military veteran resume builder

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The only AI resume writer that can produce both FEDERAL & CONVENTIONAL resumes! We trained our AI model on successful resumes that are getting people hired!

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Best military resume, the military resume builder that automates your next step, how does it work.

We took all of the best practices from working in the federal government and the private sector and built an AI assisted program that uses machine learning and natural language processing to generate fully formatted and tailored resumes. The results are absolutely MIND BLOWING!

Meet Dan, The Resume Builder for Veterans!

Check out how easy it is to create a resume with Dan!

Extract any duties, specialized experience and KSA's from the JOA.

Generate a professional summary tailored to the job announcement.

Tailor your work experience sections to the job announcement.

Export your new tailored resume to a PDF and apply for that job!

Give it a try!

Military resume builder results, frequently asked questions.

We made it simple and effective.

• Paste over the information from your current resume or Military evals.
• Click generate new resume
• Hit extract (Your target job announcement URL)
• Hit generate with AI (Professional Summary, +Work Experience)
• Check it over for accuracy.
• Export to PDF

That’s it! It is incredibly easy and quick to generate and tailor resumes with our builder.

Veterans, Active Duty Military & Military Spouses can get started for free!

Just paste over your work history and you can generate 1 free federal and 1 free corporate resume in an award winning format that has been proven to get jobs.

• No paywall when you try to export
• No premium features to pay for

Every service member should leave the military with at least one good federal and conventional resume IN HAND. I am very proud to say, this will do that for you.

Its my way of saying thank you for your service, let me help you with your next journey.

To generate an unlimited number of tailored resumes, a subscription costs $6.99/wk. This cost helps us with other veterans free resumes and the costs for running the servers etc.

Non-veterans are more than welcome to use the app! I only ask that you subscribe for at least a week to help me cover the costs and help other veterans. 

AI capabilities have exploded in the last few years. The Federal Government and companies all use AI (ATS) to screen and track applicants. By using AI to generate and tailor resumes, we can level the playing field and save time. The trick was teaching it to write federal resumes which are very different from conventional resumes. Its also proved to be a very effective tool for translating military experience to civilian resumes.   

Our AI resume writer is very good at translating military experience. Why? Because it was trained exclusively on veteran resumes! Hooyah!!! 

Just paste your evals into the builder and we’ll do the rest! Easy Peezy!

Dan can also create conventional resumes. This is open and available for use but, we are still working on improving his responses. They are pretty good but, we think he can do better!

We are continually improving functionality and would like to push Dan further!

Yes! We went through the process of making it completely mobile friendly!

As you can see, the videos were taken from a mobile phone. We did this intentionally to show how easy it is! 

I personally made it mobile friendly because I remember when I was frantically applying for jobs after leaving the military, I was constantly on my phone applying. 

Put this tool to work and dominate the competition with perfectly tailored resumes in seconds!

Yes! Well….. kind of. 

Our tool is so good, you may have to tone it down.

It was trained to perfectly tailor your resume to match the job announcement. This means that  it may add experience  that you don’t have to match the job announcement.

This is a good and a bad thing.

If you have that experience you’re good to go. If not, it may come out in the interview. 

Read through it once its generated!

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This is nuts i literally spent hundreds of hours working on my federal resume. started over from scratch with this tool and turned out better. total time start to finish - 15 min....., jason oliveira.

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Translate Your Military Experience

The first step towards a meaningful career.

TRANSLATE YOUR MILITARY EXPERIENCE FOR EMPLOYERS, SO THEY CAN TRANSLATE IT INTO SUCCESS.

Help potential employers understand how the skills and experience you’ve gained as a service member make you a great employee. The Personal Branding Resume Engine™ will translate your military record into a strong resume that civilian employers can understand. Once you complete your resume, you can make it viewable by thousands of employers using the Resume Engine to look for qualified job candidates.

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Military to Civilian Resume Example for Veterans [Updated 2024]

Transitioning from a military lifestyle to that of a civilian is far from easy.

According to a Pew Research Center study, 95% of veterans seek employment after serving in the military.

26% of veteran respondents, however, found shifting from the military to the civilian lifestyle to be somewhat difficult.

Coincidentally, one of the biggest struggles for veterans is creating a compelling military to civilian resume that’s going to help them get a job that’s well-paid and enjoyable.

To help solve that problem, though, we wrote this guide. Read on to learn everything you need to know to create a compelling veteran resume, including:

• Military to Civilian Resume Example
• How to Write a Military Veteran Resume (8 Simple Steps)
• Free Military to Civilian Resume Template
• Essential (Free) Job-Search Resources for Veterans

In case you’re looking to brush up on the resume basics, watch the video below.

If you’re ready to get started, though, let’s start by reviewing a well-written military to civilian resume example.

Military to Civilian Resume Example (for Veterans)

Compelling, right? Here’s what the above military to civilian resume example does right: 

• Follows a functional resume format. The functional resume format focuses more on your skills and strengths rather than work experience. It helps convey how your military experience is going to help you perform well in the civilian role you’re applying for.
• Lists the contact information the right way. It includes the applicant’s full name, email, location, phone number, and even a LinkedIn URL while skipping out on a photo.
• Captures the hiring manager’s attention with a resume summary. The summary on top of the military to civilian resume example offers a brief snapshot of the candidate’s career, instantly showing the recruiter their value.
• Focuses on transferable skills instead of work experience. Instead of mentioning military buzzwords that civilians wouldn’t understand in the first place, the resume example instead focuses on how the candidate's experiences helped them develop valuable skills.
• Mentions achievements when possible. Achievements help convince the recruiter that they’re not just any candidate - you’re an overachiever who plays to win.
• Uses bullet points to make the resume easier to skim. The recruiter doesn’t have all day - they have hundreds of other resumes to review just for a single role. Making the resume easy to skim makes it more likely to be read.
• Includes educational history (in brief). The military to civilian resume example describes the candidate’s educational background, which includes taking a leadership course and basic training.
• Makes use of the optional sections. The achievements and interests sections help shed light on the candidate’s personality outside of work, as well.

Now, let’s talk about how YOU can make your resume as impressive as the example above.

How to Write a Military Veteran Resume (8 Easy Steps)

In this section, we’re going to walk you through the 8 steps to creating a powerful military veteran resume, starting with:

#1. Pick a Functional Resume Format

These are the 3 most popular resume formats out there:

• Reverse-chronological . This format focuses on your work history over education or skills.
• Functional . It focuses less on your work background and more on your skills and how they make you a qualified candidate.
• Combination . This format is a mix of the other two formats. It puts equal emphasis on skills and experiences. 

As a military veteran, you’re better off with a functional format .

As you can see above, the resume example focuses more on key strengths instead of just listing out work experiences.

This improves your odds of landing a civilian job for one important reason: 

Most recruiters aren’t really familiar with military lingo.

Your experiences in the military might be super compelling, but chances are, most recruiters won’t understand how these experiences make you a good candidate for the role.

By framing your experiences around your skills, on the other hand, your resume becomes more understandable for a civilian.

Once you’ve decided on the format, you also need to sort out your resume style, layout, font, and more. Here’s what this includes:

• Don’t go over one page . Your resume should be concise and to the point. More often than not, if you’re going over one page, you’re probably including information that isn’t relevant for the role.
• Pick the right font and font size . In terms of size, go for 11-12 pt for body text. For the font, pick something like Ubuntu, Times New Roman, etc. That way your resume will look professional AND stand out at the same time. 
• Use the military-to-civilian resume template . Want to skip the hassle of formatting a resume? Hit the link and pick from one of our free templates! Our templates are easy to use AND look much more compelling than the conventional black-and-white ones.

#2. Include Contact Information

Now that we’ve got the formatting hassle out of the way, let’s talk about resume content.

The first thing in your veteran resume is the contact information section.

