The civilian job market doesn’t question your rank, but it rarely understands it.
To a hiring manager, your high-stakes experience isn’t always obvious on a resume alone. That’s why the cover letter is critical.
A military-to-civilian cover letter gives you the space to explain what your role looked like in practice, translate your achievements into civilian terms, and connect your background directly to the job you’re applying for.
When written well, a cover letter works in harmony with your resume and the interview conversation that follows. It bridges the gap between what you’ve done, how it applies in a civilian workplace, and why you’re a strong fit, before the employer ever speaks to you.
This article will help you:
- Learn what elements your cover letter has to contain and how to write them properly
- Translate relevant information to civilian terms
- Tailor your cover letter for each role you apply for
- Avoid common mistakes
Let’s dive in.
Cover Letter Samples
The “Generalist” pivot: Combat Arms (Infantry) → Corporate Operations/Management
The “Specialist” direct transfer: Logistics/Supply → Supply Chain Management
Key Elements of a Military-to-Civilian Cover Letter: What to Include
A good cover letter follows a simple structure — think of it as a checklist.
If each element is present and clearly written, you’re already ahead of most applicants, military or civilian.
Formatting
- Use a clean, professional font (Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman).
- Font size: 11–12 pt.
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides.
- Length: one page, 3–5 short paragraphs.
- Align text to the left.
Avoid creative layouts and templates designed for creative industries. Military-to-civilian cover letters work best when they look familiar and easy to scan. Remember, recruiters review dozens of applications in one sitting.
Save any personality or differentiation for the content itself, not the formatting.
Contact Information
Place your contact information at the top, matching what’s on your resume:
- Full name
- Phone number
- Professional email address
- City and state (no full address needed)
If you’re emailing the letter, you can skip the employer’s address and start with the salutation.
Salutation
Whenever possible, address the letter to a real person.
- Best option: “Dear Ms. Johnson,” or “Dear Hiring Manager, Jane Johnson”
- If no name is available: “Dear Hiring Manager”
Avoid outdated or overly generic greetings like “To Whom It May Concern.”
If the job posting doesn’t list a name, check LinkedIn or the company website. Even a department-level contact is better than guessing.
You can also use “Dear [Department] Team” for large companies.
Opening paragraph
Your opening paragraph should answer three questions quickly:
- What role are you applying for?
- Why this role or company?
- Who are you professionally (in civilian terms)?
Example structure:
Avoid opening with your transition status alone (e.g., “I am a service member transitioning out of the Army”). Instead, lead with value and context, then let your background support it.
If applicable, you can briefly reference separation or reserve status later, but it should never be in the opening paragraph.
Body
Keep the cover letter body to one or two paragraphs. This is the heart of your letter, where you show how your experience and skills match what the company needs.
Paragraph 1: Translate your experience
- Focus on 2–3 relevant strengths.
- Explain your role in civilian terms.
- Highlight outcomes, scale, or responsibility. Provide data and quantify whenever possible.
For example:
Paragraph 2 (optional): Connect to the company
- Show you understand the role.
- Explain how your background supports their needs.
- Reinforce fit, not loyalty or years of service.
For example:
A few tips:
👉 Don’t just repeat your resume in the body of your cover letter. Use this space to show why your experience matters and how it makes you a strong fit.
👉 If your resume says “Operations Supervisor,” here’s your chance to explain what that role looked like day-to-day and why those responsibilities translate to the civilian job.
👉 Use plain language and assume the reader has zero military background. If a sentence would confuse a civilian manager, rewrite it.
Closing Paragraph
Use the closing to:
- Reaffirm your interest in the role.
- Summarize the value you bring.
- Signal readiness to move forward.
Example:
Signature
- Typed name is fine for online submissions.
- If you’re uploading a PDF, you can add a simple digital signature, but it’s optional.
Skip the rank, branch, or service dates in your signature. They belong on your resume, not at the bottom of your cover letter.
How to Translate Relevant Information into Civilian Language
One of the biggest mistakes ex-military members make in cover letters is assuming the reader “gets” military experience.
The truth is, they usually don’t.
Your job is to show what your roles and responsibilities really mean in a civilian workplace. It’s not about preserving exact military terms but about making your achievements clear, relevant, and easy for anyone to understand.
If your grandma (or any civilian outside the military) wouldn’t understand your job title or what you actually did, it’s time to reword it in plain language that clearly shows the impact, responsibilities, and skills you brought to the role.
Let’s go through some examples (and there are a lot more in our guide about military-to-civilian resume).
Military vs. Civilian Translation Examples:
- Military: “Served as Platoon Sergeant responsible for mission execution.”
- Military: “Conducted reconnaissance and threat assessments.”
- Military: “Accountable for equipment readiness.”
How to Tailor Cover Letters
A one-size-fits-all cover letter won’t get you far. Take the time to tailor each letter (resume too) so the employer immediately sees why your military experience makes you the person they need.
