federal resume template for veterans

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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Federal Resume Lab: Free Coaching Session for Veterans and Spouses Writing a Federal Resume

Writing a federal resume sucks for veterans and spouses. Seriously. It is such a long, drawn-out, misunderstood, totally encoded process. We military folks ought to be issued lollipops, lemon drops and gumballs for every minute we stick with the federal resume writing process.

Because getting sticky with the process is exactly how to get your federal resume finished, submitted, and ready for an interview. Sticky persistence wins the day for federal resumes.

Anyone who has ever written a successful federal resume will tell you it is not all sweetness and light. In our master class, The Undeniable Federal Resume: How Veterans and Spouses Can Land the Federal Job Offer, I teach all the ins and outs of how to write a federal resume for transitioning military members, veterans and spouses. There is a lot of insider knowledge concealed in a federal job listing that everyone needs to know before they start writing. That is one thing.

Then you all start writing. You start to fill out our exclusive federal resume template. You dig into the job announcement. Then you get buried in all the stuff. You can’t find the core competencies. Or the questionnaire is not listed. Or you are overcome with the kind of sugar rush that makes you think that turning in any old thing will be fine.

Suddenly, what seemed clear in the class can get very sticky when you are trying to apply it to your own experience in a particular job. That’s why we are hosting our FREE Federal Resume Lab on Thursday, March 7, at 4 p.m. Eastern. Sign up today!

Federal Resume Lab is designed for veterans and spouses who have already done the basics, and now need master-level instruction. I’ll be reviewing individual federal resumes (no corporate resumes.) I will lead job candidates through a process that helps them achieve that aha moment so they start getting called in for an interview.

Here is how it will work.

1. Pre-Register for the Resume Lab Master Class on Zoom

Here’s how. This will be a closed group. Only registered users can attend the free class, so you don’t have to worry about being embarrassed or exposed. And I promise that I will not go Simon Cowell on you, ever.

2. Bring Your Current Federal Resume

Like I tell all my clients, don’t do anything else to your resume before you come to the class. You worked on it enough already.

If you want to register for one of our guaranteed review spots, send your resume and a federal job listing to us at [email protected].

If you are not sure but might want to be a candidate for review, just have your resume ready. You can join the queue or not, depending on how you feel that day.

If you don’t want to be one of the examples, you don’t have to do anything. It is cool to just sit back and observe.

3. Speed Rounds

Get ready for speed rounds. We want to see as many candidates as possible so that everyone gets a feel for what resumes are like from every walk of military life -- veterans who have been out of the military for years, National Guardsmen, spouses, junior officers, mid-level enlisted, senior leaders, etc.

Everyone has a different experience, and the advice you get often depends on your career level.

4. Tell Me About Yourself

For the live candidates, I’ll ask you to tell me about yourself in three sentences. I want to hear your name, your current job when you are getting out of the military and what kind of job you are looking for.

5. What Kind of Feedback Will Help You Most?

Reviewing resumes is not personal, but it can feel really personal. I always ask clients what kind of feedback will help most.

Do you want to hear what is going right on this resume?
Do you want to know why this resume is not getting any requests for an interview?
Do you want my thoughts on your layout?
Do you want to know what kind of career theme you are projecting?

I can help with all those and more.

The only kind of feedback I do not give in Resume Lab is on spelling, grammar or missing words. That kind of feedback takes a focused kind of concentration and an eye for errors I can’t bring here.

6. I’ll Tell You What I See

We will look at your resume together, and I will tell you what I see as a transition master coach. Then I will give you the kind of feedback you requested. If I have some other nugget I’m dying to share, I’ll ask you first and you can decide whether you want it.

7. List 3 Action Items

You will walk away with three action items to improve your resume.

8. Coaching Opportunity

If you have been a live candidate, you can do the changes suggested and return the resume to me for another look to confirm you got it right. We are always interested to hear about your whole job hunt. And we do like to know when you land a job.

Jacey Eckhart is Military.com 's transition master coach. She is a certified professional career coach and military sociologist who helps military members get their first civilian job by offering career-level Master Classes through our Veteran Employment Project and on her website, SeniorMilitaryTransition.com . Reach her at [email protected].

Find Your Next Job Fast

Transitioning military, veterans and spouses may be qualified for the job, but they are missing the secrets of civilian hiring. Find out everything you need to know with our FREE master class series, including our next class. You can view previous classes in our video library . Questions for Jacey? Visit our Facebook page or reach out on LinkedIn Jacey Eckhart.

Jacey Eckhart

Master Class Series

Employers do want to hire hard-working, self-motivated veterans like you. The command does want you to keep firing on all cylinders until the last minute. Your family wants to know what will happen next right now. That is a lot of pressure. Do yourself a favor and take control over your transition by signing up for our exclusive FREE master classes now.

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