Marine 0311 Infantry is the largest MOS in the Marine Corps and one of the most misunderstood when it comes to civilian career translation. Hiring managers see "infantry" and picture someone who only knows how to carry a weapon — which is about as accurate as saying a Fortune 500 CEO only knows how to sign documents. The reality is that Marine infantrymen operate in some of the most complex, high-stakes leadership environments in the military, managing teams, coordinating logistics, maintaining equipment worth millions, planning and executing complex operations, and making real-time decisions that affect dozens or hundreds of people. The problem is not a lack of transferable skills — thousands of former 0311s are thriving in civilian careers right now. The problem is a resume that does not translate those skills into language civilian employers can recognize and evaluate against their job requirements.

Marine infantry veterans who figure out the translation piece land roles in project management, operations, security management, logistics, law enforcement, and corporate leadership at salaries that might surprise you. The ones who submit resumes full of military jargon and MOS descriptions get ignored — not because they are less qualified, but because the hiring manager literally cannot understand what they did. This guide breaks down exactly how to translate your 0311 experience into a resume that gets interviews across multiple industries and career paths.

What Civilian Careers Match Marine 0311 Infantry Experience?

Infantry experience maps to more career paths than most 0311s realize. The key is understanding which of your skills each career path values most, then building your resume around those specific skills for each application. Here are the strongest matches:

Security management and corporate security. Your threat assessment, access control, vulnerability analysis, and team leadership experience translates directly to corporate security manager, facility security director, and security consultant roles. Companies in financial services, healthcare, technology, and critical infrastructure all need security professionals who understand how to assess and mitigate threats — and your infantry training gave you a more rigorous threat assessment framework than most civilian security certifications provide. Security managers earn $55K-$85K, with directors of security at large corporations earning $90K-$130K+. If you held a security clearance during your service, defense contractor security positions offer even higher compensation and your active clearance is a valuable differentiator that civilian candidates simply cannot match. Cleared security managers at defense facilities can earn $100K-$140K+ because the clearance itself is so difficult and expensive for employers to sponsor.

Project management and operations. Every patrol, every mission, every training exercise you planned and executed was a project — with a defined objective, a timeline, resources to allocate, risks to mitigate, a team to coordinate, and outcomes to report. That is literally what project managers do every day, just without the body armor. Construction, IT, logistics, manufacturing, and consulting firms all need project managers who can coordinate complex operations involving multiple teams, tight deadlines, changing conditions, and competing priorities — exactly what you did every day as an infantry leader. Project managers earn $60K-$95K, with PMP-certified senior project managers reaching $100K-$140K+.

Law enforcement and federal agencies. Local police departments, state law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI all actively recruit Marine infantry veterans. Your training in use of force, rules of engagement, situational awareness, team tactics, and high-stress decision-making maps directly to law enforcement competencies. Many departments offer veteran hiring preferences, accelerated academy timelines for former military, and lateral entry programs that credit your military training toward certification requirements. Veterans preference applies to all federal law enforcement positions and gives you a competitive edge in the hiring process.

Logistics and supply chain management. If you spent any time managing supply requests, coordinating vehicle maintenance, tracking gear accountability, or planning movement logistics for your platoon or company, you have direct experience in supply chain management. Companies like Amazon, FedEx, XPO Logistics, and major retailers need people who can manage complex logistics operations under pressure. Logistics coordinators earn $50K-$70K, with operations managers and supply chain directors earning $80K-$120K+.

Sales and business development. This one surprises most infantry Marines, but the leadership, resilience, goal-orientation, and ability to perform under pressure that infantry develops are exactly what top sales organizations look for. Tech companies, pharmaceutical firms, medical device companies, and SaaS organizations actively recruit veterans for sales roles because the mental toughness and discipline translate directly to sales performance. Enterprise sales representatives earn $70K-$120K+ with commission, and sales management positions can reach $150K-$200K+ at top-performing companies. Programs like Shift.org, Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship, and VetsinTech specifically connect infantry veterans with sales and business development opportunities at Fortune 500 companies.

How Do Marine 0311s Translate Their Resume for Civilian Jobs?

The single biggest mistake infantry Marines make on their civilian resume is leading with combat-related terminology that triggers negative reactions from civilian hiring managers and HR screening software. Words like "assault," "kill," "destroy," "engage," and "enemy" trigger an immediate negative reaction from civilian HR departments and hiring managers, even if the underlying skills are exactly what they need. Your resume needs to communicate the same capabilities using business-appropriate language that highlights the leadership, planning, coordination, and execution skills embedded in everything you did. The good news is that once you learn the translation framework, the actual content of your resume becomes incredibly strong — because the experience itself is genuinely impressive.

