Top Military sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Military resume experience section
Military Resume’s Job Experience Checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Military resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Partner with the Department of Defense for Repair & Overhaul or to develop Intellectual Property to repair ailing defense platforms.
- Improved Gross Margin contribution in support of Aircraft Group financial expectations.
- Developed a targeted strategy with the leadership team and reduced it to an executable plan for successful achievement.
- Supervised the International Military Education and Training (IMET) section and ensured funds and slots were fully filled to meet Host Nation requirements
- Responsible for establishing the Office of Military Cooperation’s (OMC) team houses to include locating/leasing, establishing a budget and obtaining funds for the leases and procuring furniture, equipment, and security
- Coordinated on issues with the regional affairs office, force protection office, Department of State Political-Military and Political-Economic sections and USAID to meet demand and events
- Developed and wrote pre-deployment and deployment guidelines for military members to enter the country based on DoD and DoS requirements
- Performed as primary alarm monitor for the largest weapons storage area (WSA) in the Department of Defense, supporting the largest bomb wing in the Air Force.
- Operated over $2M in sensor equipment, monitoring over 70 cameras and more than 150 alarms.
- Provided pivotal technical expertise to element leadership on compensatory measures relating to sensor subsystems security requirements.
- Weather observer to measure, monitor and report current weather conditions to air-traffic controllers, pilots and global network
- Worked in extreme weather conditions to provide real time data to assist in airport management for military aircraft and assets
- Communicated with weather stations around the world for accurate weather forecasts and mapping
- Strategic planning, identification of major priorities and release of strategic planning guidance, development of implementation and sustainability plans
- Planning and execution of organizations' mid and long term activities
- MoD resource and budget management
- Annual spend control
- Representation of Lithuanian MoD in different International organizations (governmental level)
- Political and commercial negotiations on behalf of the government
- Liaised with US and international journalists and Japanese military
- Re-engineered process for US-JAPAN bilateral approval chain
- Served as chief of media relations for USAID/DoD Afghan Army training
- TV spokesperson for Boston-area Air Force base; wrote for base paper
- Developed reconnaissance tactics, techniques and procedures to identify illegal black market border crossings in Eastern Europe
- Contributed to the design of a multi-million dollar access control point
- Trained the Afghan Ministry of Police in Physical Security and Asset Security Operations
- Managed 50+ man hours responsible for the physical security of a Secret Coalition Facility
- Improved soldier retention by 12% for the unit
- Provided security details for VIP’s and State Officials
- Successfully led teams of soldiers in combat scenarios
- Processed over 5,000 logistics requests, moving more than 500 individual personnel and over 1,000 TEUs of equipment and supplies
- Tracked and traced loads through delivery- maintaining constant communication with requestor and my superiors
- Established work relationships exclusively on phone calls
- Coordinated air logistics for 4 joint operations in theater
- Responded to many emergency situations, resulting in 0 loss of life and minimal asset loss
- Serving on a think tank to advise the chiefs of staff in war and peacetime environments.
- Collaborating with subject matter experts to prepare briefs and doctrinal evaluations of the battlefield and the operational picture.
- Only successful Minnesota graduate of an accelerated Officer Candidate assessment school in 2016.
- 2 months of officer formation
- Managed the communication of a regiment for 4 months
- Led a 30-member team
- Managed a recruiting staff of over 30 individuals to included corporate employees and contractors. Oversaw full life-cycle staffing functions initiatives within the Intelligence Community
- Developed and implemented effective recruiting strategies and techniques to improve and streamline corporate recruiting processes
- Reviewed, prioritized, and managed OCONUS deployment and intelligence job requirements to aligning best qualified candidates within the Intelligence Community (DIA, CIA, NGA, NSA, NGIC, DHS, ONI)
- Managed a recruiting staff of over 30 individuals to included corporate employees and contractors. Oversaw full life-cycle staffing functions initiatives within the Intelligence Community
- Developed and implemented effective recruiting strategies and techniques to improve and streamline corporate recruiting processes
- Reviewed, prioritized, and managed OCONUS deployment and intelligence job requirements to aligning best qualified candidates within the Intelligence Community (DIA, CIA, NGA, NSA, NGIC, DHS, ONI)
- Gained a total flying experience of 2585 hours involving VIP communication flights, casualty evacuation, logistic support, disaster management, emergency and flood relief operations, and training flights.
- Coordinated and supervised flying schedules and technical activities of the unit/squadron.
- Carried out flight planning and crew detailing of the unit/squadron to achieve 100% efficiency.
- Carried out flight safety initiatives of the unit/squadron involving monitoring and assessing the level of compliance and non-compliance of standards and procedures.
- Carried out general administration, performance assessment of personnel, welfare activities and recruitment of personnel.
- Carried out meetings with state and national stakeholders to facilitate flight safety initiatives as well as emergency and relief operations.
- Carried out safety information sessions and safety audits.
- Conducted investigations of administrative and flying related accidents and incidents.
- Conducted preparation of reports ans briefings as part of involvement in various military exercises involving national boundaries.
- Facilitated humanitarian civil-military coordination during various flood relief operations.
PRO TIP
Show off real numbers that display your accomplishments in past roles. Instead of listing out your responsibilities as Military, talk about the measurable impact you made to their business. Did you boost their revenue? Increase customer retention? Mention your proudest points on your resume.
Action Verbs for your Military Resume
Recommended reads:
Military Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume Skills Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Skills for your Military resume
- Military Operations
- Troop Instruction
- Recruiting
- Quality Assurance
- Combat
- Finance
- Strategic Planning
- Military Law and Policies
- Firearm Handling
- Communication
- Confidentiality
- Decisiveness
- Organisation
- Empathy and compassion
- Negotiation and debate
- Diplomacy
- Trust and integrity
- Conflict resolution
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
Recommended reads:
Military Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
CHECKLIST For Your Military Resume Header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Military resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
Military Resume Summary Best Practices
Checklist: What to include in your Military resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
Recommended reads:
Listing Your Education, Certifications and Courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Certifications for your Military resume
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Military. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Military Resume: Additional Writing & Formatting Tips
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Military Resume Summary best practices
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Military resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Military resume:
Military Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Military resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What Makes a Great Military Resume: Key Takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
