Career Corner
You get what you negotiate for - Military experience
Advice for military technicians moving into civilian work.
Know your worth
You’ve had years of aviation experience maintaining military aircraft. You know pressure, procedure, and precision better than anyone. But when you walk into a civilian hangar, you might notice something: nobody speaks your language.
The hiring manager you’re interviewing with? They probably don’t know what an MOS, AFSC or NEC is. They don’t know the difference between a C-130 and a F35-B or that the systems you’ve worked on are twice as complex as what they see every day.
And that’s the problem
Your experience is real and will make you more money, but only if you communicate what it means. You won't get recognized unless you learn to show and negotiate for what you are worth.
Start with your job code. Review your training file and rewrite it in plain, civilian terms. No training file? Try this: Search your specialty code in Chat GPT or other AI searches for ideas. “Phase inspections on a C-130” becomes “heavy inspection and structural maintenance on large turboprop aircraft.” “Flightline troubleshooting” becomes “line maintenance and AOG service.”
Before your interview
Look up the company’s fleet and find the overlap. If they service Gulfstreams, compare those systems to the aircraft you know. Show how your experience transfers directly and that you'll be productive very quickly.
Then bring proof. A simple one-page sheet mapping your military skills to civilian tasks, a supervisor's letter. Anything that says, I’ve done the work, and I’ve done it right. This does not need to be official documentation, but something that paints the picture. Write this yourself! If you can put it on paper, you will understand it and be able to communicate it more clearly.
When it’s time to talk numbers, remember: you don’t get paid more for serving; you get paid more for solving. Tell them how you’ll save training time, reduce rework, and raise quality. That’s how to start negotiating.
And if you’re already in a shop?
Keep records of what you’ve worked on, who you’ve trained, and how your work improved the line. Bring your notes and clear thoughts to your next review. You’ll know that your interviewer didn't prepare for it beforehand, and you get to steer the conversation.
Don't get what you deserve, get what you negotiate for.
Author: Sam