When military members enter civilian life, they bring with them the wide range of skills they learned in their service. Aside from being well-disciplined, highly organized and excellent team players, military servicemembers learn specialized skills in their specific roles. These abilities are useful in civilian careers, but it is important to translate them into terms that civilian employers understand. Otherwise, you may be passed up for a position you are highly qualified for due to lack of understanding on the company's end. Below are some examples of military careers, which civilian careers they relate to and how to translate the skills involved to civilian terms.
1. Infantryman
Instead of writing that your military job was to shoot machine guns, you could say that you were responsible for operating dangerous technology in high-stress situations. Infantrymen are good at taking orders but also have the ability to think quickly on their own. This could be translated to strong team skills with an ability for self-direction.
2. Communication strategist
Roughly equated to a civilian career, a military communication strategist could pursue a job as a public relations manager. These individuals are highly organized with excellent communication skills. For your resume, you could write that you are gifted with planning, event coordination and public communication.
3. Commanding officer
When civilian employers see this title on your resume, they might be able to guess that you are a strong leader. However, it is your job to communicate what kind of leader the military has shaped you into. Give them an idea of how many people you were in charge of. Describe your demeanor under stress and pressure. You could also mention that your time as a CO gave you the ability to train a wide range of personalities to work together as a team.
4. Interpreter
A servicemember with this job title could pursue a civilian career as a translator or cultural awareness coordinator. Experience with learning and applying new languages and cultural customs makes these individuals excellent candidates for serving companies who do a large amount of overseas business.
5. Cyber warfare operations manager
The CWOM is responsible for planning and creating a security infrastructure for his or her unit's network. In a digital landscape that is constantly being threatened with cyberattacks, these individuals could pursue jobs as information security professionals. On your resume, mention that you have knowledge of the international threat landscape and experience with protecting highly sensitive information.
6. Corps engineer
Servicemembers who spent time as corps engineers have a vast array of technical, mechanical and infrastructure knowledge. Corps engineers have experience with building planning and development, flood prevention, hydropower and communication improvement. You could apply these skills to careers in construction or city planning.
7. Logistics officer
These individuals should have no trouble finding a civilian job as a logistician. On your resume, be sure to communicate that you are capable of analyzing and coordinating logistical functions of a unit that depends on accurate information. You could write that your experience working logistics with the military taught you the important of thorough analysis and accurate interpretation. Logistics officers also help the daily processes run smoothly and efficiently, a skill which may be appreciated in a civilian company.
The time and effort you put into learning the skills required to do your military job should not be wasted. Remember that they translate into skills that can be applied to civilian careers. You only need to write them on your resume in a way that employers outside the military will understand. The Military to Civilian Occupation Translator is a great resource for helping you with this process.