Military Skills to Civilian Resume
Making your DD-214 make sense to hiring managers
#1 mistake: military jargon. 'Supervised 12 personnel in a TOC' → 'Managed a 12-person team in a 24/7 operations center coordinating across 6 departments.'
Translation rules: (1) Remove all acronyms or provide civilian equivalents. (2) Quantify everything — people, budgets, equipment value, % improvements. (3) Map to civilian titles: Squad Leader = Team Lead. Platoon Sergeant = Operations Manager. Company Commander = Director of Operations.
Common MOS translations: 11B → Operations Manager, Security Consultant. 25B → Systems Administrator. 68W → EMT/Paramedic. 35F → Intelligence/Research Analyst. OS (Navy) → Operations Coordinator.
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