Your service isn’t behind you. It’s your competitive advantage.
Federal hiring pathways, security clearance advantages, free certification programs, mentoring networks, and entrepreneurship resources — built specifically for the background you’ve already earned.
The VCS Advantage
Military experience gives you advantages many candidates never develop:
- Leadership under pressure
- Adaptability in ambiguous environments
- Accountability at every level
- Security clearance eligibility
- Mission focus and operational discipline
- Resilience under sustained stress
- Experience leading diverse, cross-functional teams
Our role is helping employers recognize the value you’ve already earned.
Your Military Experience Is a Competitive Advantage
Many military-connected students enter the civilian job market uncertain about how their service experience will be received. The reality is this: the skills, experiences, and credentials you developed in uniform are genuinely difficult to replicate in a civilian context — and employers across every sector know it.
The challenge isn’t your background. It’s knowing how to present it, where to apply it, and which opportunities are specifically designed to value it.
Across industries, military-connected candidates consistently bring capabilities that civilian candidates rarely develop at the same scale or speed:
- Leadership under pressure — making high-stakes decisions with incomplete information
- Team leadership at scale — managing people, resources, and logistics in complex environments
- Cross-functional coordination — working across units, agencies, and chains of command
- Operational discipline — executing under constraints with consistency and accountability
- Adaptability — performing in rapidly changing, ambiguous environments
- Security clearance eligibility — a credential that opens doors most candidates can’t access
Mission focus — understanding that the goal matters more than the obstacle
VCS helps you translate these advantages into language civilian employers understand, identify opportunities that specifically value your background, and present yourself with the confidence your service has earned.
Translate Your Military Experience
If you completed a Transition Assistance Program (TAP) before separating, you’ve already started this work. VCS picks up where TAP leaves off — connecting your military background directly to civilian career opportunities, employer expectations, and the Syracuse University ecosystem.
If you’re currently serving (Guard, Reserve, ROTC, or ECP), this translation work is equally important — you’re building a civilian career identity alongside your military one.
Translate Your MOS to Civilian Job Titles
Your Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), AFSC, NEC, or rate is the starting point for identifying civilian career equivalents. These tools map your military job code directly to civilian occupations, required skills, and salary ranges:
USAJOBS Military Crosswalk
Enter your military branch and job code to find federal civilian positions that directly match your military occupational specialty. The most direct path from military job title to federal career.
Download TemplateMy Next Move for Veterans
Enter your military occupation code and discover civilian careers that match your military training and experience — with salary data, required skills, and job outlook information for each match.
Download GuideVMock — Get Instant Résumé Feedback
VMockBefore you submit your résumé to the Résumé Book or apply for a position, run it through VMock. It’s a free AI-powered résumé review platform available 24/7 with your SU login — no appointment needed.
Translate Your Military Pay to Civilian Compensation
One of the most common mistakes military-connected candidates make is comparing their civilian salary offer only to their base military pay. Your total military compensation includes significantly more — and understanding the full picture helps you negotiate from a position of knowledge.
- Basic Pay — your base monthly salary by rank and years of service
- Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) — tax-free housing allowance based on location and dependency status
- Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) — monthly food allowance
- Special pays — hazard pay, flight pay, sea pay, dive pay, and others
- Health insurance — TRICARE coverage for you and dependents
- Retirement contributions — Blended Retirement System (BRS) or legacy defined-benefit plan
- Tax advantages — many allowances are tax-free
Use the DoD Military Pay Calculator to calculate your full compensation package before comparing to civilian offers.
When evaluating a civilian offer, compare the full package: base salary, health insurance costs, retirement match, bonuses, and any other benefits. A $75,000 civilian salary with strong benefits may be more or less competitive than your military compensation depending on your specific situation. Book an appointment with VCS if you want help running the comparison before you negotiate.
Security Clearances
If you held a security clearance during your military service, you possess one of the most valuable — and most underutilized — credentials in the civilian job market. Many employers don’t just value clearances; they require them. And obtaining a clearance from scratch takes months or years. Yours is already established.
Clearance Levels and What They Mean to Employers
- Confidential – You have been investigated, vetted, and trusted with sensitive government information. You passed a background investigation most candidates never undergo.
- Secret – A more thorough investigation. Signals strong personal character, financial responsibility, and a record of trustworthiness. Valued across defense, government contracting, and law enforcement.
- Top Secret – Extensive background investigation. Highly sought by defense contractors, intelligence agencies, technology firms with government contracts, and federal agencies.
- TS/SCI – Top Secret with Sensitive Compartmented Information access. One of the most valuable credentials in the government contracting and intelligence sectors. Candidates with active TS/SCI clearances are in exceptionally high demand.
Employers Actively Recruiting Cleared Talent
These organizations are among the most active recruiters of cleared veterans:
Defense & Aerospace
• Lockheed Martin
• RTX (Raytheon)
• L3Harris
• General Dynamics
• Boeing
Consulting & IT
• Leidos
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• SAIC
• CACI
• Deloitte Federal
Intelligence & Law Enforcement
• FBI
• NSA
• CIA
• U.S. Secret Service
• Defense Intelligence
How to Present Your Clearance
- List your clearance level in your résumé summary or credentials section: “Active Secret Clearance” or “Top Secret/SCI (Active)”
- If your clearance is inactive but recent, note it: “Secret Clearance (Inactive — 2024)” — many employers will reinstate rather than restart the investigation
- Never disclose the specific programs, projects, or information your clearance gave you access to
Maintaining Clearance Eligibility
- Financial responsibility, legal record, and foreign contacts all affect continued eligibility
- Maintain the behaviors that supported your clearance: avoid significant debt, legal issues, or foreign entanglements
- Many cleared positions allow reinstatement within a defined period — act before that window closes
Questions about presenting your clearance or finding cleared positions? Book an appointment with VCS.