Here, you need to include:

• Descriptive title. This should include your title in the military, as well as the title you’re applying for. Something like “Security Officer Seeking a Role as Customer Support Specialist.”
• Phone number.
• Professional email address. Think, [name][lastname]@gmail.com
• Location. City and state are good enough, you don’t need to include an address.
• (Optional) LinkedIn URL. If you have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile, you can include a URL in the contact information section.

And finally, make sure NOT to include a photo in your military to civilian resume. In the US, employers prefer that you don’t include a picture to avoid unconscious bias during the hiring process.

Here’s what your resume contact information section should look like at the end:

Security & Customer Service Professional

[email protected]

416-821-9879

Seattle, US

linkedin.com/in/john.doe

#3. Capture the Hiring Manager’s Attention with a Military Veteran Resume Summary

When reading your resume for the first time, the recruiter will spend roughly 7 seconds skimming it to make sure that you’re qualified for the role.

If the resume catches their attention, they’ll give it a more in-depth look.

If it doesn’t, they’ll simply move on to the next one.

This is where a compelling resume summary can come in handy.

A resume summary is a 2-4 sentence “summary” of your past work experience. It helps the recruiter understand your skill-set and whether you’re relevant for the role in a single glance.

Here’s what a convincing military to civilian resume summary looks like:

Dedicated professional with over 9 years of outstanding performance and results in the U.S. Military. Earned three promotions and excelled as a leader. Seeking to apply the skills I gained in the military as a Customer Support Specialist at Company X.

When writing your resume summary, make sure to include the following information:

• Your title in the military and the role you’re applying for.
• Years of experience.
• Top achievements and experiences.

#4. Summarize Your Experiences with a Key Strengths Section

This one’s arguably the most important part of your military to civilian resume.

At the end of the day, the main deciding factor in whether you get invited for an interview or not is if your resume manages to convince the recruiter that you’re capable of doing the job…

And that’s where the key strengths section comes in handy.

To create yours, start by listing out your top strengths as section headers. Then, underneath each header, list your achievements and responsibilities that prove you actually have the relevant skill.

Here’s what this looks like on a resume:

Customer Service

• Promoted within a short period by demonstrating an over-achieving dedication that maximized results for the entire team. 
• Proved internal customer service by relating to all personnel in a professional manner that facilitated the development of a diversified group. 
• Enhanced soldiers’ individual and professional growth, developing them into independent decision-makers.
• Accounted for the safety of equipment valued at over $1.3 million. 
• Secure the personal safety, training, and performance of fifteen U.S. Army soldiers.

Operations and Administration

• Organized schedules for over 45 soldiers. 
• Implemented new routes, resulting in savings in gas time and reduced work time. 
• Prevented over 10 cancellations and negotiated over 20 contract renewals with the local government.

Applying for a Military or Private Security Role? Do This

Now, in case you’re applying for a role that’s somewhat related to your experience in the military (e.g. in private security), then you can simply create a conventional Work Experience section instead of Key Strengths .

If that’s your case, here’s how you should format the section:

• Create a section header called “ Work Experience .”
• Start by listing your most recent role and go backward in time from there.
• For each entry, include your title, company name, dates employed, and 3-5 top achievements.
• For older positions, you can include fewer achievements and responsibilities.

Now, if you want your work experiences to stand out from the rest of the candidates, we recommend you to include achievements over responsibilities.

• Achieved a 99.5% average delivery rate on all assignments, resulting in no losses of materials or assets.
• Conducted deliveries of materials and assets.

The first example shows just how the candidate stands out from other applicants. The 2nd, on the other hand, does not.

#5. Mention Your Education (the Right Way)

On to the next section!

The next step to creating a convincing military to civilian resume is mentioning your educational background .

This is where you mention your higher educational degrees, as well as training (e.g. boot camps) and any personal development courses you’ve taken.

First things first, here’s how you’d go about the formatting part:

• Create a header called “Education”
• Add your latest degree right on top. Then, include older degrees underneath.
• If you have a B.A. or an M.A., you can skip your high school degree altogether.
• You can skip mentioning a GPA. These days, no one cares about your grades.

Here’s how the end result would look like:

B.A. in Communications Boston University 08/2016 - 05/2020

Now, if you don’t have the relevant experience needed for the role you’re applying for, you can use your education section to show off your knowledge or skills.

You can do this by including:

• Any honors you might have earned.
• Exact courses you’ve attended.
• Any other way you’ve excelled during your education.

#6. Include In-Demand Skills (For the Industry You’re Applying for)

Another must-have of a military to civilian resume is the skills section.

This is where you list out all of your hard and soft skills and (optionally) grade them by knowledge level.

The key here, though, is not to simply list out random skills like:

• Critical Thinking
• Microsoft Word

Rather, you want to include the skills relevant to the role . 

E.g. applying for a role in accounting? You should probably mention payroll tax accounting, cost reduction strategies, budgeting and forecasting , and so on.

You wouldn’t want to mention your Adobe Illustrator skills, for example (even if you’re an expert at it).

So, how can you know which skills are essential to your resume, and which ones aren’t?

The best way to understand this is to read the job ad you’re applying for. More often than not, they include an exact list of skills required for the role, and all you have to do is mention them in your resume (as long as you possess the said skills, of course).

#7. Take Advantage of the Optional Resume Sections

If you still have some space on your military veteran resume, you can take advantage of some optional resume sections.

While these sections won’t land you the job on their own, they can definitely help you stand out from other applicants seeking the same role.

Some optional sections you can include are:

• Projects. Any type of personal project you’ve worked on. This can be a local business you started, a side-gig, freelance work, and so on.
• Certifications. Any type of certification you might possess. If you don’t have the experience for the role you’re applying for, certifications can help show the recruiter that what you do have is the right skill-set.
• Volunteering Experience. If you’ve volunteered in the past, you should definitely include it in your resume. Employers love candidates who love to help others (even if there’s no monetary incentive for it).
• Hobbies & Interests. Including hobbies or interests in your resume helps the recruiter see more of your personal side. While your hobbies won’t land you the job, they might help you build rapport with the interviewer.

#8. Make Sure Your Military to Civilian Cover Letter is as Impressive as Your Resume.

At this point, your military veteran resume should be quite compelling…

But you’re not done just yet!

To have both a complete and compelling job application, you need to pair your resume with a cover letter that’s just as good.

Here are our top tips on how to write a quality cover letter :

• Start the cover letter by addressing the hiring manager directly. Sure, you could go with the default “Dear Sir or Madam,” but mentioning the hiring manager’s name shows that you’ve done your research and really care about working at the company.
• In your introduction, mention the most important parts of your background. E.g. years of experience, key achievements, top skills, and why you’re applying for the job in question.
• In the body section of your cover letter, expand on whatever you mentioned in the introduction. This is where you can also explain how the experiences mentioned in your resume make you a good candidate for the role.
• Conclude the cover letter with a call to action . E.g. “Looking forward to hearing more from you!” or “I’d love to discuss how I can help Company X as a Support Specialist over a call or an interview.”

Want to learn more? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to write a cover letter .

Essential Job-Search Resources for Veterans

There are a lot of free job-search resources for veterans on the internet - everything from dedicated job boards to free tools, programs, and more.

Here’s a comprehensive list of some of the very best resources:

Veteran Job-Search Resources

• Job board that helps you find federal organizations that prioritize hiring veterans over other candidates.
• Lots of quality resources to help you transition into civilian life.
• If you’re not sure what kind of career you want to focus on, you can use this website to discover different occupations and learn what they’re about.
• Website for finding veteran job fairs in your area.
• Free career consulting and job search help for veterans.
• American Corporate Partners matches you with a free, year-long mentor to help you build your career.
• For group discussions for veterans on resumes and gaining employment after service. (Veterans only/ screened and weeded out by questions and profile)
• For discussing Skill Bridge opportunities and military transitions. Skill bridge is a military program for giving veterans an opportunity to learn and work at civilian companies for 6 months before leaving the military.
• LinkedIn offers its Premium program to veterans for free for a year. You can use the platform to learn new skills, kick-start your career, as well as find and apply for jobs.
• A website dedicated to helping veterans transition into a civilian lifestyle. You can use it to find jobs, discover career events, attend job fairs, and more.
• Job board for US federal jobs. While it’s not specifically made for veterans, the US government prioritizes hiring veterans over other candidates.
• Job board for veteran-friendly roles and companies.
• Job board for roles in the private security industry.
• Another veteran-only job board.

