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Jan
23
2025
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Posted 7 days ago ago by Admin
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By Lyn Burks
You’re getting out of the military and you’ve put the finishing touches on your resume that highlights all of your experience and accomplishments, but is it really ready for civil operators? One of the major hurdles for the military-to-civilian transitioners is to write a resume in the language of civil employers. Here are a few tips for preparing your resume for use in the civilian world.
Assume No Knowledge of the Military
Demilitarize your job titles, duties, accomplishments, training and awards to appeal to civilian hiring managers. Employers with no exposure to the military don't understand the terminology and acronyms, so translate these for them. Show your resume to several nonmilitary friends and ask them to point out terms they don't understand. Refer to job postings for help substituting civilian keywords for military terms.
Showcase Your Accomplishments
Your military career has offered you excellent opportunities for training, practical experience and advancement. Tout your accomplishments so the average civilian understands the importance of your achievements and the measurable outcomes.
Here's an example of a demilitarized accomplishment statement:
Increased employee retention rate by 16% by focusing on training, team building and recognition programs. Earned reputation as one of the most progressive and innovative IT organizations in the Army's communications and IT community.
Here's an example of incorporating a military award so employers understand its value:
Received Army Achievement Medal for completing 400+ medical evaluations and developing patient database using MS Access. The database improved reporting functions and tracked patient demographics, records, medication, appointments and status.
Here’s some more examples of converting militarese to civilianese:
MILITARESE
- Squadron Commander, Commandant, Commanding Officer, Company Commander, Petty Officer, NCO, etc.
- Commanded, ordered
- Civilian, military, commissioned, non commissioned, enlisted, etc.
- Civilians, officers, enlisted personnel, soldiers, sailors, troops, etc.
- DAC, G-4, NROTC, GySgt, Jag, BuPers, E4, etc.
CIVILIANESE
- Senior Line Executive, operating executive, executive assistant, department head, administrator, manager, supervisor, etc.
- Directed, administered, managed, coordinated, planned and executed, supervised, etc.
- Drop these altogether. Such differentiation of people on the basis of clothes they wear seldom exists in the civilian work environment.
- Personnel, staff, crew, team, technicians, task force, etc.
- Spell out, drop, or use civilian equivalents
The key is to understand your military position’s civilian equivalent. Here are some civilian position terms:
Pilots – director of operations, chief pilot, instructor pilot, lead pilot, line pilot, line captain, captain, first officer, co-pilot, maintenance check pilot.
Mechanics – director of maintenance, line mechanic, avionics technician, quality assurance inspector, lead mechanic.
Remember, the military uses many acronyms, tasks, ranks, and position titles that may be completely unfamiliar to a civilian counterpart. In order to give your resume the best chance to be noticed, be sure to review every military term on your resume and translate it to civilianese.
Information sources: Monster.com and the free “Resumes for the Helicopter Pilot” ebook available at https://justhelicopters.com/Career-Development/Pilot-Ebooks
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