Federal Hiring
The federal government is one of the largest employers of veterans in the United States — and for good reason. Federal agencies actively recruit military-connected talent, offer veterans’ preference in hiring, and have established pathways specifically designed to connect your service to a civilian government career.
- Competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, and strong retirement programs
- Mission-driven work that often aligns directly with military values and experience
- Veterans’ preference gives eligible veterans a significant advantage in the hiring process
- Security clearance holders are especially competitive for defense, intelligence, and law enforcement roles
- Clear career progression and promotion pathways
- Geographic flexibility — federal positions exist in every state and internationally
USAJOBS (usajobs.gov) is the federal government’s official job board. Every civilian federal position is posted here.
- Create a profile and upload your federal résumé before you apply — USAJOBS stores your documents and auto-fills applications
- Use the ‘Veterans’ filter to find positions open specifically to veterans
- Check the ‘This job is open to’ section on every announcement — if Veterans is listed, preference applies
- Read the ‘How to Apply’ section carefully — federal applications have strict requirements and deadlines
- Set up job alerts for your target agencies and occupational series
- Your DD-214 is required for most veterans’ preference claims — keep it accessible
Special Hiring Authorities for Veterans
Beyond veterans’ preference, the federal government has established special hiring authorities that allow agencies to hire eligible veterans outside the standard competitive process:
| Authority | Who It Covers |
| Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA) | Veterans with less than 15 years since discharge who served during a war, campaign, or expedition; received certain medals; or have a service-connected disability. Non-competitive appointment up to GS-11. |
| Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) | Veterans with at least 3 years of active duty or released for disability. Allows veterans to apply to positions otherwise open only to current federal employees. |
| 30% or More Disabled Veteran | Veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 30% or more. Non-competitive appointment to any position without time limit. |
| Pathways Programs | Recent graduates and students. Includes Internship Program, Recent Graduates Program, and Presidential Management Fellows. Veterans retain preference rights during the application period. |
Federal résumé format is covered in full on the Build Your Brand page.
Not sure which authority applies to you? Book an appointment with VCS — federal hiring navigation is one of our most frequently requested advising topics.
Veteran Career Networks & Mentoring
As a veteran or military-connected student, you have access to a national network of career mentoring platforms and hiring resources — available to you simply because of your service. These programs connect you with professionals, recruiters, and industry experts who are specifically committed to supporting your career transition.
American Corporate Partners (ACP)
ACP pairs post-9/11 veterans and active-duty military spouses with professionals from Fortune 500 companies for a personalized, year-long mentoring relationship. Mentors provide career guidance, networking support, résumé feedback, interview preparation, and industry insights..
Learn MoreVeterati
A free digital mentorship platform where veterans and military spouses can schedule unlimited one-hour mentoring conversations by phone or Zoom with professionals from leading companies across a wide range of industries.
Learn MoreHiring Our Heroes (HOH)
Hiring Our Heroes provides career mentorship, professional coaching, networking opportunities, and employment resources to help veterans and military spouses successfully transition and advance in the civilian workforce.
Learn MoreRecruitMilitary
RecruitMilitary connects veterans and transitioning service members with employers who actively recruit military talent. Browse job fairs, employer profiles, and career opportunities specifically targeted to the military-connected community.
Learn MoreOVMA Cisco Networking Academy
Through a partnership with Cisco, OVMA offers Syracuse University’s military-connected students free access to 33 professional certification courses across cybersecurity, networking, programming, business, and AI. These courses are self-paced, free, and available exclusively to OVMA students.
For students targeting federal careers, defense contracting, cybersecurity, or technology roles, these certifications can meaningfully strengthen your candidacy — and they’re available to you right now.
| Category | Courses | Highlights |
| Cybersecurity | 16 | Full pathway to CCST certification, Ethical Hacker, Splunk SOC analyst track, network defense, endpoint security |
| Programming | 9 | Python, JavaScript, Linux essentials, data science, Apply AI: Update Your Resume |
| Networking | 3 | Cisco Packet Tracer series, networking fundamentals and beyond |
| Business | 3 | Entrepreneurship 3-course series |
| AI & Data | 3 | Intro to Modern AI, Apply AI, data reporting and visualization |
Search ‘FREE Cisco Training’ under Events on Handshake. Registration is available each semester.
Veteran Entrepreneurship
Military service builds exactly the qualities that successful entrepreneurs need — leadership under pressure, resourcefulness, mission focus, and the ability to build and motivate teams. If starting a business is part of your vision, you have both the skills and the support system to pursue it.
SBA Boots to Business
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s entrepreneurship program for transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses. Free two-day intro course covers business fundamentals, market validation, and how to access capital.
Learn MoreEntrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV)
Operated by the IVMF at Syracuse University, EBV is a free, world-class entrepreneurship training program for post-9/11 veterans with service-connected disabilities. Includes a 10-day residency, 12 months of follow-on support, and access to a national network of veteran entrepreneurs.
Learn MoreV-WISE
Operated by the IVMF, V-WISE (Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) is a training program for women veterans and female military spouses who want to turn a business idea into a sustainable venture.
Learn MoreSU Blackstone LaunchPad
Syracuse University’s entrepreneurship hub supports students at all stages of the startup journey. Resources include coaching, workspace, pitch competitions, and connections to the SU entrepreneurship ecosystem. Open to all SU students.
Learn More