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So I been helping a service member that I served with while in who is transitioning out of the military. I asked to see a copy of his resume. Now, knowing him from when we served together; I knew he reclassed and attended several courses while in the military so I sort of had an idea of what I was going to see when I got his resume and I was pretty darn close.
Here is my question to the RallyPoint community of Veterans, when you were/are working on your resume, how do you handle the different hats you wore while in the service? For example, for myself, I list my primary MOS and list the locations (city,state/country) where I did that particular duty. The one attention I have is when I was the Operations NCOIC for my last unit. That is listed on my resume as a new item since the work I was doing as an Operations NCOIC was different than what I was doing as a 25Q.
Also, what classes did you decide to list? Did you list every course or just the professional growth courses like WLC and ALC skipping over courses like Airborne, Air Assault, Pathfinder, etc?
What it all comes down to I guess is what information is too much information? Sure you need to share your military experience on your resume, especially if you are applying for your first job with a civilian company but again, when and where do you draw the line?
Posted in these groups: 
Resume
Transition
Resume Transition
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 7
Regardless of what information you deem appropriate to include, I think what is more important is the way in which it is presented. Most civilian employers will not understand military jargon such as "MOS," "WLC" and "Operations NCOIC" (just to use examples you mentioned), so jobs and duties should be described in civilian terms.
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SGT Ben Keen
You are totally right. That is one thing I personally struggled with when writing my first resume. We in the military do have our language that is for sure, and maybe it should be added to "Second Languages" lists like Spanish, German, and everything else ;).
With that being said I did remove and tell others to remove as much military jargon as they can. Spell things out. When asked what I did in the service I don't ramble off the official title of Multi-Channel Transmissions Operator/Maintainer/Team Chief; I just say I provided voice and data connections to the commanders on the front or I simply say I was AT&T in BDUs.
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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
Excellent points LT Deitemeyer & SGT Keen. You need to "civilianize" all your military-ese
1. NO ACRONYMS - we barely remember what they mean.
2. Translate staff sections - S-1 = Personnel dept, S-3 = Plans & operations section, etc.
3. Those below you are your employees (not soldiers, sailors, etc.) your senior NCOS are supervisors, your O's are managers
4. Your combat experience (minus actually firing on someone) is job experience in a high stress environment.
5. Emphasize your leadership, personnel management, organizational and team work skills - we all do it whether we realize it or not.
You get the idea.
1. NO ACRONYMS - we barely remember what they mean.
2. Translate staff sections - S-1 = Personnel dept, S-3 = Plans & operations section, etc.
3. Those below you are your employees (not soldiers, sailors, etc.) your senior NCOS are supervisors, your O's are managers
4. Your combat experience (minus actually firing on someone) is job experience in a high stress environment.
5. Emphasize your leadership, personnel management, organizational and team work skills - we all do it whether we realize it or not.
You get the idea.
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Do you have a Linked In account? if so, do a search for me, Chris Nelson, geographic location is Great Falls, MT (to help find me). the bulk of my info is all the highlights off my OPR's and such. I have then built 2 resumes for use in the civilian sector (attachements that you can open). This will help show you what and how to do things. Let me know if you have any issues.
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I would recommend having multiple resumes. You can never have 1 resume that works in every situation. I constantly edit mine for the positions I am applying for. You want those experiences to show you are a prime candidate for that position, not just that you served 20 years in the military and that's all you know. And like many have said, don't use military jargon. "dumb" it down for them to understand what you did. Ie, don't use NCOIC or non commissioned officer in charge; use like supervisor or manager of this and this and that.
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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
You're on point LT I would just change, "dumbing it down" to "civilianizing" it. even civilians hate to be condescended especially if you're asking them for a job :-)
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CPT Brandon Christensen
For lack of a better word at the time, I used "dumbing it down." But you are correct Sir. Putting everything in simple terms or even terms they use within their company will go long ways. Research will benefit you in the long run.
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