Key Takeaways

And that’s all you need to know to create a strong military veteran resume!

Before you go, though, let’s do a quick recap of the key learning points we just covered:

• For a military to civilian resume, use a functional resume format to show off your skills instead of work history.
• Use a “Key Strengths” section to explain how your military experience distills into valuable skills for a civilian role.
• Don’t include every skill under the sun on your resume. Instead, pick the ones relevant for the role you’re applying for.
• Take advantage of the optional resume sections to show the recruiter that you’re an individual and not just a resume.
• Finally, make sure that your cover letter is just as impressive as your resume by following the tips we mentioned above.

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Jumpstart Your Career with the Best Military Resume

At SkillMil, we understand that the transition from military service to the civilian workforce can be challenging. Your military experience is a valuable asset, but translating it into terms that resonate with civilian employers can be a daunting task.

That’s where SkillMil’s AI-veteran resume builder and best military skills translator  comes in to help you shine. We trained our AI exclusively on military experience!  

Upload your VMET, military evaluations or old resumes and watch, Milly, our AI resume assistant do the rest.

It's that easy and FREE! No paywalls! No hidden fees!

Why Choose SkillMil's AI Military Resume Builder? Simply, because it is the BEST!

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Our Trusted Partners

SkillMil partners with companies, governments, nonprofits, and other organizations to address the challenges our transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses face in the civilian job marketplace.

We share their ideas, mission, in-kind support, and more to continue to strengthen our veterans and military community. If you would like to help support our veterans' efforts during their transition out of service, consider partnering with us.

Please email us at [email protected] .

Military-to-Civilian Resume: How to Translate Your Service Experience

Customers Interviewed by:

How to write a military-to-civilian resume

• Get started by creating a master military resume
• Consult your VMET and fitness evaluations for ideas and resume content
• Translate your military titles and skills for civilian readers
• Focus on experience that is relevant to the job for which you’re applying
• Top-load your resume with targeted keywords and accomplishments
• Don’t separate your military experience from your other work experience

Get help if you need it

Military veterans transition into the corporate job market with a broad skill set and experience shouldering unimaginable responsibility. Unfortunately, most civilians have no idea what’s going on in the military or how to decipher military terminology. To succeed in a post-military job search, it’s up to a transitioning veteran to create a military-to-civilian resume that describes their experience in a way that makes sense to civilian recruiters and hiring managers.

To gain some insight, I spoke with three military resume experts:

• Jen St. Pierre , Warriors to Work Specialist at Wounded Warrior Project
• David Madden , Veterans Representative at Worksource King County
• Clif Cooper , Former Army Transition Manager

The military speaks its own languages. Each service has its own way of communicating things. “Even between the different services within the military, I can’t read some of their lingo,” said Cooper. If the Army has trouble understanding the Navy or Air Force, you can bet that a civilian recruiter will be confused by all of it.

“If the veteran went straight from school into the military and hasn’t had any type of civilian employment, when they come out, everything they speak is military language,” said Madden. “How do you go to an employer, who really knows nothing about the military, and answer when they ask, ‘What was your job description?'”

The first step in creating a strong military-to-civilian resume is to, as St. Pierre put it, “demilitarize the language.”

“What I mean by that is avoiding military terms and acronyms that civilian recruiters and hiring managers aren’t going to understand.”

Translate your titles, acronyms, equipment, skills, and anything else that could go over the head of a civilian decision-maker.

Start with a master military resume using the terms you know best

When you’re looking at a blank resume template , translating your military experience on the fly makes it a more difficult process than it needs to be. “It’d be like me applying for a job in the Hague and trying to write it in Dutch in my first draft,” explained Cooper. “I would write it in English and then translate it to Dutch.”

For veterans struggling to get started, creating a master military resume can be an effective first step. “I tell people when they write their resume , use military lingo on your first draft because that’s what you know,” said Cooper.

“In this master resume, we can speak to everything,” said Madden. “They have that opportunity to get it out of their system.”

Consult your documentation and fitness evaluations

There are records and resources available to all veterans that can provide a starting point or fill in some gaps.

“VMET stands for Vocational and Military Employment Training,” explained St. Pierre. “That is a document that every single [service member] receives when they transfer out. They don’t really realize that they have access to it. It’s basically their military resume. It contains every MOS [military occupational specialty] they were in with a description. Not only that, but every single course and certification they took.”

“A lot of information is available on your fitness reports or evaluations and quarterly counselings,” added Cooper.

“It’s different in every branch of the service,” continued St. Pierre. “It could be a ‘fit eval,’ or a ‘fit rep.’ These are performance reviews. … These contain such valuable information for a resume. They contain measurable results, number one. And number two, real specifics about their accomplishments , spoken from their leader’s point of view.”

Digging up these documents can make a world of difference when it comes to creating a strong resume foundation.

Translate your military ranks, titles, and duties

Civilians do not understand the hierarchy or responsibilities of military titles. One of the most helpful things you can do on your military-to-civilian resume is to change your titles into something a civilian reader will find familiar.

“Most corporate and profitable environments aren’t going to have any idea how to translate E1, E2, first sergeant,” warned St. Pierre. “Instead of taking the time to research it, they’re going to count the candidate out of the lot because they don’t understand.”

St. Pierre shared these examples:

“For instance, E7 to E9 … the civilian equivalent could be director, supervisor, department manager, senior advisor. Below that is an E4 to an E6, which depending on what service they’re in [would be a] corporal, specialist, petty officer, or sergeant. That translates over to assistant manager, line supervisor, section leader, task leader, foreman. Same things with the lower ranks, like E1 to E3. Maybe they were private or a seaman recruit or a seaman apprentice. That could be a production worker, an assembler, a technician, an apprentice, or a team member. So even when they’re lower ranks, you can still give it a strong civilian title.”

This practice also extends beyond official titles to roles and duties.

“If I was a main battle tank crew member, in the civilian world, we would translate that to ‘heavy equipment operator,'” explained St. Pierre. “We’re taking those titles and we’re civilianizing them.”

This can be a tough pill for veterans to swallow. It’s not just heavy equipment, after all. The responsibility of human safety or millions of dollars in equipment that comes with performing any number of military duties won’t be found in your average civilian job description. “The military gives you an immense amount of responsibility that you will never be responsible for again,” said Cooper, but making your military resume accessible for civilian hiring personnel will make a big difference in your job search.

Perhaps the most powerful tool for this type of translation is O*NET’s Military Crosswalk search .

Enter your service branch and classification code or title to receive a detailed report including all the tasks, skills, technology, and knowledge associated with the position, as well as a list of civilian-equivalent job titles.

“A lot of times, individuals do not even know Military Crosswalk exists,” said Madden.

Translate everything you can on your resume. St. Pierre suggested spelling out any necessary acronyms and even replacing the word “soldiers” with “personnel.”

Tailor your resume to the job description

“A veteran thinks, and rightfully so, they can do human resources, operations, logistics– kind of the whole gamut,” said Cooper. “While that’s true, and there’s nothing wrong with that mindset, it actually hurts them in the search.”

Veterans are trusted with a great deal of responsibility and can serve in a wide variety of roles throughout their military career. It’s tricky to narrow all that experience down. Referring to some of the resumes she receives from her clients, St. Pierre jokingly said they’re “like eight pages long.”

Once a transitioning veteran decides which direction to take their career, they benefit from removing as much unrelated experience as possible . A targeted resume is not a list of everything you’ve done. Rather, it answers the questions asked in the job description. Tailoring your resume to the job description makes it fast and easy for the recruiter to see how you’ll make an impact.

“Look at the things that are important to the employer [in the job description],” said Madden. “It’s great that you’ve done these things [in the military], but the employer is looking for XYZ.”

