Eventually, even after years of service to your country, it may come time to start thinking about your post-military career transition.
It can seem intimidating at first to consider entering the civilian workforce. The US military is very much its own community with many expectations and even its own language for certain skills and activities. This can sometimes be incompatible with the outside world.
Fortunately, getting an application for a job right for your step back into the civilian sphere isn’t as tricky as it may seem. In this article, we guide you through the ways to optimize your resume for your first military-transition job.
Take Advantage of Available Resources
Fortunately, there are lots of resources available to help you get your resume and your job search on track. If you’re unfamiliar with how to start a resume from scratch there is plenty of online guidance available (such as our resume designer tools).
To better guide you to the right employment opportunities it could also be helpful to try a course provided by the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). This has been specially created by the US military to give departing servicemen and women assistance to strategize their future careers.
Choose Your Format Carefully
When you leave the military you have to leave behind military format resumes. Normally when you apply for internal roles in the forces you need to champion your abilities. This isn’t quite true in civilian life.
Instead, you might need to throw out the functional format resumes in favor of a reverse chronological template. Employers are usually far more interested in your recent professional experience and therefore you should make this your priority.
You will need to list down each position or rank you held whilst serving. For each entry, you’ll need to indicate essential information such as:
- The dates you held the position
- Where you were based
- Some of the key responsibilities and achievements you managed
Show Off Your Transferable Skills
By serving in the military you can demonstrate a number of critical soft and hard skills. Normally, having served in the army, navy, or air force, it will be assumed that you can bring a disciplined and organized approach to your work.
However, depending on your particular specialism in the military, you can demonstrate a lot more on your resume than just the basics. If you’ve got experience in mechanical engineering, logistics, or even catering and food preparation knowledge, you’ll have demonstrable skills that can be shown to the employer.
Also, don’t forget to show specific examples of how you are a strong candidate for any job. These should all give the employer a feasible idea of why your skills could be beneficial to the job you’re trying to fill. For example:
- If you helped your unit save money
- You helped to improve efficiency
- You provided training to numerous new recruits
When you start writing your resume, try to list down what special achievements you’ve accomplished and consider what skills you’ve picked up from your years of service. By demonstrating that you have transferable abilities, you’ll be able to easily attract the attention of a hiring manager.
Keep Things Short and Sweet
It’s best to keep things concise with a post military career resume. Ideally, you should be able to fill 1 – 2 pages, depending on your experience.
However, avoid letting it get any longer than that can have big disadvantages. You must ensure a recruiter can easily skim through your information and 3-page documents or longer could make that more tricky.
Beware of Military Jargon
Your military to civilian resume needs to be quick and easy to read for the employer. Whilst you may be used to using a range of terms and expressions that are common in military circles, these may not translate well into the commercial job market.
Be mindful when creating your resume to avoid military jargon. The writing in your resume needs to be professional and accessible to the recruiter, otherwise, it will simply be passed over.
Use the Right Tricks for The Right Job
In almost any job search you need to focus on the needs of the employer. This is also true for a military career transition. To get the greatest amount of responses from your document you need to make sure that it is tailored to the role you’re targeting.
When you’ve found an opportunity that you want to pursue, carefully review the job description. This can guide you in what the hiring manager wants to see from potential staff and can provide clues for what you need to include in your final draft of the resume.
Making the move from military life to civilian life can be a little disorientating a first. However, it’s important to keep in mind that you’ve already got all it takes to get this mission accomplished, as long as you adapt your approach. Good luck and remember, in this next phase of your career you no longer need to salute your superiors.
If you’re not sure where to start, give ResumeCoach a try. Our step-by-step resume builder can help you quickly create a professional and stylish design and simply fill in your document in mere minutes.
