A career in the military can teach you a lot: situation awareness, tactical engagement and adaptable response techniques to name a few. But how does this translate to the workforce? Specifically, the technology industry workforce, the fastest growing (and one of the best paying) industries in the world? And how do you explain this experience in a way that non-veteran recruiters and hiring managers will understand and clearly see what benefit you can offer their company?

Here are six simple ways you can break down the most common military skills and translate them into a benefit for the technology industry.

1) BEFORE YOU EVEN APPLY, RID YOUR RESUME OF MILITARY JARGON, THEN TRANSLATE INTO PLAIN ENGLISH

There’s a high likelihood that a company’s recruiter or hiring manager is not a veteran and doesn’t understand military language. While it may be second-nature for you to speak in terms of tactical operations, combat leadership and executing tasks within highly kinetic environments, it may be hard for a hiring manager to clearly visualize what you can do for his organization and how you will help him achieve a specific or desired business outcome.

The solution? Take those skills and translate them into plain English.

As any technology leader can attest, the ability to make a quick assessment and craft an innovative solution in the midst of few resources – all while being a collaborative leader in a high-pressure team environment – is a hallmark of successful technology industry leaders.

And now you just explained three complex military skills in plain English.

2) EXPLOIT YOUR SKILLS BY CAPITALIZING UPON THE ONE THING TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES CRAVE MOST: INNOVATION

Technology companies live and die by their ability to innovate, often in the midst of a scarcity of time and financial resources. To your benefit, being solutions-focused and quickly innovating with very little resources was par for the course when you were in the military. Use your resume and the interview as opportunities to highlight your ability to quickly absorb and run with an idea, think about a variety of ways to solve a problem, then overcome obstacles to turn the idea into a reality.

Of even more benefit to veterans is the fact that technology companies tend to be more forward-thinking when it comes to giving employees the freedom and latitude to innovate – on or off-the-clock. In fact, it’s attractive to a technology industry hiring manager if you have a side project off-the-clock. Whether you’re developing an app, carving woodworking projects, mixing music or restoring a car’s engine -- technology companies like an employee who has a passion for and is stimulated by the act of “making”. When speaking with a hiring manager, don’t be afraid to share your side projects and translate those into how they make you a better, more creative and self-directed employee.

3) UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT BEING MISSION-FOCUSED IS FOR TECH COMPANIES, THEN CAPITALIZE UPON IT

It’s easy for a recruiter and hiring manager to focus on the tasks that a potential candidate can complete; it’s concrete and easy for them to visualize how it translates to the immediate hole they’re trying to fill. But a one-trick-pony can only get their team so far in achieving often lofty, complex objectives. Let’s go back to #2: Technology companies live and die by their ability to innovate. To me, that means that technology companies need more mission-oriented employees who can do the tasks but can also understand the goal and have the wherewithal and tenacity to do what it takes to move toward the desired end-state of repeated improvement and innovation.

By now, as a veteran, you’re hard wired to be mission-focused. You see there are many different tasks that need to be accomplished, how those can fit together – even if it’s daunting or a bit ambiguous at the outset - and that your role is to complete these tasks in the spirit of building the patchwork that allows the team to achieve the larger goal.

Even if they don’t articulate it, technology company hiring managers need more mission-oriented employees to repeatedly build and innovate. You were trained for this. Capitalize upon it.

4) “THERE’S THE HILL! TAKE IT!”: SHOW HOW YOU OWN THE OUTCOME

While modern war techniques don’t often involve troops charging up a hill, you know what it’s like to be shown the end goal and to charge after it -- and how important it is to be situationally aware, nimble, on-point and own whatever result comes out of it. How well you execute your skill and achieve the objective can be a matter of life or death.

For veterans like you, the ability to own your success or failures through performance-based work is attractive – not a deterrent. Being given a chance to hunt and be accountable for winning or losing is now part of your DNA. Companies want more people like you!

To a veteran, the most refreshing thing about the technology industry is the risk (the downside of which can never be compared to the level of risk you know from combat) and the reward (the upside of which can be significant from a financial and self-esteem standpoint).

Showcase how you embrace and enjoy a performance-based environment. I guarantee that any technology company worth its salt will find this attractive.

5) YOU KNOW THE VALUE OF RELATIONSHIPS, NOW USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

In the field, military members learn the importance of relationships early-on. Whether it’s stepping outside of their comfort zone to build a relationship with leaders of a nearby town who speak a different language or building trust with your fellow soldiers who might be a position to save your life tomorrow, the importance of focusing upon building strong relationships can be a life or death matter.

With the help of social media, the relationships you built as a solider don’t have to end the day you leave the military. In fact, veterans are more connected than ever. One site I personally use is exbellum.com, a site that helps former military connect with other veterans seeking employment. It’s like LinkedIn for special operations but helps match a person’s talent with employers seeking a specific need.

Use offline and online networking to reach out and talk to fellow veterans to learn how they broke into their post-military careers, ask them who they know and if they’re willing, ask for a warm hand-off to better your chances of getting your foot in the door.

6) YOU KNOW YOU DON’T KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS BUT YOU’RE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW WHO CAN HELP YOU GET THEM

In the military, confidence and adaptability in the midst of uncertain, ever-changing conditions are paramount. As you transition, leverage this experience and look for those who can help identify ways to translate your skills to the civilian world.Commit.org is one of those. They work with post 9-11 military veterans from all services, branches and ranks to assist them with navigating their new path and how to overcome the most common gaps of information, confidence and imagination.

So there you have it. This is a great time for veterans to break into the technology industry and you have the benefit of the right mindset and attitude to help a company achieve their business objectives. If you’re interested in learning more about how I’m leveraging my military experience in the technology industry, connect with me here.

This article originally appeared in Small Business Daily.