“We really want to focus on speaking the language of the employer,” added St. Pierre.

Both St. Pierre and Madden advocate for using Jobscan to home in on what the employer wants to see. Jobscan analyzes your resume against the job description to see which skills and requirements you’re missing.

“That’s what we’ve been able to help them do time and again [by] using Jobscan,” said Madden. “We’ve been able to really take the game to another level because we’re speaking the language and we’re showing [the veterans] live, this is what it looks like.”

“I bring up the Jobscan report and I walk them through it,” said St. Pierre. “Every single section, what it means, how to incorporate those keywords into the resume. It makes sense to them.”

Include your military measurable results

Accomplishments and achievements are a great way for anyone to make their resume stand out. A military veteran’s experience is full of opportunities to include these measurable results.

“Usually what I do is talk [veterans] through stories and really figure out, what are the results?” said Cooper. “It needs to have a number … whether it’s man hours, reduction in steps, or additional steps for compliance.”

For some veterans, aspects of their roles might overshadow seemingly mundane results, making it difficult for them to see the value. “Nobody [in the corporate world] cares that you were a fighter pilot,” pleaded Cooper. “How much money did you save by buying doors or surfboards or windshields last year?”

“We all deal with money because [the military] a global force now,” continued Cooper. “Simple things like government travel cards, saving money, coming up with better ways to save money” can make for quality measurable results on a military-to-civilian resume.

“There’s so much project management within the military,” St. Pierre used as an example. “A strong action verb would be, ‘C ollaborated with a team of six senior leaders to develop a security action plan that resulted in zero incidents within the command for the year of 2017.'”

As previously mentioned, some of these results can be found in the VMET or fit evals. “Sometimes I take exact sentences from them because their leaders did a great job of quantifying and explaining [the veteran’s] accomplishments,” said St. Pierre.

Measurable results should be sprinkled throughout your resume, from your summary section down through your work experience.

Military-to-civilian resume formatting tips

Formatting your military resume presents a unique challenge. You might have served through a series of diverse roles with increasing responsibility all around the world. How do you sum that up on a resume in a way that makes sense?

“The first top half of the resume is the most important,” said St. Pierre. “That is what a recruiter will spend their six-to-seven seconds on.”

After your name and contact information, St. Pierre recommends having a strong summary statement that introduces that you’re a veteran as well as your areas of expertise. She also recommends including a skills section “so that the recruiter can easily find those resume keywords that they need.”

If you went back to school after leaving the military and you’re not far removed from earning a degree, your education section can come next.

When it comes to your experience section, “I wouldn’t separate it out, military and civilian,” advised St. Pierre. “I would just put ‘Work Experience.'”

St. Pierre recommends breaking up your different roles within the military, but underneath a single heading for the service branch, resulting in something like this:

This format helps keep the resume in a format familiar to the recruiter, and should help to minimize confusion.

“Seek out assistance,” concluded St. Pierre. “[Veterans] aren’t expert resume writers and that’s okay. Seek out subject matter experts and mentors. Like the Wounded Warrior Project Warriors to Work program, there are many, many VSOs out there that help .”

There are also people online willing to help. Create a LinkedIn profile and follow or reach out to veteran career coaches and advocates like Michael Quinn , Leslie Coffey , Daniel Savage , Maggie Cutler , Tom Cal , Jacqueline Contreras , and others for tips, resources, and mentorship during your transition.

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Military-To-Civilian Resume Examples and Templates for 2024

• Resume Examples
• How To Write a Military-to-Civilian Resume
• Resume Text Examples

How To Write a Military-To-Civilian Resume

Transitioning from a military career to a new industry as a civilian can be challenging for many veterans. Reframing your military accomplishments to align with jobs on the open market is often difficult. You’ll want to create an accomplishment-driven resume that leverages your leadership experience and technical skills to propel your job search forward during this career transition.

Rather than overwhelming the reader with complex military terminology, you’ll want to present your achievements in a way that hiring managers can easily understand. Throughout our military resume builder guide, we’ll provide expert tips to help you translate your military experience into a strong, professional resume.

• Entry-Level
• Senior-Level

1. Create a profile by summarizing your military-to-civilian qualifications

Your professional profile should open with your title, years of experience, and three to four specializations to align with the position you’re applying for. This is especially important for military-to-civilian resumes, as you must show hiring managers you have key qualifications the organization is looking for in place of industry experience.

Example 1 - Military Resume Professional Profile

A Network Security Analyst with over eight years of experience identifying threats and identifying innovative solutions. A proven track record of mitigating cybersecurity threats and providing technical support to military personnel and civilians.

Example 2 - Military Resume Professional Profile

A Supply Chain Coordinator with 10+ years of military experience, specializing in logistics, fleet management, and procurement. A strong history of overseeing multi-million-dollar supply chains to support military operations.

2. Add a compelling section featuring your military-to-civilian experience

To grab the hiring manager’s attention, you want to create compelling bullet points that showcase your strongest and most relevant accomplishments. It’s important to remember that most readers will be unfamiliar with military terminology, so you’ll need to translate your experience into language that the hiring manager can understand.

You should also quantify your career achievements using hard numbers and metrics. For instance, if you provide logistical support for a military supply chain, you should include a monetary figure to establish a sense of scope. It’s also important to keep your audience in mind when deciding what information to include. For example, mentioning that you were supporting a $38M supply chain may grab the interest of a medium-sized or large organization but could be intimidating if you’re applying to a smaller company.

Example 1 - Military Resume Professional Experience Section

Professional experience.

Cyber Security Officer, Fort Gordon, Augusta, GA October 2017 – Present

• Triage phones, password resets, and VPN and internet connectivity, identify cyber security threats, and oversee access management to ensure data integrity
• Configure, install, and maintain edge routers, firewalls, laptops, and LAN switches
• Manage a team of 25 civilian and military employees and coordinate the delivery of tactical and technical support to subordinates and superior officers

Example 2 - Military Resume Professional Experience Section

Senior Logistics Officer, Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, NC September 2016 – October 2017

• Coordinated logistics for multi-million-dollar supply chains supporting domestic and international operations for the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard
• Oversaw the procurement, transport, and distribution of supplies to troops for military operations, including food, medical supplies, ammunition, and fuel
• Led a team of 10+ army personnel to manage inventory and logistics, assigned responsibilities, evaluated performance, and ensured adherence to army standards

3. Add military-to-civilian education and certifications

Acquiring industry certifications can be a powerful asset during your career change. Many of your skill sets and accomplishments from your time in the military are readily translatable to civilian jobs, but obtaining additional certifications goes a step further in bridging the gap. For instance, even if you have extensive experience in security from your military career, you may want to consider pursuing a cybersecurity or network security certification. This strategy can help bolster your odds of landing the interview.

Certifications

• [Certification Name], [Awarding Organization], [Completion Year]
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Coursera, 2017
• CCNA Security, Cisco, 2016
• CompTIA Security+, CompTIA, 2015
• [Degree Name]
• [School Name], [City, State Abbreviation] [Dates Enrolled]
• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Computer Science
• WIDENER UNIVERSITY, Chester, PA September 2019 – May 2023

4. Include a list of skills and proficiencies related to military-to-civilian experience

It’s important to feature a variety of skills and keywords that match the job description as you craft your military resume. One of the most prominent challenges veterans face during the job search is showing hiring managers that their army experience is translatable to their target industry. Incorporating a strong mix of keywords throughout your resume will ensure compliance with applicant tracking systems (ATS) and show prospective employers that you’re a qualified candidate.

5. Additional military resume builder tips

Before writing your military resume, you’ll want to take some time to identify your target industry. This part is one of the more challenging aspects of the career change process. As you review your military experience and accomplishments, think about how these might translate to a civilian career. Are your skill sets more of a technical nature? Are you better suited for an operations management role? Analyzing job postings before crafting your resume will help you to identify the relevant aspects of your experience and translate them into effective bullet points for the hiring manager. Read our Veteran’s Resume and Job Hunting Guide for more military resume-builder tips.

