Why TSA Applications Fail Before a Human Ever Reads Them

TSA hires thousands of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and Federal Air Marshals every year. The agency runs some of the highest-volume federal hiring in the country. And veterans with security backgrounds, military police experience, or any MOS that involved screening, inspections, or force protection have a real edge here.

But that edge disappears fast if your resume does not contain the right keywords. TSA uses USA Staffing to process applications, and that system ranks resumes based on how well they match the job announcement. If your resume is missing the specific terms TSA hiring managers and HR specialists are looking for, your application sinks to the bottom of a very long list. You could be the most qualified person in the stack and never get a call.

I spent 1.5 years after separating as a Navy Diver applying for federal jobs with zero callbacks. The resume I had from TAP was generic. It did not speak the language of any specific agency, let alone TSA. Once I figured out how to pull the exact keywords from job announcements and build them into my federal resume, everything changed. I went on to get hired into six different federal career fields. This article breaks down exactly how to do the same thing for TSA positions.

How TSA Hiring Actually Works Through USA Staffing

TSA posts positions on USAJOBS like every other federal agency. When you apply, your resume goes through USA Staffing, which is the applicant tracking system used by most federal agencies. USA Staffing does not auto-reject your resume. What it does is rank it against every other application based on keyword matches, qualifications, and how well your experience lines up with the job announcement.

HR specialists then review the highest-ranked resumes first. If your resume ranks low because it is missing key terms, it is not that you got rejected. It is that nobody scrolled far enough to find you. With TSA hiring thousands of people a year for TSO positions alone, the competition is real. You need your resume near the top of that ranked list.

TSA announcements are structured differently from many other federal postings. They often include specific competency areas like "Security Fundamentals," "X-ray Interpretation," and "Customer Service." Each one of those areas has keywords embedded in it. Your job is to identify those keywords and reflect them in your work experience descriptions. Not stuffed in artificially, but woven into real accomplishments that show you actually did the work.

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What Are the Core TSA Resume Keywords Veterans Need?

Every TSA job announcement contains a specific set of terms that HR specialists are trained to look for. These are not hidden. They are right in the "Duties" and "Qualifications" sections of the posting. But many veterans skip past them because the language feels different from what they are used to.

Here are the keyword categories that show up consistently across TSA job announcements:

Security Screening and Inspection Keywords

These are the bread and butter of any TSO or security-related TSA position. If you worked access control, entry control points, vehicle inspections, or personnel screening in the military, you have direct experience here. Use these terms in your resume:

• Security screening procedures
• Passenger screening / personnel screening
• Baggage inspection / checked baggage
• X-ray image interpretation
• Physical search techniques
• Threat detection and identification
• Access control point operations
• Contraband identification
• Explosives trace detection (ETD)
• Standard operating procedures (SOPs)

Compliance and Regulatory Keywords

TSA operates under federal regulations, and job announcements reflect that. If you enforced regulations, conducted compliance checks, or operated within strict procedural frameworks in the military, highlight it with these terms:

• Federal security regulations
• TSA directives and policies
• Compliance monitoring
• Regulatory enforcement
• Security breach response
• Incident reporting and documentation
• Chain of custody procedures

Customer Service and Communication Keywords

This catches many veterans off guard. TSA puts heavy emphasis on customer service because TSOs interact with the traveling public all day. Your military experience dealing with civilians, briefing leadership, or training junior personnel counts here. Use terms like:

• Customer service in high-volume environment
• Conflict de-escalation
• Clear verbal and written communication
• Diverse population interaction
• Professional demeanor under pressure
• Public-facing operations

How to Pull Keywords Directly from TSA Job Announcements

The single best source of TSA resume keywords is the job announcement itself. Every USAJOBS posting for a TSA position tells you exactly what they want. You just need to know where to look.

Open any TSA job announcement on USAJOBS and focus on four sections:

The Duties Section

This is where TSA describes what you will actually do on the job. Every verb and noun combination in this section is a potential keyword. If the announcement says "Operate screening equipment including X-ray machines and explosive trace detection systems," then your resume needs to reflect experience with screening equipment, X-ray operations, and detection systems. Match the language as closely as your actual experience allows.