Why Tailoring Matters
Tailoring your cover letter is the best way to show genuine interest in a role, but it’s just as important for demonstrating alignment.
It lets you show that you understand what the company is looking for and clearly explain why your skills and experience make you the right fit.
This usually means researching the company, studying the job ad carefully, noting key skills or qualifications, and even talking to current or former employees to get a sense of the culture and how to show you’d fit.
For the ex-military, tailoring is especially valuable because it prevents misinterpretation: it lets you highlight the parts of your military background that matter most for the job, rather than assuming the hiring manager will understand.
How to Identify Keywords
One of the easiest and most effective ways to tailor a cover letter is by extracting keywords from the job description.
These words and phrases reveal exactly what the employer is looking for, both in skills and in mindset, and give you a roadmap for showing alignment.
Look carefully through the job description. Look for:
- The duties section (highlights the day-to-day responsibilities).
- Sections labeled “requirements,” “qualifications,” or “skills needed” (they usually spell out the most critical keywords).
- Software and tools.
Once you’ve identified the main keywords, think about how you can demonstrate them with real examples from your experience.
For instance, if the description emphasizes “cross-functional collaboration,” describe a specific project where you worked across teams and drove results. If it highlights “process improvement,” show how you streamlined a workflow or solved a recurring problem.
The goal isn’t to mechanically copy the words — use them naturally in your sentences so the reader sees that you actually possess these skills.
Integrating these keywords into both your resume and cover letter serves two purposes:
- It makes your application resonate with human readers by showing direct fit,
- It also helps your resume pass ATS scans, which often check for the same terms.
How to Align Your Resume and Cover Letter
Your resume and cover letter should work together, not as separate pieces of paper. Think of your resume as the “what you did” document: your experience, accomplishments, and metrics.
The cover letter is the “why it matters” document: it explains the impact of your experience and connects your skills directly to the job.
Use consistent language across both documents. If your resume lists “Operations Supervisor,” your cover letter should translate that into civilian terms like “led a team of 30–45 personnel, managed logistics and budgets, and streamlined daily operations to meet deadlines.”
Avoid introducing entirely new experiences in the cover letter that aren’t supported by your resume; doing so can confuse hiring managers and weaken your credibility.
When done well, the two documents feel like a matched set — one reinforces the other, making it easy for the employer to see both your capabilities and your relevance to the position.
If you’re a Big Resume user, it will be easy to sync your resume to your cover letter. Just navigate to Cover Letters > Generate Cover Letter, which will ask for your resume and job description of a job you’re applying to:
The Cover Letter Generator will then use the data from your resume to generate a cover letter. All you have to do afterwards is to tweak it and make the changes you want manually (just copy-paste the cover letter to a Google or Word document), or add instructions to the generator and generate the letter again:
And voila, you’ll get a cover letter that’s based on your resume.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even small missteps in a cover letter can cost interviews, so knowing the common mistakes, and how to avoid them, can make all the difference.
Writing like an evaluation report
A cover letter is not an NCOER or OER, and treating it like one can quickly turn off civilian readers.
Evaluation reports are designed to document performance for a military audience — they emphasize rank, duties, and formal language rather than results or relevance to a job.
Using the same style in a cover letter makes it sound stiff, impersonal, and disconnected from what the employer actually cares about: your impact, problem-solving ability, and fit for the role.
Instead of listing responsibilities, show how your actions produced meaningful outcomes. Avoid phrases like “responsible for” or passive wording, and focus on clear, engaging sentences that highlight accomplishments, leadership, and contributions in a way a civilian hiring manager can immediately understand and appreciate.
Using military jargon without translation
Acronyms, ranks, and unit names slow readers down. As we already said, if it wouldn’t make sense to a civilian manager, rewrite it.
When in doubt, assume the reader has never worked with a military service member before.
Being overly formal or detached
Your cover letter doesn’t need to read like a briefing or a regulation. Aim to be professional, clear, and approachable — write like a real person, not a rulebook.
Using plain, straightforward language helps you connect with the reader and build trust faster than overly stiff or polished phrasing ever could.
Repeating your resume word-for-word
If the letter doesn’t add context or insight, it’s not doing its job. Use it to explain fit, motivation, and relevance.
Sending the same letter everywhere
Even small adjustments like role focus, keyword alignment, or highlighting different skills can make a big difference.
Summary of the Main Points
- A good cover letter will be relatively short (3-4 paragraphs) and feature an introduction, body (2 paragraphs), and a closing paragraph.
- Your job is to translate military experience into civilian language that shows scope, impact, and responsibility you had in your military experience.
- Focus on achievements and results, using numbers or outcomes whenever possible instead of duty descriptions.
- Tailor each cover letter to the role and company to show you understand what they’re looking for and why you’re a good fit.
- Make sure your cover letter and resume work together, using consistent language and reinforcing the same strengths.