Here are the translations that matter most for 0311 resumes:

"Fire team leader" becomes "team leader supervising 3-4 personnel in high-pressure operational environments." "Squad leader" becomes "first-line supervisor managing a 13-person team, responsible for training, performance evaluation, equipment accountability, and mission execution." "Platoon sergeant" becomes "operations manager overseeing 40+ personnel across multiple teams, managing $2M+ in organizational equipment, and coordinating complex multi-team operations." "OPORD" becomes "operational plan" or "project execution plan." "Area of operations" becomes "operational region" or "assigned territory." "PMCS" becomes "preventive maintenance and equipment inspection program." "AAR" becomes "post-operation performance review and lessons learned documentation." Every one of these translations preserves the actual skill while removing the military-specific wrapper.

For your resume bullets, structure each one around a specific accomplishment with measurable outcomes. Instead of listing duties, show what you achieved and quantify the impact. A hiring manager at a construction firm or logistics company needs to see numbers — personnel managed, budgets controlled, equipment values maintained, training hours delivered, and operational outcomes achieved. The Marine Corps gave you plenty of numbers to work with if you think through your experience carefully: the dollar value of equipment in your charge, the number of personnel you trained, the operational tempo you maintained, and the results you delivered under pressure that most civilians cannot imagine.

Dominic Landed a Six-Figure Role
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— Dominic, E-7, Marines

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What Certifications Should Marine 0311 Veterans Pursue?

The certifications you target should align with the specific career path you are pursuing. Do not waste money on certifications that do not directly support your job search — focus your time and investment on credentials that hiring managers in your target industry actually look for and value when screening resumes.

For project management: PMP (Project Management Professional) is the gold standard and directly leverages your mission planning and coordination experience. The military experience hours count toward PMP eligibility requirements. CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) is a good starting point if you do not yet have enough documented project management hours for PMP. Both certifications are recognized across every industry and immediately signal to hiring managers that you can manage projects using structured methodologies. Many Marines find PMP certification to be one of the highest-ROI investments they make during their transition because it opens doors across so many different sectors simultaneously.

For security management: CPP (Certified Protection Professional) from ASIS International is the most recognized security management credential. PSP (Physical Security Professional) is another ASIS certification that directly leverages your infantry physical security training. Many corporate security positions list CPP as preferred, and having it on your resume puts you ahead of candidates with civilian-only security backgrounds.

For law enforcement: Most agencies provide their own academy training, so civilian certifications are less critical. However, completing the FEMA ICS courses (IS-100, IS-200, IS-700, IS-800) shows familiarity with incident command structures. If targeting federal law enforcement, focus your preparation on the specific agency requirements and assessment processes rather than general certifications.

For logistics and operations: Six Sigma Green Belt or Lean Six Sigma demonstrates process improvement capability. APICS CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional) validates supply chain knowledge. Both certifications translate your military operations experience into business frameworks that civilian employers understand.

Regardless of your career path, your security clearance — if you held one — is a credential worth maintaining. Defense contractors, government agencies, and cleared facility employers pay significantly higher salaries for candidates with active clearances.

Do Employers Really Value Infantry Experience?

Yes — but only when they can understand what you actually did. The employers who value infantry experience the most are the ones who have hired veterans before and seen firsthand how the leadership, discipline, accountability, and work ethic translate to performance. Companies with established veteran hiring programs — Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI International, Deloitte, and dozens of others — have internal recruiters and veteran employee resource groups who understand military experience and actively seek candidates with infantry leadership backgrounds. For these employers, the key is still translating your experience into their framework, but the barrier is much lower because they already have context for what military leadership looks like in practice.

For employers who have not hired many veterans, your resume carries the entire burden of translation. These hiring managers are generally not biased against military experience — they simply do not have the context to know how to evaluate it against civilian candidates with more recognizable job titles and experience descriptions. When your resume says "squad leader," they do not know that means you managed 13 people, controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, and were responsible for the training, welfare, and performance of your team 24 hours a day. Your resume needs to spell that out explicitly using numbers, outcomes, and business language. Use BMR''s resume builder to translate your military terms into language that resonates with civilian hiring managers. The career crosswalk tool can also help you identify specific job titles and industries that match your 0311 experience.

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Related: The complete military resume guide for 2026 and how to list military experience on a resume.