The Qualifications Section

This section lists what TSA requires and what they prefer. Pay close attention to the "Specialized Experience" paragraph. It will say something like "You qualify at the SV-D level if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the SV-C level performing security screening, operating detection equipment, and applying security procedures." Every phrase in that paragraph is a keyword you should mirror in your resume.

For more on how specialized experience works across all federal positions, check out our guide on specialized experience on federal resumes.

The Competency or Assessment Areas

Many TSA announcements list competency areas that you will be assessed on. These typically include areas like "Security," "Integrity/Honesty," "Interpersonal Skills," "Decision Making," and "Teamwork." Each competency is a keyword cluster. When your resume demonstrates decision making in a security context, you are hitting two keyword clusters at once.

The KSA Statements (If Listed)

Some TSA announcements still include Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities statements. These are keyword goldmines. A KSA like "Ability to apply security screening procedures in accordance with federal directives" tells you exactly what phrases to include in your experience descriptions.

Which Military Experience Translates Directly to TSA Positions?

Certain military backgrounds map almost one-to-one with TSA requirements. If you held any of these roles, you already have the experience. You just need to write it using TSA language.

Military Police (31B, 5811, 3P0X1): Entry control point operations, vehicle and personnel searches, incident response, use of force continuum, and report writing all map directly to TSA screening and security duties. You have done this work. Write it the way TSA describes it in their announcements.

Security Forces / Force Protection: If you stood post, ran access control, or managed a security detail, your experience with threat assessment, perimeter security, and personnel screening is directly applicable. TSA wants people who have operated in high-stakes environments where you had to make quick decisions about who gets through and who gets flagged.

Intelligence and Counterintelligence (35 series, 1N series): Threat analysis, behavioral indicators, and pattern recognition are valuable for TSA positions beyond basic TSO roles. Federal Air Marshal and Supervisory TSO positions especially value this experience.

Any MOS with Customs or Inspection Experience: If your unit handled customs inspections at ports of entry, vehicle inspections at checkpoints, or cargo screening, you have direct parallels to TSA baggage and cargo screening operations.

Combat Arms with Gate Guard or FOB Security: Even if your primary MOS was infantry or armor, time spent on entry control points, handling civilian interactions in theater, or running vehicle checkpoints gives you relevant screening and threat detection experience.

For a full breakdown of how your specific MOS translates to civilian and federal careers, use our military-to-civilian career crosswalk tool.

How Should a TSA Federal Resume Be Formatted?

TSA positions are federal jobs, which means your resume needs to follow federal resume formatting standards. That means including details that would never appear on a civilian resume.

Every work experience entry needs:

• Job title, employer, city, and state
• Start and end dates (month and year)
• Hours per week (40 hours/week for full-time military service)
• Supervisor name and phone number (you can note "may contact" or "do not contact")
• Salary or pay grade
• Detailed description of duties, responsibilities, and accomplishments

Your federal resume should be two pages max. That is the current standard. If you have been told federal resumes need to be four to six pages, that is outdated guidance. OPM updated the standard, and federal resumes are now two pages. Pack those two pages with the right keywords and quantified accomplishments rather than stretching thin content across extra pages.

For TSA positions specifically, your experience section is where keywords do the heavy lifting. Each bullet point should start with a strong action verb and include at least one relevant keyword from the announcement. Quantify wherever possible: number of people screened daily, number of incidents handled, size of the security team you managed, dollar value of equipment you operated.

What Mistakes Do Veterans Make on TSA Applications?

After helping 17,500+ veterans build resumes through BMR, I see the same TSA application mistakes come through repeatedly. Here are the ones that cost people interviews.

Writing a Civilian Resume for a Federal Job

TSA positions are in the DHS federal system. A one-page civilian resume with no hours per week, no supervisor info, and vague bullet points will rank at the very bottom. It does not matter how qualified you are if your resume does not contain the formatting elements that USA Staffing expects to see. If you are not sure about the differences, read our breakdown of federal resume vs civilian resume differences.

Using Military Jargon Without Translation

Writing "manned ECP at FOB Salerno, conducted PCI and 100% ID checks on all PAX" is accurate. But TSA HR specialists are not going to decode your acronyms. Translate it: "Operated access control point screening 500+ personnel daily, conducting identification verification, physical inspections, and threat detection in compliance with security standard operating procedures." Same experience, written for the audience that is actually reading it.

