3 Steps to Transfer Your Military Skills to College

2016-09-13T14:33:50-04:00

Whether you are retiring from the military, transitioning to civilian life, or returning from a deployment, the skills you learned in the military can serve you well in college and civilian professional life. It's important to know how to transfer your military skills to the civilian world. That may mean entering your civilian career right away, or it could mean pursuing your college degree.

How do you know what's the best path for you? It may take some reflection and research, but there are many tools and resources available to guide you on the right path in your journey.

Assess Your Skills

Start by looking over your military resume, achievements, and training to leverage the military skills and interests you have developed. You may have learned and honed skills during your military service that can translate to a civilian career. The key is figuring out how to translate and explain these skills and experiences on a civilian resume in terms a non-military person can understand.

One tool to help you do this is Military.com's Veteran Jobs Skills translator. For example, if you type in your military occupational specialty as a Construction Engineering Technician (Army - Warrant Officer), this tool displays civilian skills such as: budget management, building & landscape design, building construction, electrical power distribution, and more. It also shows that you could be qualified for equivalent civilian jobs such as: construction/skilled trades, operations/plant management, carpentry/framing, and building/construction inspection.

These two tools also may be useful in doing your military skills assessment:

• My Next Move is an accessible online tool from the U.S. Department of Labor. You'll fill out a questionnaire about your interests and the results will help you learn what you're trained and suited for, as well as how to pursue careers in that field.

• Occupational Information Network (O*NET) was developed for the U.S. Department of Labor and helps military members translate skills into civilian terms. Simply enter your MOS, AFSC, Rating or job title, and the database will return a summary of your military job and some examples of skills you can use on your resume.

Choose Your Path

It may seem like an obvious choice to pursue a career or a college degree related to your current military occupation specialty. If you were in the military police, you might study criminal justice and potentially be one step ahead of some of your classmates by having real-world experience in military law enforcement. That doesn't mean you're limited to attending the police academy, or being a patrolman or state trooper. Your military skills could allow you to pursue a criminal justice degree, or perhaps one in forensic science. You could branch out into crime scene investigation, detective work or a security consulting position.

Moving from the military to the civilian world could also be the perfect time for a change in career fields. This may mean starting college in a different field and asking yourself questions about your current interests and passions. Remember that whatever field your pursue, your military skills likely include leadership training, teamwork, and the ability to work under pressure. These are attributes that can serve you well in any field.

Hitting the Books

Once you've decided on a civilian career field, you may choose to start working toward a college degree. Whether you choose a traditional or online university experience, it's important to select one based on your goals and expectations. Does the university offer options for service members to earn credits based on their military experiences? Do the faculty and advisors understand the unique needs of active duty, veteran, Reserve, and National Guard students? Can they help you transition the skills you've acquired into a civilian career? Finding a university that meets these criteria is important, and can help you maintain momentum as you pursue your degree.

If you think you’re ready to learn more, come chat with us and explore military student education at AIU Online: http://rly.pt/AIU-RP

Military Students

American Intercontinental University offers a variety of bachelor's and master's degree programs for veterans, active-duty military and their family members.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Sep 13 at 2016 2:35 PM

2016-09-13T14:35:31-04:00

Thank you for the great college information.

Response by Capt Brandon Charters made Sep 13 at 2016 4:15 PM

2016-09-13T16:15:27-04:00

Thanks for this excellent blog piece Melissa Beardsley. I found that the most challenging part of this process is "choosing the path". For so long in the military, we are told what our next job and location is going to be. Stepping out of the military and into a degree program allows us to broaden our sights for the first time. Do you have any advice for those of us who are looking at many possible paths and might feel slightly overwhelmed by it?

Response by SSG Mark Franzen made Sep 28 at 2016 10:30 PM

2016-09-28T22:30:47-04:00

WHEN I GOT OUT IN 1990 I WENT TO A COLLEGE AND THERE I SHOWED THEM MY DISCHARGE WITH ALL MY MILTARY SCHOOLS AND THEY TOOK A COPY OF IT AND EVALUATED IT AND THEY CALLED WHEN THEY WERE DONE THEY EXPLAINED WHAT TRANSFERED OVER TO COLLEGE CREDITS WHICH WAS VERY HELPFUL. ALSO WHEN I WENT WORK AT BOEING AS A MECHANIC THEY ALSO EVALUATED MY CLASSES FOR GREEN LIGHTS FOR JOBS WHICH HELPED ALOT TOO. I BEEN WITH BOEING FOR ALMOST 6 YRS AND IT IS A VERY GOOD PLACE TO WORK. SSG MARK FRANZEN VETERAN