How to Pick the Best Military-to-Civilian Resume Template

When selecting your military-to-civilian resume template, choose a straightforward and well-organized format. A limited amount of color is acceptable, but it’s better to avoid flashy graphics that may distract the reader. The top-down approach is also recommended in most instances since arranging your sections in a manner that splits the page may make reading difficult. Remember, hiring managers are focused on learning more about your qualifications and professional achievements, so you’ll want your template to support that objective rather than draw attention elsewhere.

Military-to-Civilian Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples

Hideo Araki (123) 456-7890 [email protected] LinkedIn | Portfolio 123 Abrahms Blvd, West Hartford, CT 12345

A Security Guard with five years of military experience in the United States National Guard, specializing in conflict resolution and crisis management. A proven track record of managing security for high-risk personnel.

Security Guard, United States National Guard, West Hartford, CT October 2019 – Present

• Manage security operations for VIPs and special military events, prepare accident and incident reports, and identify potential security threats to high-risk personnel
• Lead a tactical unit of five military police officers for surveillance operations, provide training, assign responsibilities, and ensure compliance with military security protocols
• Provide support for civil and criminal investigations

Security Guard, Connecticut Army National Guard, Groton, CT September 2017 – October 2019

• Monitored designated parameters to identify any security threats, created weekly security reports, and verified security clearances for access control
• Operated and managed complex security systems with multiple CCTV cameras and monitoring equipment, which included performing routine maintenance
• Security Operations
• Crisis Response
• Threat Mitigation
• Access Management
• Team Leadership

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Criminology University of Connecticut, Mansfield, CT September 2010 – June 2014

Raymond Ortiz (123) 456-7890 [email protected] LinkedIn | Portfolio 123 Abbington Lane, Athens, GA 12345

Cyber Security Officer, United States Army, Fort Gordon, GA October 2017 – Present

Information Technology Specialist, United States Army, Fort Gordon, GA September 2015 – October 2017

• Installed, operated, and maintained computer systems and local area networks
• Troubleshot computer systems and hardware to support military operations, which included debugging and testing new software
• Provided technical support to military personnel for a wide range of IT-related issues
• System Administration
• Information Technology
• LAN and WAN
• Network Administration
• Cyber Security

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Computer Science University of Georgia , Athens, GA September 2011 – June 2015

Jasmine Brown (123) 456-7890 [email protected] LinkedIn | Portfolio 123 Aberdeen Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 12345

Senior Logistics Officer, United States Army, Fort Bragg, NC September 2016 – Present

• Coordinate logistics for multi-million-dollar supply chains supporting domestic and international operations for the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard
• Oversee the procurement, transport, and distribution of supplies to troops for military operations, including food, medical supplies, ammunition, and fuel
• Lead a team of 10+ army personnel to manage inventory and logistics, assign responsibilities, evaluate performance, and ensure adherence to army standards

Logistics Officer, United States Army, Fort Bragg, NC September 2013 – September 2016

• Created inventory reports, analyzed supply chain operations, and provided support to commanding officers to deliver supplies for domestic military operations
• Identified opportunities to improve delivery times and reduce fuel consumption by optimizing route planning and resource management processes
• Supply Chain Management
• Cross-functional Leadership
• Procurement
• Inventory Management
• APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), 2017
• APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM), 2015

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Supply Chain Management University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC September 2011 – June 2015

Frequently Asked Questions: Military-to-Civilian Resume Examples and Advice

What are common action verbs for military resumes -.

It’s easy to find yourself running short on action verbs as you build your military resume. In many instances, you can use only a limited number of verbs to convey your professional achievements accurately. Differentiating your usage of action verbs can enhance the reading experience of your document. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of verbs you can use to keep your content fresh and compelling:

How do you align your military resume with a job description? -

Although many challenges are associated with transitioning from a military career to civilian employment, your experience as a veteran also has several unique advantages. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , the average employment rate of all veterans was 2.8 in 2022, which was lower than the 3.6 rate for non-veterans.

To effectively market your military experience for civilian jobs, you’ll need to align your resume with the job description carefully. As you craft your bullet points, you want to focus on reframing your military achievements to show why you’re uniquely qualified. This means limiting your usage of complex military terminology and instead highlighting aspects of your army experience that are explicitly relevant to the job you’re pursuing.

What is the best military resume format? -

You’ll often want to use a reverse chronological format for military resumes. This format will feature your most relevant experience at the top of your resume. However, if you feel that your military achievements are readily translatable to the industry you’re pursuing, you may consider placing your education, skills, and certifications towards the top. For instance, if you completed a computer science degree but weren’t employed as an IT officer, it may be beneficial to place relevant technical skills and certifications higher up on the document.

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Providing a cover letter can bolster the strength of your application during the military-to-civilian transition. The cover letter offers another opportunity to showcase how your military experience is relevant to your target industry. When building your cover letter, you should mention something about the organization’s reputation or work culture in the middle paragraphs of the document. This strategy will show hiring managers that you’ve researched before applying, which reflects positively on you as a candidate. For more insights, read our military-to-civilian cover letter guide .

Frank Hackett

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)

Frank Hackett is a professional resume writer and career consultant with over eight years of experience. As the lead editor at a boutique career consulting firm, Frank developed an innovative approach to resume writing that empowers job seekers to tell their professional stories. His approach involves creating accomplishment-driven documents that balance keyword optimization with personal branding. Frank is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PAWRCC).

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5 Military Resume Examples Made for Success in 2024

Best for senior and mid-level candidates

There’s plenty of room in our elegant resume template to add your professional experience while impressing recruiters with a sleek design.

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Like this template? Customize this resume and make it your own with the help of our Al-powered suggestions, accent colors, and modern fonts.

Military Resume

• Military Resumes by Experience
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• Write Your Military Resume

 Your multifaceted role in the military could cover anything from groundwork or combat to manufacturing or communications. With unmatched expertise, you anticipate challenges and avert conflicts proactively, making decisions under pressure with ease.

The skills you amass during your service—leadership, adaptability, and teamwork—are invaluable. Now the question is: how do you describe your courage and discipline when writing an effective cover letter or one-page resume ?

Not to worry—we’re here to help. With our military resume examples , you can transform your raw experience into a captivating application that will get you the attention and the interviews you deserve.

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• Therefore, you should mention in your military resume your contribution to decreased equipment downtimes to underline your input to team support.

Military Veteran  Resume

• To make such an achievement count in your military veteran resume, highlight how much you helped reduce equipment downtime to sustain uninterrupted workflows.

Retired Military Resume

• Speaking of your experience, list your missions and other roles in reverse chronological order, with your most recent positions and more impactful achievements taking precedence. Finish off this outline with side columns highlighting your military coursework, skills, and certifications.

Military Police  Resume

• For instance, “Assisted in slashing response times” could be better put as “Instituted advanced emergency protocols using NEC NeoFace, slashing response times by 44%.”

Military to Civilian Resume

• It underscores your ability to communicate effectively and ensure that all objectives are met within set timelines; attributes that make you an easy pick for joining the civilian workforce.

Related resume examples

• Officer Manager
• Operations Manager
• Office Administrator

Create a Military Resume That Fits Your Dream Job

Your military personnel resume should focus on showcasing skills vital to defense and strategic operations. Precision is paramount, so avoid vague terms like “team player.” If your role is technical, zero in on hard skills instead. 

Some of the things you could discuss include your proficiency in various weaponry, tactical strategies, and specialized equipment operation. You can also consider highlighting soft skills like leadership, communication, and crisis management. 

Ensure your skills resonate with the job’s requirements, whether it’s combat tactics or logistical coordination. Highlight the elevated level of discipline and stress management skills your service in the military has helped you develop, be it for another role within the military or a civilian job.

Looking for guidance?