Skipping the Customer Service Angle

Veterans tend to emphasize the tactical and security side of their experience, which makes sense. But TSA explicitly evaluates customer service skills. If you briefed VIPs, trained foreign military partners, managed civilian contractors, or dealt with local nationals at checkpoints, those are customer service experiences. Frame them that way. TSA wants to know you can handle a frustrated traveler with the same professionalism you brought to dealing with a difficult situation downrange.

Not Tailoring to the Specific Announcement

Every TSA job announcement is slightly different. A TSO position at a small regional airport emphasizes different competencies than a Supervisory TSO role at a major hub. Sending the same generic resume to every TSA posting means your keyword match will be inconsistent. Tailor each submission to the specific announcement. It takes more time, but it is the difference between ranking in the top ten and sinking to position 200.

For a deeper look at the USAJOBS keyword strategy that works across all federal agencies, we have a full guide on that.

What TSA Pay Grades Should Veterans Target?

TSA uses the SV pay band system rather than the standard GS scale. Understanding which band you qualify for helps you target the right announcements and write your resume to the right experience level.

SV-D (TSO Entry Level): This is where most veterans start. The pay range is roughly equivalent to GS-5 through GS-7. You need one year of security-related experience or equivalent education. Military veterans with any security, law enforcement, or force protection background typically qualify here.

SV-E (Lead TSO): Roughly equivalent to GS-8 through GS-9. Requires experience supervising security operations or leading teams. If you were an NCO leading a fire team or squad on security details, your experience maps here. Keywords to emphasize: team leadership, shift supervision, training oversight, performance evaluation.

SV-F through SV-G (Supervisory and Manager): These positions require significant management experience. Former E-7 and above with experience running a guard force, managing a security section, or overseeing multi-shift operations should target these bands. Keywords shift toward program management, strategic planning, workforce development, and resource allocation.

SV-H through SV-I (Federal Air Marshal and Senior Roles): These are competitive positions that require specialized backgrounds. Intelligence, counterintelligence, criminal investigation, and special operations experience carry weight here. The keyword profile shifts heavily toward threat assessment, covert operations, firearms proficiency, and protective intelligence.

Veterans with service-connected disabilities should explore veterans preference points and hiring authorities that can give you an additional edge in the TSA application process.

How to Quantify Military Experience for TSA Resumes

Numbers make keywords stick. TSA HR specialists reviewing your resume are looking for evidence that you actually did the work, not just a list of duties you copied from a job description. Quantification is what separates a resume that ranks high from one that reads like every other application in the stack.

Here is how to add numbers to common military-to-TSA experience:

• Screening volume: "Screened 300+ personnel and 150+ vehicles daily at installation entry control point" is specific and measurable
• Team size: "Supervised 8-person security team across 3 rotating shifts providing 24/7 access control"
• Equipment value: "Operated and maintained $250K in detection and screening equipment including walk-through metal detectors and X-ray scanners"
• Incident response: "Responded to 45+ security incidents over 12-month deployment, including 12 confirmed threat detections"
• Compliance: "Maintained 100% compliance rate across 6 consecutive security audits"
• Training: "Trained 25 personnel on updated screening procedures, reducing processing time by 15%"

Every number you add gives USA Staffing more data points to match against and gives the HR specialist a reason to keep reading. For a complete breakdown of how to add numbers to military experience, see our guide on quantifying military accomplishments for federal resumes.

What to Do Next

If you are applying to TSA, you already have the experience. The gap is not what you have done. It is how you write about it. Pull up the specific TSA job announcement you want to apply for, extract the keywords using the method above, and rebuild your experience section around those terms.

If you want to skip the manual keyword extraction and get a resume that is already built around the right terms, BMR's federal resume builder handles the translation automatically. Paste in a TSA job announcement, upload your existing resume, and the tool maps your military experience to the keywords TSA is actually looking for. It formats everything to federal resume standards, including hours per week, supervisor info, and the detail level that USA Staffing expects.

For a step-by-step walkthrough of the full federal application process, start with our complete federal resume writing guide. And if you are weighing TSA against other federal options, our federal resume keywords by job series guide covers keyword strategies for dozens of other agencies.