You can be a top-ranking officer in the military, but that doesn’t mean you can automatically step out of your uniform and run a company. You will have a much better chance of getting that job, however, if you know how to translate the skills you learned and the experience you gained in the military into civilian terms.

How can you do it? If you approach it the right way, it’s easy to see how military skills can translate into a civilian’s everyday, on-the-job duties. There are a basic set of skills that every employer wants every employee to have, such as: self confidence, responsibility, leadership skills, initiative, creative thinking, flexibility, a positive attitude and a sense of humor.

Keeping that in mind, you can turn a skill you gained or an experience you had in the military into a skill wanted by a civilian employer. For instance, if you served as an Admiral in the Navy, you can use the steps you took to gain that high-ranking position to demonstrate your leadership skills.

The type of job you’re applying for also can have a great impact on how your military skills are viewed. In example, a soldier who has been trained as an X-ray technician or nurse can use their knowledge to work in a hospital or healthcare facility, while a soldier who served in the military police would be well-equipped for a position in law enforcement.

How do you put those skills on your resume? Once you’ve figured out how to translate your military skills and experience into civilian skills and experience, there are some other points to keep in mind when writing your resume.

First and foremost, you should clearly define your civilian objective on your resume to prove that you are driven and have a set goal in mind. Next, make sure to emphasize the information that will speak to an employer’s needs.

While writing your resume, it’s important to always assume that the hiring manager you’re applying for a job with knows nothing about the military. Just as that may be the case, you should avoid using complex or uncommon military terms that the average civilian may not understand.

You might not think much about the mechanics of professional resume writing, until you get to hear of people who lost out on positions they were very highly qualified for to people who were obviously less qualified – not because of underhand dealings – because of how the two sets of people appeared through their resume. In this regard then, it is important to take note of the fact that your professional resume is essentially a ‘forerunner’ you send before yourself when searching for a professional position; and as a ‘forerunner’ to you, your resume could present you in good or bad light, depending on how you go about developing it.

There are a number of ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ to keep in mind when writing a resume.

Starting with the dos, it is important to ensure that you tailor your resume according to the type of position you are looking for, and for the specific employer whose favor you are looking for. The ‘one size fits all’ approach certainly does not apply when it comes to resume writing. So ‘tailoring-making’ is the first do whenever writing a resume for any position.

Another ‘do’ you have to observe whenever writing a professional resume is to keep it brief. This is tricky, because whenever people are told to keep their resumes brief, many end up sacrificing important information that should appear on the resume at the altar of brevity. Ideally, then, you should be concise in your presentation of information on the resume, so that you pack all important information in a small amount of space, ending up with a brief – yet comprehensive – document.

Yet another ‘do’ as far writing a resume goes is to ensure that you do it with the end in mind, all through. This carries in it a lot of other bits of advice on professional-resume writing. It is, for instance, when you are writing the resume with the end in mind that you will be in a position to write for your targeted audience in mind, so that in case you are seeking an academic position, your resume appears in the academia’s language; and if you are seeking a corporate position, your resume appears in the ‘language of business.’

The don’ts, as far as writing a professional resume goes, are just as many. You for instance, to avoid use of superlatives (even when your performance was indeed ‘super’) as over-use of such superlatives makes you come across as arrogant. Use of clichés is to be avoided, as far as professional resume goes, as you have to come across as a creative person – and these are just some of the many things to keep in mind when writing a professional resume.

One important resume writing tip is to never put down anything negative about past employment experiences. This not only goes during the resume writing process, but also during your interview. Everyone has negative experiences during employment and, we may as well face it, if our current position was a paradise, chances are we would not be looking for a new job. Leave the negativity out of both your resume and your interview. This is perhaps the most important resume writing tip you can learn.

Do not put anything about salary or wages in your resume. This is highly unprofessional and an important resume writing tip. Salary is often discussed during the interview process and is never acceptable to be presented on a resume. Past salary is also included. If you fill out a job application, you will often be asked your salary that you earned on previous jobs, but a resume is different than a job application. It is a professional introduction to a prospective employer. It is a faux pas to put a salary requirement on a resume and you should not be the first person to bring up salary during the interview process. Allow the employer to bring the matter up.

Another important resume writing tip is to not make your resume to flamboyant. There are many different templates out there for creating resumes and many different types of colored paper. While printing your resume on pink paper may certainly make it stand out among the others, it will also make your prospective employer think that you are unprofessional. Use traditional fonts and classic designs when printing your resume. If you are applying for a job in a creative field, you can get a bit creative with your resume, but not too much so. Remember, there is plenty of time to express your creativity after you have attained the job.

While you want to be certain that you list all of your skills and abilities on your resume, be careful not to embellish. Saying that you know certain computer programs when you have no idea about how to use Excel is not a good way to get a job. One very important resume writing tip is not to embellish your skills or accomplishments on your resume. This includes your grade point average or college degrees. It is relatively easy for an employer to check these things and it can prove embarrassing to be found out to be a liar. Also, if you get the job and do not know how to do the work, you may end up getting fired for being incompetent. This will not only be humiliating, but may destroy some chances of getting a job in the future as you will be hesitant to use the employer who fired you as a reference.

The last important resume writing tip is to be certain to include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address on your resume as well as your employment objective. Employers get hundreds of responses to ads all of the time and many people feel that if they put certain information in their cover letter, they do not have to reiterate on their resume. Oftentimes, the resume and cover letter are separated. Be sure to include all of your personal contact information as well as the job for which you are applying on your resume.