Demilitarizing Your Resume: Mistakes That Can Sabotage Your Job Search

Our salty career coach has spent 25 years guiding military folks in their transition to civilian life. And one area rife with potential pitfalls? Writing that all-important military-to-civilian resume. He's seen it all - from resumes so jargon-filled they may as well be in Sanskrit to ones that bury the lead on those hard-earned military accomplishments.

"Look, transitioning military have an extremely valuable skill set," he says while taking a swig of coffee. "But you've got to be able to market those skills properly on a resume. Otherwise, you'll end up lost in the civilian resume abyss."

So without further ado, here are some of the biggest military resume landmines he's encountered over the years, and how to disarm them:

The Acronym Ambush

Militaryspeak is its own language, one awash in acronyms and jargon shorthand. But while SITREP, REMF, and OP4 may make perfect sense to you, they'll just confuse the heck out of civilian hiring managers. The fix? Spell everything out, using well-known civilian equivalents.

Burying the Lede

Sergeants, you led troops into battle. Officers, you managed multi-million dollar operations. Mechanics, you overhauled engines and equipment worth more than most suburban homes. So why bury those impressive achievements on the second page of your resume? The coach pounds his fist on the table, "Those hard-earned accomplishments need to be front and center! Quantify them with numbers, dollar figures, percentages. Make them pop off the page!"

The Dense Prose Minefield

Military writing can often devolve into a terse, dry style full of passive voice and ambiguities. But resumes are marketing documents that need to grab attention. Trade in the milspeak for active, punchy language. "You disarmed an IED while under fire" pales in comparison to "Defused improvised explosive device during hostile enemy engagement." See the difference?

Forgetting Transferable Skills

The military trained you in a range of awe-inspiring skills - leadership, management, strategic planning, you name it. But those skills can absolutely translate to the private sector. The coach advises making a list of all the skills used in your military roles, and then finding ways to highlight their relevance on your civilian resume.

The Jargon Jungle

Similar to the acronym problem, filling your resume with too much military jargon is a surefire way to alienate civilian readers. Things like "conducting a SITREP" or "REMF duties" will just leave hiring managers scratching their heads. Translate military lingo into straightforward, civilian-friendly language.

With a few tweaks and mindset shifts, that military resume can go from dud to dynamic. But it all starts with learning to market those experiences through a civilian lens. "You've got to repackage your skills for a different audience," says the coach. "Approaching it from their perspective - that's more than half the battle."

3 Hacks To Creating A Resume

Hack #1: Civilianize Your Military Experiences

One of the biggest pitfalls for transitioning military personnel is using too much jargon and acronyms that civilian hiring managers won't understand. The hack is to "civilianize" your military experiences by:

• Avoiding ranks, military codes/acronyms, and jargon completely

• Describing your roles using civilian equivalents (e.g. "Managed logistics operations" instead of "G4 Officer")

• Quantifying your achievements with concrete numbers, metrics, dollar figures, and percentages

• Using transferable skill keywords that hiring managers will recognize (leadership, project management, training, etc.)

"You have to repackage your background for a totally different audience," the coach advises. "Translating everything into civilian terms allows your valuable experience to shine through."

Hack #2: Lead with a Powerful Summary

With only 6 seconds to make an impression, your resume summary is prime real estate. The hack is to craft a compelling professional summary that quickly markets your top qualifications. For example:"Accomplished leader with 12+ years of experience managing high-stakes operations and teams of up to 75 personnel. Recognized for expertise in strategic planning, risk mitigation, and developing/implementing training curricula. Awarded 3 commendations for ensuring 100% mission success under extreme conditions."This grabs the reader's attention by highlighting transferable skills, quantifying achievements, and using powerful language to demonstrate the scope of your responsibilities and impact.

Hack #3: Create an Accomplishments Section

Hiring managers want to see concrete examples of your work. The hack is to create a separate "Significant Accomplishments" section near the top of your resume. Use bullet points to quantify and vividly describe how you:

• Increased efficiency/productivity by X%

• Saved/earned X amount of dollars

• Managed budgets/projects of X size

• Achieved X under challenging circumstances

• Earned X awards/commendations

"Measurable accomplishments jump off the page," says the coach. "They provide irrefutable proof of the value you can deliver from day one."By civilianizing your background, leading with an impactful summary, and showcasing quantified accomplishments, your military-to-civilian resume will be primed for success. The key is translating your experiences into a language that civilian employers can easily digest and get excited about.