15 best military skills

• Tactical Strategy
• Weapon Proficiency
• Logistical Coordination
• Military Comms 
• Cybersecurity
• Foreign Languages
• Crisis Management 
• Radio Operations
• Risk Assessment
• Joint Tactical Terminal
• Blue Force Tracker

Your military work experience bullet points

Between orchestrating strategic missions and leading successful teams, your military service showcases exceptional achievements. Rather than rehashing routine tasks, spotlight your impactful contributions. 

Your role directly influences the stability and security of operations, safeguarding national interests, and minimizing potential risks. While the nature of your experiences varies, harness this section to highlight your proudest moments, whether enhancing emergency response efficiency or mitigating adverse consequences. 

Make sure to back up your claims with quantifiable metrics to zero in on the magnitude of your successes. These could be anything from your budget optimization to the number of personnel you’ve trained—it all depends on your specific role and achievements. 

• Demonstrate your leadership and strategic skills with mission success rates.
• Showcase your ability to make quick decisions under pressure with metrics on your average response times.
• Highlight your commitment to operational readiness by presenting the percentage decrease in equipment downtimes after implementing maintenance protocols.
• Show off your adaptability by mentioning the varying shifts you’ve worked, deployments you’ve been sent on, and languages you’ve learned.

See what we mean?

• Created a comprehensive training program for recruits, resulting in a 78% reduction in onboarding time
• Conducted an employee satisfaction survey, resulting in an 88% satisfaction rate with internal communication efforts
• Maintained an 91% incident resolution rate by handling a variety of security issues and ensuring the safety of personnel and facilities
• Implemented a new internal communication system, which resulted in a 28% reduction in information gaps among employees

9 active verbs to start your military work experience bullet points

• Coordinated
• Implemented

3 Tips for Writing a Military Resume Without Much Experience

• Emphasize the significance of every role you’ve undertaken, regardless of your experience level. You can include relevant skills and accomplishments from your military service, training, and related roles. For instance, if you’re transitioning to a civilian logistics position, highlight your experience coordinating complex missions and managing supplies.
• Use your military projects to showcase your skills and flexibility. Mention specific initiatives or tasks you’ve executed during your service that align with the new position or civilian job you’re applying to. For example, discuss leading a team to establish a forward operating base, demonstrating your leadership and strategic planning abilities.
• Utilize internships, relevant coursework, or hobbies to spotlight transferable skills. Highlight leadership, teamwork, adaptability, and technical proficiencies that align with the role. For example, when applying for a communications role, discuss your experience with working in large teams and communicating under stress.

3 Tips for Writing an Experienced Military Resume

• If you have specialized military skills like leadership, logistics, or intelligence analysis, show them off. Next, tailor your accomplishments and metrics to align with the specific role you’re pursuing, highlighting your expertise and achievements in those areas.
• Adding relevant metrics really makes your achievements stand out more. Highlight your mission success rates, operational efficiency improvements, and leadership impact. This is good if you’re transitioning away from the military; for instance, in a logistics role, you can discuss how you optimized supply chain processes, reducing turnaround time by 39%.
• Include relevant military certifications that demonstrate your expertise and training. Whether it’s command certifications, technical training, or specialized courses, these credentials highlight your readiness for the civilian role or a promotion up the military ranks. 

While optional, a tailored career objective or summary can be valuable, especially if you’re switching to a whole new career. Emphasize your military experience and skills that align with the job, such as leadership, logistical coordination, or crisis management.

Make sure to use relevant keywords from the job description . Highlight your military accomplishments, skills, and specialized training that match the job requirements. ATS looks for keyword matches, so use terminology from both your military background and the civilian role you’re applying to.

Emphasize mission success rates, response times, equipment maintenance improvements, and any other quantifiable achievements. These metrics demonstrate your effectiveness in critical situations and your ability to impact operations positively.

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[ Click here to directly go to the complete military resume sample ]

With an industry-relevant military resume.

Have you optimized your resume just yet?

If you haven't, don't panic. This blog has got you covered.

This blog holds the promise of elevating your military resume to the realms of industry perfection.

The 10+ military resume examples & military resume samples that we have embedded in this blog are designed to help you curate a resume that gets you shortlisted.

All you have to do is follow the guidelines in this blog and your perfect industry-relevant military resume is good to go.

Here’s a summary of our Military Resume Blog:

• Use the month & year format to illustrate relevant dates in your army resume (enrolment & graduation dates, D.O.J, and D.O.L dates, etc).
• Keep your email ID strictly professional. Avoid using childish email IDs as it attracts unwanted attention.
• Don't use paragraphs to compose your military to civilian resume. Instead, use one-liner points to communicate your roles & responsibilities and begin each point with an action verb (Led, Directed, Consolidated, Optimized, etc).

That's not all.

In this blog, we have also gone the extra mile to help you illustrate your military experience on resume with perfection.

The military to civilian resume examples that comes with this blog will also give you a better idea of what each section of your resume should look like once you have inculcated the rules of resume writing to frame your resume.

By the end of this blog, you will be able to write a job-winning resume while simultaneously learning:

• How to optimize each section of your military to civilian resume.
• How to add military experience to a resume.
• Whether to add military resume summary or military resume objective.
• What your US army address for resume should look like and which details to include and not include.

. . . All so you can get the job that you want!

With this blog, you will transform into impeccable military resume writers and you will be able to write professional-looking military resumes in no time.

Optimize your shortlist chances by perfecting your military to civilian resume by making the most of the 10+ military resume examples that we have mentioned in this blog.

On the contrary, if you're looking for a quick solution to your problems, use Hiration's Online Resume Builder .

The military resume template that comes with it is designed for ATS compatibility. It also has pre-filled sections which will help you craft an impeccable resume in no time.

Moving on, here’s a list of all that you will learn in this blog:

What is a Military Resume & why do you need it?

A military resume or army resume is a resume for army professionals and aspiring citizens who want to join the US army.

It consists of important details regarding your educational and professional life.

To get shortlisted for the military job of your dreams, you need to optimize your resume by making it ATS-compatible.

So let's get started! There's a lot of learning left to do!

In the meanwhile, get your existing military to civilian resume professionally reviewed by Hiration’s Resume Review Service.

With us, your existing military to civilian resume will be reviewed based on the following parameters:

• Resume Length
• Resume Keywords
• Core Section
• Resume Name
• Bullet points
• Contact Information
• ATS Compatibility

Does this seem exciting? If it does, keep an eye out on the bottom left corner of this page to get an in-depth review of your military to civilian resume within minutes!

Military Sample Resume

[ Back to Table of Content ]

Before we begin, here's a sample military resume showcasing the ideal army resume. We have made this using Hiration's Online Resume Builder .

• Administered disciplinary actions in the team to cut incidents by 30% in a time span of 3 months
• Rendered daily surveillance & security for headquarters and oversaw safety inspections & security checks
• Negotiated with vendors to acquire food supplies & inventory for the army headquarter at a 15% subsidized rate
• Oversaw the upkeep of army equipment and researched market trends to assess the need to procure new weapons
• Coordinated with first-class sergeants to achieve 100% team goals before the stipulated deadline
• Trained 5 new sergeants on individual and collective security tasks to bolster overall team performance
• Mentored a team of 30 operations & security sergeants on the correct usage of latest equipment & weapons
• Received " Most Diligent Staff Sergeant Award " twice in Jun '18 and Jun '17
• Communicated with the management and supervised accountability of 30+ trainees
• Directed surveillance & security for headquarters and provided external security for internment corrections
• Promoted from a position of Security Specialist to Security Forces Staff Sergeant in just 2 years due to 5 star performance
• Among the top 2 % of the class
• CPR/First Aid Certification | ECC | Jun '13
• Weapon Certification
• M240b Machine Gun
• M780 Shotgun
• Received National Defense Service Medal | Jun '18
• Secured National War on Terrorism Service Medal | Jun '17
• Won Joint Meritorious Award | Jun '16

How to write a Military Resume

Most people tend to write their military resumes just to re-write them all over again. Following the right approach to resume writing helps you write your army resume while optimizing the time it takes you to curate it.

