Military Transition Resumes:
Translating Military Jargon

When you compose a resume, it’s important to remember that the hiring manager at your target company may not have knowledge of your previous industry. You must use clear language that everyone can easily understand.

This is especially the case when transferring from a military to a civilian career. Ex-military personnel seeking employment in the private sector must translate military jargon to appeal to hiring managers with little knowledge of common practices and procedures within the service. Here are some basic pointers to review before composing your private-sector resume:

Use plain English
Write your resume as though you are submitting it for review by someone who has no technical understanding of the kind of work done in your previous positions. Imagine that you are explaining what you have done and the skills you have accumulated to a non-military friend.

Minimize the use of acronyms
If you must use them, briefly explain what they represent, what processes or systems they describe, and how you have used the knowledge, skills, or abilities associated with them.

The following examples demonstrate ways in which "technical goulash" can be translated into something understandable:

Bad: Use IATS to process travel vouchers.
Better: Use an automated financial system, IATS, to compute and process travel reimbursements for transportation, meals, lodging, and similar entitlements.

Bad: Assist functionals in writing SCRs. Develop interfaces and serve as the POC for all EC initiatives.
Better: Work with functional users of automated financial and accounting systems to help identify needed changes and to write system change requests (SCRs). Write computer programs to enable automated systems to interface and to communicate with each other. Serve as the primary contact for automated electronic commerce (EC) systems and improvements.

Descriptions of duties performed, knowledge used, and skills applied in carrying out your duties should be simple and straightforward — descriptive, but narrowly focused on only the most essential information.

When you finish writing a paragraph or bullet point, it can be helpful to stop and ask yourself the following questions:

• Would someone who is not familiar with my occupational background understand the kind of work that I do?
• Have I included nonessential information (nice to have, but not helpful in meeting mandatory qualification requirements) in what I have written?
• Have I omitted any relevant experience or skill that might distinguish me from other candidates if my resume reaches the desk of a selecting official?
• Have I adequately summarized the major characteristics of my occupation or described the background and skills that are most common to my field?