details of how the skill is used
• CONS: Takes up too much space

3. Integrating skills with work experience 

• PROS: Very detailed and suitable for those with extensive work history
• CONS: Not beneficial for entry-level job applicants
  

4. A categorized skill section

• PROS: Suitable for people with broad skill sets
• CONS: Lacks the context of how a skill is used 
  

1. While you have many transferable skills, make sure that the ones you include in your military to civilian resume match the job description. 

2. Make sure to include soft skills in your military-to-civilian resume, for example, your management skills and your strong leadership strategies.

3. Your mission for the skills section is to choose quality over quantity. Include only the most relevant ones that suit the corporate job. 

✅ Advice 1: Choose a proper resume format for your military to civilian resume.

• Chronological resume
• Functional resume
• Combinational resume

As a veteran with little to no previous civilian work experience, you will find a functional resume format the most fitting for your military-to-civilian resume. 

✅ Advice 2: Add a career objective to your military-to-civilian resume.  

An objective statement helps you transfer your military experience to what is needed for a civilian position and also supports you in explaining what you seek to accomplish in a civilian career.  

✅ Advice 3: Highlight your training or education for your military-to-civilian resume. 

Whether it is a completed university degree, or a completed military training, adding them to your military-to-civilian resume can help make up for the lack of work experience.  

✅ Advice 4: Include your side projects or personal websites.

For your military-to-civilian resume, you can also include additional information, such as projects that you have worked on or the websites you have created. You can even include your hobbies and interests if they align with the company culture or demonstrate desired skills and traits.

✅ Advice 5: Write a sincere military to civilian cover letter. 

Having a cover letter to pair with your veteran resume provides the employer with additional explanations as to why you are a good fit for the civilian position, especially if you have no previous civilian work experience.