Mentioned below are the 3 stages of resume writing that you should follow:

• Stage 1: Master Military Resume
• Stage 2: First Draft of Military Resume
• Stage 2: Final Draft of Military Resume

Master Military Resume

The first stage of resume writing involves making the master resume.

In this stage, your only job is to compile information. Doing this has the added benefit of helping you write your military to civilian resume in the present and future timeline.

Having a library of information with you, the need to explicitly look for information gets eliminated. Thus, writing your resume in the present and making any updates to it in the future becomes an easy process.

First Draft of Military Resume

In the second stage of drafting your military resume, compose the following sections:

• Personal Information
• Profile Title
• Professional Experience
• Certifications (if any)
• Awards & Recognition (if any)
• Additional Information (if any)

Final Draft of Military Resume

In the final stage, compose the sections we have mentioned below:

Summary/Objective : In this section, you have to impactfully summarize your military experience on resume. Composing your resume summary/objective towards the end helps you identify the best highlights of your career, thereby helping you make a well-informed summary/objective for your resume.

Key Skills : Right before composing your military resume summary/objective, draft the key skills section. Composing this section second-to-last helps you write an impeccable military resume skills section.

Military Resume Sections

The key to a perfect ATS-compliant army resume lies in information presentation. How you present important information in your resume matters.

This is why resume sections are important. It helps you organize information and present it impactfully.

Attached below are the must-have sections of your resume:

• Summary/Objective

You can also put your information under the sections that we have mentioned below:

For a better understanding of resume sections, read Hiration's 2022 Guide to sections in a resume .

Additionally, you can use Hiration’s Online Resume Builder to stand a better chance of getting shortlisted for the job of your dreams.

It comes with a huge library of pre-filled military resume templates that you can personalize to suit your professional needs and work history.

Read on and look out for the military veteran resume examples that we have attached in this guide to learn what each section should ideally look like.

Military Resume: Professional Experience

The hallmark of a great veteran resume is perfect readability and relevant information. You can meet these criteria by following the below-mentioned points to communicate your roles & responsibilities:

• Frame points
• Use the STAR format
• Use Bucketing & Bolding

Framing Points

It is a common consensus that you should not use paragraphs to compose the details of your work experience. Instead, one-liner points have been commonly suggested by resume experts globally to present your work-centric information in your military to civilian resume.

Using one-liner points radically enhances the readability of your resume too.

Don't believe us?

Take a look at the military veteran resume examples given below to decide if one-liner points are a better alternative to using paragraphs.

Military Resume Example 1

"As part of my roles & responsibilities as a security forces staff agent, I was responsible for researching logistics operations, engineering and technical evaluations for defense projects. I also advised senior agents on important aspects like safety, disposal, and decontamination procedures. Part of my daily responsibilities included constantly cooperating with sergeants to achieve the team goals of the security forces within the assigned deadline. Additionally, I have also played a key role in coaching a team of approximately 29 operations & security sergeants on how weapons & latest equipment should be used".

Military Resume Example 2

• Collaborated with first-class sergeants to achieve 100% team goals before the stipulated deadline
• Advised senior agents on safety, disposal, and decontamination procedures involving chemical weapons
• Researched the logistics operations, engineering, and technical evaluations for defense projects

Framing Points: Analysis

The above-listed military resume examples present us with the following observations:

• Example 1 uses a long paragraph and Example 2 uses crisp one-liner points to communicate the same information.
• Example 1 (which uses paragraphs) is hard to read & comprehend. Thus, it fails to satisfy the bare-minimum requirement of great readability that is needed in any ideal military to civilian resume.
• On the contrary, Example 2 (which uses one-liner bulleted points) has aced the readability test due to its reader-friendly nature. Moreover, it uses action verbs to begin each point which gives your resume a confident tone of professionalism.
• Using one-liner points is an easier alternative to using paragraphs. It is thus highly recommended.

STAR Format

Now that you know how to enhance the readability of your work experience, let us now optimize it using the STAR format.

STAR stands for the following:

Situation : The situation/backdrop/context of your contributions Task : The actual task that was assigned to you Action : The strategy you used to execute the assigned task Result : The result/outcome of your action in the form of an achievement figure

STAR format encourages the use of numbers to quantify your achievement under each one-liner point. Thus, it enhances the effectiveness and relevance of your roles & responsibilities.

Our recommendation: Use the STAR format to optimize each one-liner point.

Bucketing & Bolding

By now, you have a highly reader-friendly and effective resume. But what's the point if it still goes unnoticed?

Nothing. Your hard work goes to ground zero.

This is why bucketing & bolding is important.

Observe the military to civilian resume examples given below to understand the merit behind our argument:

• Received "Most Diligent Staff Sergeant Award" in Apr '17
• Managed safety inspections & security checks to ensure daily surveillance & security in headquarters
• Facilitated the upkeep of army equipment and researched market trends to assess the need to procure new weapons
• Negotiated with vendors to acquire food supplies & inventory for the army headquarter at a 25% subsidized rate
• Enforced disciplinary actions to cut incidents by 50% within 6 months
• Trained 10+ sergeants on individual and collective security tasks to bolster overall team performance

Surveillance & Inventory Management

Discipline Enforcement & Training

Key Achievements

• Received " Most Diligent Staff Sergeant Award " in Apr '17

Bucketing & Bolding : Analysis

• Example 1 uses simple one-liner points and Example 2 uses bucketing & bolding to organize each point.
• By grouping similar points under unique subheadings (bucketing) and marking the important elements in each point in bold (bolding), Example 2 succeeds at enhancing the visibility of your work experience. It diverts the recruiter's attention to an applicant's key responsibilities & achievements in one go.
• Thus, you should use bucketing & bolding alongside one-liner points to illustrate your military experience on resume.

Military Resume Sample for Professional Experience

Learn how to add military experience to a resume with Hiration's Blog on how to compose the work experience in your resume . It is a detailed explanation of this section and contains the best tips to perfect it.

In the meanwhile, look out for our military to civilian resume examples to get a better grip of resumes and what they should ideally look like.

Here's a military experience on resume example illustrating a perfectly composed professional experience section:

Military Resume: Key Skills

Are your skills good enough to land you a job as an army personnel in the US army?

If it is, put them down in the 'key skills' section of your resume.

If it isn't, get skilled.

As a rule of thumb, your key skills section should be crisp and to the point as doing this helps a recruiter quickly identify your functional skills & proficiency.

Do not use phrases like 'experienced in' or 'expertise in' to endorse your resume skills. Instead, summarize your skills into 1-3 words of action. Eg: 'Surveillance & Security', 'Weapons Training', 'Discipline Enforcement', etc.

Read Hiration's 2022 Guide on what skills to put on a resume to get a better understanding of how to efficiently curate this section.

Here's a sample military resume showcasing the perfect key skills section:

Military Resume Summary or Military Resume Objective?

Should you write a military resume summary? Or should you write a military resume objective?

Read on to find out:

• Write a military resume summary if you have over 3 years of work experience.
• Write a military resume objective if you have no work experience or less than 3 years of active work experience.

Now that you have identified which one to write, follow the guidelines we have outlined below:

• Write your summary/objective at the end: Doing this saves you both times and effort as you wouldn't need to revisit these sections all over again.
• Pick the best highlights of your career from the work experience section of your army resume and talk about your unique strengths & skills that make you fit for the military job you are after.
• Keep the length of your resume/summary limited to a 3-5 line paragraph.

For a better understanding of both resume summaries and resume objectives, refer to Hiration's Resume Summary Guide and Hiration's 2022 Guide to Resume Objectives .

Attached below is a sample military resume illustrating the ideal summary for your veteran resume:

This is a snapshot of a veteran resume that we have compiled with the pre-designed & pre-arranged military resume template on Hiration's Online Resume Builder .

Military Resume: Header

Next up, we will discuss the resume header.

Here are some steps you should follow to perfect your army resume header:

• Position it at the topmost part of your resume.
• Write it in the largest font size of 16-20 points .
• Give a single space between your first name and last name.
• If you have a middle name, initialize it. Eg: "Mary L. Baxter".

