Recruiters spend 7 seconds on a resume. If they can't decode 11B or 0311, you're out. Three veterans share how they fixed it.
The problem isn't that veterans lack skills. The problem is translation. Military occupational specialty codes are a language that civilian hiring managers simply do not speak.
The 7-second scan
Eye-tracking research on recruiter behavior consistently shows that resume screeners spend about seven seconds on a first pass. In that time, they're looking for job title, company, and keywords. "11B Infantry" tells them nothing. "Operations manager with expertise in logistics, personnel management, and high-stress decision-making" tells them everything.
Three veterans, three paths
Sergeant First Class Maria Torres separated after 14 years as a 25U (Signal Support Systems Specialist). Her first resume led with her MOS and got zero callbacks in three months. After using the MOS Translator and rewriting her resume around civilian IT titles, she had four interviews in two weeks.
