Lost in Translation: Tips on how to demilitarize your resume

2015-11-18T23:37:38-05:00

- Highlighted/solved eng consumption trend; devised new wash plan; WRE refill cut by 88%--saves $220K/mo

Looks like a great bullet. That is Air Force talk for a short succinct line that fits on a random form. It is also supposed to describe an accomplishment with impact that shows how awesome you are. Problem is that you have to have an unofficial language degree in Air Force aircraft maintenance jargon to understand what it means. Most interviewers would think the same thing, what does this mean? It took numerous seminars, drafts, and asking my wife do you understand this, and I came up with the demilitarized version of the same bullet below.

Critically analyzed engine wash procedures, integrated new engine wash procedures, cut engine replacement by 88% saving
Air Force $220K a month in transfer costs, practice adopted Air Force wide

Ironically, my job as an officer in Air Force Recruiting Service was to translate civilian resumes into Air Force talk. This was so the Office Candidate Training Board can understand it. When I became a veteran, I had to reverse engineer that process so my Air Force talk translated in a civilian resume. This is a common pitfall that most veterans find themselves in. And with resumes being looked at for an average of 6 seconds, there is no patience to decipher our jargon.

According to research, most 500 Fortune companies are looking at four things when looking at a resume. These are known as the 4 Cs.

The first one is critical thinking (how you can solve problems), second is collaboration (able to perform on a team on multiple levels with impact), third is communication (how articulate you are), and lastly competency. In other words, they are asking the following questions. Why should I care about this accomplishment? Can you do the job? Can you fit in the culture of the team or organization? How are you going to make or save the organization money?

So those are the challenges. Here are some tips on how to overcome accomplishments that can be lost in translation. A general tip to resume writing is making the resume specific to the job. If it does not describe how you would be the best person for what the position description is asking for, get rid of it. It is recommended resumes should only be one page back to front. A cover letter is recommended at half a page. If you have 10 years of accomplishments, that is a tough task to fit it all in. So real estate is at a premium. To help put your best foot forward, every aspect of the resume needs to connect with the job. Remember you only get 6 seconds.

Next is to translate your military jargon. Another exemplar is the following bullet:

- #3/13 CGOs, my top ops flt 2d qtr, FY12; Des is a superstar, cmd's CGOY '11; AMU OIC next--send to PDE now

The first question from an interviewer is what is a CGO? That will quickly be followed by, “Is this even English?” That answer is no.

Eliminate all acronyms and translate them into civilian terms. SNCO equals senior manager. CGO equals junior executive officer. Base commander equals Regional Director. If you worked for a Flag Officer that equals Senior Vice President or Chief Executive Officer. This gives context to the level of responsibility associated with your accomplishment. This context is required for awards as well. If you were SNCO of the year at base X, that translates to senior manager of division or regional branch out of XX colleagues.

You may also have to combine several aspects of your performance reports to make a statement that answers the four Cs. Using those principals mentioned above, the example bullet translates to:

Consulted Recruiting Regional Executive on people issues, effectiveness of 59 recruiters in 9 branches covering 125K sq. miles in 2 states, led 3 teams of 14 to process 4,179 applicants to Basic Training, selected as Top Junior Executive Officer for Air Force Recruiting Services from 50+ peers

This statement gives context, answers the 4 Cs, and shows leadership with impact.
There are tons of other questions I sought. Do I put my Professional Military Education down? Do I put every award and medal down? To answer those questions I would suggest asking two questions. The first is does it have anything to do with the job or what the position description is seeking? If you answer yes to the first question, ask does it answer any, some, or ideally all the four Cs? If you answer yes to both start grinding out a resume statement. If you answered no to any of the two, start looking elsewhere in your record. Definitely easier said than done. I have sat on both seats of the interviewing table. I am a certified Professional Human Resources (PHR). These are just some of the hard lessons I learned. My hope is this will aid in getting you that interview and setting you apart from your other job seekers.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Nov 19 at 2015 12:30 AM

2015-11-19T00:30:58-05:00

Jargon is a killer, and quite unnecessary. It is not that difficult to use plain language to communicate.