Serving in a higher pay grade or billet. Civilians don't classify themselves or each other by pay grade and the word "billet" is a strictly military word. It is important to be able to explain this adequately during an interview. By telling an employer that you were an E-5 serving in an E-7 billet you will need to explain our ranking structure a little, but the important piece of all of this is that you were given responsibility and authority of someone serving in a more senior position.

Ranking on evaluations (i.e. Ranked number 1 of 28 Chiefs in the organization.) Although civilians do have "performance reviews", the equivalent to our evaluation system, they do not compare and rank their people. The main reason why the military does this is for promotion opportunities. Although being ranked is important for our military careers, it has no bearing on your future civilian career. However, this is an excellent example for a future employer to understand how highly your last employer valued you.

Hand-picked for a position. In a resume this can come across either as arrogance or just plain bragging. For those with some knowledge of the military this may come across as "so what?" Many people have to go through a special "screening" for military positions, but it doesn't mean you've been "hand-picked." Some people actually are hand picked - usually because the senior person who picks them has worked with the member before and they are a "known entity." This is no different than good 'old fashioned networking to get a great job and civilians do this all the time. If you think about it, all civilian jobs could be considered "hand picked" because an employer will interview many people before picking the one they want.

Arduous, remote duty stations. At some point in time, most of us in the military have worked under some tough conditions in some strange places. The first thing to remember is that your next employer probably won't be sending you to the deserts of Saudi Arabia or the remote island of Diego Garcia! However, being able to work well under these conditions will strongly illustrate your ability to adapt quickly. In his book Interview Power author Tom Washington speaks about using stories to make a point in an interview. "Using anecdotes to describe job skills is a highly effective interview technique. In less than three minutes, you can tell a powerful story that will make interviewers remember you favorably for days, weeks or even months after the interview. When telling stories, provide all of the key information. Describe the situation and the challenges you faced. Then describe your analysis and the recommendations you made. Next, describe what you implemented and the results you obtained. Look for interesting tidbits and details which, though not crucial for understanding, will provide a stronger visual image of what you did."

Joint service duty. How many civilians do you think can discuss working as an employee for Microsoft, but physically being located at Boeing and reporting to a boss who works for Safeway? It just doesn't happen. Story telling time again to vividly explain the challenges of a Sailor working for both the Army and the Air Force in a joint command in Korea. What a great way to exhibit your team work skills!

Working out of rate or MOS. This is fairly common in the military but almost never happens with civilians. Have you heard the phrase "it's not my job"? Lawsuits have been filed over things like this - being hired for one position but being forced to work in another unrelated position. You may inadvertently scare a potential employer if you address this on a paper resume without being there face-to-face to explain it. By being able to explain what you did and how it benefited your organization you are able to show an employer that you are flexible and very much a team player that is willing to help other in their jobs. It can also illustrate that you are willing and eager to learn new skills and take on new challenges.

Awards and qualifications. Achievement or commendation medals, special qualifications like Surface or Air Warfare pins, paratroopers and other qualifications fall into this category. These types of things are extremely important to our military careers but have no bearing whatsoever on your position as a civilian. There are two types of civilians out there - those who know nothing about the military and those who DO know something or have served. The first group knows that we wear hunks of metal with pretty little colored ribbons on them and the military sure puts a lot of importance in them. But they really don't understand what they mean, what we have to go through to get one or that there is a hierarchy to our award system. Those who do know about the military or have served also know that many times we get medals for being in the right (or wrong!) place at the right time. They also know that, depending on your rank, you may have gotten an award because the people who worked for you did a good job. When I speak about an award someone has gotten on their resume I usually will address it something like this: "Formally recognized for doing……" This way the employer may want to follow up and ask what the formal recognition was and then you can discuss your awards or they may just key in on what it was you did and ask more questions about that. The only time I actually will put awards on a resume is if there is some civilian equivalent such as an Employee of the Year program. Not only does the military recognize employees in this way, but almost every civilian employer does, too.

War-time Duties. Civilians KNOW that the military is here to fight the world's wars, but they don't necessarily want to hear or read about them in your resume. Your resume should always be targeted to the position you are applying for. So, how does talking about preparing for war relate to the job you are applying for? Unless your next employer really is going to have you inspecting missiles or going to sea talking about it puts you in a realm they have little understanding or knowledge of. You don’t want to put blinders on the employer or yourself by only talking war, guns, missiles and danger!