For a better understanding of this section, read Hiration’s 2022 Guide To Writing The Perfect Resume Header to learn the art of curating the perfect header for your army resume.

Here's a military experience on resume example illustrating the ideal resume header:

This is a snapshot of an army resume that we have composed using Hiration’s Online Resume Builder . The ideal resume header should ideally look like this.

Make use of our military to civilian resume builder now!

Military Resume: Personal Information

The personal information section of your military to civilian resume is a compendium of important contact-centric details such as:

• Updated mobile number
• Professional email ID

Current Location

Hiration Protip : Don't flood this section with extremely personal details such as your passport details, date of birth, sexual preference, religious beliefs etc. (unless explicitly asked to do so) as it may lead to unbiased hiring and you don't want to be on the receiving end of THAT.

Updated Mobile Number

Most recruitment-centric activities such as an interview or a shortlist announcement happen over the phone. A minor typo can keep you from a potential shortlist. Thus, the details of your mobile number must be presented accurately.

Here are some few tips that you should follow to document your contact details:

• Use your country’s ISD code as a prefix before your phone number.
• Put a plus sign (+) before the ISD code.
• Eg: +1 37648 21511.

Professional E-mail Address

Your email ID is the official communication channel between you and the recruiter and is thus extremely important.

Make sure that it is professionally presented. Do not use fancy email IDs as it would look extremely unprofessional (and you don't want that).

A simple way to go about composing your email ID is by using your name followed by your domain name. Example: '[email protected].

In the language of writing resumes, location is indicative of an applicant's city & state of residence.

Here are some points that you should remember to compose your location correctly in your military to civilian resume:

• Follow the city/state code format to showcase location in your army resume.
• DO NOT INCLUDE your house number, street number, and your locality name as part of your location.
• For job applications in the country of your residence, use the city/state code format . Example: If you live in Albany, New York; your location should be written as 'Albany, NY'
• For job applications in other countries, use the city/country code format to showcase your location. Example: If you live in Newark, New Jersey; your location should be written as 'Newark, US'.

Military Resume Sample for Personal Information

For a better understanding of this section, read Hiration's 2022 Guide to composing your contact information .

Our military to civilian resume examples visually communicates what each section of your resume should ideally look like.

The sample military resume we have mentioned below showcases the ideal personal information for your military to civilian resume:

This is a snapshot of a veteran resume that we have built using Hiration’s Online Resume Builder .

Use our Online Resume Builder to explore the pre-designed & pre-filled military resume template that comes with our military resume builder.

Read on to learn about the rest of the resume sections for your veteran resume from the 10+ military to civilian resume examples that are attached in this blog.

Military Resume: Profile Title

Another important section of your veteran resume is the profile title. It communicates the following career-specific information about you:

• Your current designation.
• Your functional industry.
• Your level of seniority in your line of work.

Use the second-largest font size ranging 14-16 points to compose your profile title. This enhances the visibility of your profile title which helps a recruiter identify the above-mentioned information about you in one glance.

Here's a military experience on resume example showcasing the perfect profile title for your veteran resume:

In the meanwhile, give your army resume the touch of professionalism. Use our AI-powered Resume Review Service today.

Military Resume: Education

Textbook knowledge is just as important as practical knowledge, especially if there is a minimum educational criteria for a given job position. As such, you should always include your educational details in your veteran resume.

Making an 'education' section with the following mentioned details is a must:

• Name of the school/university you have attended.
• Name of the courses you have pursued.
• The location of your school/university.
• Enrolment and graduation dates in month & year format .

Refer to Hiration's 2022 Guide on how to list education on your resume to read an exhaustive guide on how to correctly curate the education section.

Here's a resume sample showcasing the ideal education section for your resume.

This is a snapshot of a veteran resume that we have made with Hiration's Online Resume Builder .

Our military to civilian resume builder has an optimized military resume template that you can easily modify to suit your professional needs & requirements.

Military Resume: Certifications

As an aspiring army man, being certified in weapon certifications such as the following will give you an advantage over other applicants:

If you have done these certifications (and more), don't shy away from putting them in your military to civilian resume.

Once you do, make sure that you give the following details regarding your certifications in your veteran resume:

• Certification course name.
• Name of the institute of affiliation.
• Location of the institute of affiliation.
• Enrolment and completion date of the course in month & year format .

Arrange these points in the below format:

{Name of Certification} | {Affiliating Institution} | {Location} | {Date} (month & year format)

For a better understanding of this section, refer to Hiration's Guide to listing certifications on a resume .

Here's a military resume sample showcasing the ideal certification section for your resume:

This is a snapshot of a veteran resume that we have composed using Hiration's Online Resume Builder .

The military resume builder is embedded with an ATS-optimized and pre-filled military resume template which shows you what each section of your resume, and the content in these sections should ideally look like in your resume.

Military Resume: Awards & Recognition

Are you an awardee of the National Defense Service Medal?

Or have you been recognized for a job well done?

If the answer is yes, make a separate "Awards & Recognition" section in your army resume and put this information here.

Here's an example of what the perfect sample military resume should look like:

In the meanwhile, write a stellar resume to boost your chances of a shortlist with Hiration's Online Resume Builder :

Military Resume: Additional Information

Perhaps you speak multiple languages?

If you do, putting this information in your veteran resume is a great idea.

When you work for the US army, you can always be deployed to other countries, and if you are sent away for service abroad, knowing the local language would prove to be a big asset in your hands.

Bottom line is, being multilingual is a plus point. So make sure that you mention this skill in your resume but only if you think it will help advance your job application.

Here's a military resume sample showcasing what your additional information would ideally look like in your army resume (must you choose to include this section):

In the meanwhile, boost your chances at getting shortlisted with Hiration's Online Resume Builder .

Resume Review & Free Military Resume Templates

Get your military resume professionally reviewed by our resume experts at Hiration for a constructive analysis of your military resume.

Evaluate how well your veteran resume is performing based on the below-mentioned parameters:

• Compliance with industry norms
• Content Relevance
• Recruiter Friendliness
• Design Compatibility
• Conversion Scope
• ATS Compliance
• Global Compatibility
• Performance Assessment
• Resume Formatting (font, margins, the order of sections, etc.)

Here's the kicker:

You will get 2 resume templates for free!!

Online Resume Builder for Military Resume

Hiration's Online Resume Builder is designed to help you write an ATS-compatible veteran resume.

Alongside this, you will also get these resources with our Resume Builder :

• Option to save unlimited resumes
• 25+ resume designs
• Full rich-text editor
• Unlimited PDF downloads
• 100+ resume templates
• 1-click design change
• A sharable link
• Live resume editor

Key Takeaways

• Follow the 3 stages of resume-writing to optimize the time you take to curate your resume.
• Stick to a one-page veteran resume if you have less than 10 years of relevant work experience. If you don't, write a two-page resume. Make sure that you adhere to the two-page limit.
• As a rule of thumb, always use your name as your resume header and position it at the top-most part of your military resume.
• Your resume header should be composed in the largest font size of 16-20 points and your profile title should be composed in the second-largest font size of 14-16 points . Doing this enhances the visibility of these components in your resume.
• Knowing what to put in your resume is not enough. Knowing how to organize them is important too. So make sure that you compile your information under the relevant sections that we have mapped out in this guide.
• The professional experience is an integral component of your veteran resume. Make sure that you do justice to this section by communicating your roles & responsibilities using crisp one-liner points.
• Use action verbs to begin each one-liner point. Doing this gives your resume a tone of assertiveness and professionalism.
• Quantify your achievements wherever possible. Doing this helps you endorse the feasibility & utility of your skills.

With this, you have reached the end of this blog.

For a better understanding of each section, go back and evaluate the military to civilian resume examples that we have endorsed at the end of each section in this blog.

Go to Hiration resume builder and create a professional resume for yourself. Additionally, reach out to us at [email protected] and you can get 24/7 professional assistance with all your job & career-related queries.

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