If you want to switch from a military job to a private firm or sector, you must have a strong military resume. Securing a civilian job from military employment requires a comprehensive resume that reflects your professional experience efficiently. A military resume will help you land a civilian job only if you have used the right military resume format.
In this guide, we will explain how you can switch from a military to a civilian job with the right format. Let’s get started!
What is a Military Resume?
A military resume is a document that consists of your educational history, work experience, and other qualifications you received in the military. If you want to transition from a military job to a civilian one, you need to create a strong resume that follows the military resume format, clearly describing your transferable skills.
These include the skills that you developed or learned on duty in your military job. Moreover, these skills must be relevant to the job you’re applying for in the civilian sector.
8 Steps for the Best Military Resume Format
To create a military resume, it is extremely important to use the right format. With the key steps mentioned below, you can create your military resume easily. Moreover, they will also help you land your desired job in the civilian sector.
- Decide Your Post-Military Career Path
- List Down the Relevant Military Duties
- Mention Your Skills
- Add Educational Information
- Simplify the Military Terms
- List Your Accomplishments
Let’s move to the details!
Decide Your Post-Military Career Path
Firstly, you must decide on a career path or the job you want to pursue in your profession. It will help you put relevant skills and experience in your Military Resume. Former military employees can pursue their careers in different types of jobs. Let’s say you have military training in the medical field, so you can create a resume using the military resume format to showcase your medical skills and experience effectively. If you partner with a resume company, you can further enhance your chances by ensuring your skills are presented in the best possible way.
List Down the Relevant Military Duties
After deciding your post-military career path, think about your duties that might be relevant for your next job. Make a list of your duties and accomplishments. Evaluate all those skills to see which ones can be highlighted in your Military Resume. These skills must have similarities with the job you want to apply for in the civilian sector, ensuring that your military resume format well translates your military experience into qualifications that are valuable in a civilian role.
Let’s say, you used to work as an Infantry Soldier in the military, you must have learned decision-making skills and how to address different situations. With these skills, you can apply for jobs in law enforcement, security and other supervisory positions.
Mention Your Skills
List down all of your soft and hard skills in your military resume. Add your soft skills such as leadership, communication, management and attention to detail.
In military resume format, mention your hard skills which are industry-related and may help you secure a specific job position. For instance, if you have been working as a Medic in the military, you can add wound care and first aid as your skills to your resume.
Add Educational Information
Mention the information about your college or university to show where you got your degrees from. They should be relevant to the job you want to apply for. For instance, if you want to mention any special training, it should be related to your prospective job.
Simplify the Military Terms
By working in the military resume format, you get to learn different codes, jargon and military acronyms. However, it is only you who is familiar with these technical military terms. While applying for a civilian job, make sure you translate these acronyms and codes into simple language.
It should be understandable to the hiring managers as they only know the basic terms of the military. Include all the military terminologies into your resume. Just convert those terms in easy language.
For example, instead of saying you used to command a team of six people, just write you used to supervise a group of people. If you want to refer to your employees, don’t use subordinates to look fancy. Just write employees or team members. This makes a huge difference in your resume and helps the hiring managers to understand your resume easily.
List Your Accomplishments
When applying for jobs, employers often want to see how you can help the company once you’re hired. This means your resume can be most effective when it discusses what can make you a cost-effective employee using positive metrics from your time in the military in your work experience section. For example, find ways to show how you made a positive impact on the military, and use the Military Resume Format to highlight how you can add value to your employer.
Employers or hiring managers always want to see how a candidate will contribute to the company. Your resume should be highly effective and show that you are a cost-effective employee. For instance, show you made a positive impact on the military and how you can bring more value to the organization.
Final Thoughts!
Applying for a civilian job from a military position requires a resume that thoroughly describes your professional history. By following the tips above for the military resume format, you can efficiently secure a job in the civilian sector.
