How to translate your military job into a civilian trade

The short version

1. Find your exact code and branch.
2. Search it in O*NET's Military Crosswalk and note every civilian occupation it returns.
3. Shortlist the skilled trades on that list, then compare pay, openings and training routes.
4. Check what each trade actually requires: a license, a certification, or an apprenticeship sponsor's assessment.
5. Collect the records that prove what you did, before you separate.

The rest of this guide walks through each step. It is about translation: working out which trade your service points to. For paying for training, see our GI Bill and SkillBridge guide; to compare GI Bill-approved schools, see our sister site Veteran Trade Schools.

Step 1: Pin down your code and branch

Every branch names jobs differently. The Army and Marine Corps use a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), the Navy and Coast Guard use ratings, and the Air Force and Space Force use specialty codes (AFSC and SFSC). The O*NET crosswalk is organized by branch, and the same letters can mean different things in different services, so you need both the code and the branch^[1].

Use the code for the job you actually did most, as shown on your separation paperwork or service record. If you held more than one specialty, look up each one. A secondary specialty can point to a different trade than your primary one, and you can choose whichever has the better local market.

Step 2: Search the O*NET Military Crosswalk

O*NET OnLine is the Department of Labor's occupational database. Its Military Crosswalk search takes a branch and a code or job title and returns the civilian occupations linked to it^[1]. The links come from the Defense Manpower Data Center's crosswalk of military occupations to civilian ones, plus O*NET's own supplements^[2].

Choose your branch, type your code (for example 12K for an Army plumber or EM for a Navy Electrician's Mate) and open the result for your job. You will see a list of civilian occupations, each with an O*NET-SOC code such as 47-2111 for electricians. Write the whole list down, not just the first match. The surprises are usually lower in the list.

Every code in the "Your military job" tables on our career pages links straight to its O*NET crosswalk entry, so if your code is listed below you can click through instead of searching.

The codes in our tables, and where they lead

We checked the O*NET crosswalk for the five trades we cover in depth on October 30, 2026. This table lists every code from those pages and the trades it maps to. Codes that appear under more than one trade are the interesting ones: they mean you have a real choice.

Source: O*NET Military Crosswalk, checked October 30, 2026^[1]. This is a selection of the closest matches for five trades, not the full crosswalk. O*NET also returns non-trade occupations for most of these codes. Search your own code to see everything.

Step 3: Read a match for what it is

A crosswalk link means O*NET judged the duties of the military job and the civilian occupation to be related^[2]. It is a starting point for research, and three limits matter:

• It is not a credential. No employer, union or licensing board is bound by it. An electrician license still requires whatever your state requires.
• It does not guarantee apprenticeship credit. Whether military experience shortens an apprenticeship is decided by the program sponsor, usually after an assessment or test. BLS says electricians with military electrical experience "may qualify for a shortened apprenticeship based on their experience and testing"^[3]. The key word is "may".
• It cannot see what you actually did. Two people with the same code can have very different hands-on hours. A crosswalk match plus documented experience is worth far more than either alone.

The reverse is also true. If your code does not link to a trade, you are not ruled out. You will more likely start at the beginning of the training ladder, the same as a civilian entrant.

Worked examples

Navy Electrician's Mate (EM): electrician or lineworker?

EM appears in our tables for both electricians and electrical power-line installers, and the Coast Guard rating with the same name maps the same way. The two trades pay differently and work in very different places. In May 2025 the median electrician earned $63,190, and the median power-line installer and repairer earned $95,320^[4]. Lineworkers earn more, but BLS describes outdoor work in all weather, including after storms, and screening for many apprenticeships that can include an aptitude test and a fitness test, with a commercial driver's license usually needed to drive the heavy trucks^[5]. Shipboard electrical work is closer to inside wiring and controls, which is why the electrician route is often the more direct translation. Seabee Construction Electricians (CE) and Air Force Electrical Systems (3E0X1) sit on the same fork.

Army 12K Plumber: plumbing or HVAC?

The Army's Plumber MOS maps to both plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters and HVAC technicians, as do the Navy Utilitiesman (UT) and Coast Guard Machinery Technician (MK) ratings. Median pay was $63,800 for plumbers and pipefitters and $61,010 for HVAC technicians in May 2025^[4]. The routes differ too. Plumbing is usually a 4- to 5-year apprenticeship leading to a state journeyworker license^[6]. HVAC can start with a shorter school program and requires EPA certification to handle refrigerants^[7]. If you want to be earning a trade wage quickly, HVAC's shorter school route may suit; if you want the higher pay ceiling, compare the 90th percentiles on each guide.

Navy Hull Maintenance Technician (HT): welding or pipe?

HT maps to both welders and the pipe trades, as does the Coast Guard Damage Controlman (DC). Welders had a median of $53,750 and the narrowest pay band of the trades we track^[4]. Most welders need certification for specific processes and positions rather than a state license^[8]. Pipefitting includes welding as one skill and sits on a longer apprenticeship-and-license ladder. If you liked the welding, certify; if you liked the systems, look at pipefitting.

A code that is not in our tables

Motor transport, heavy-equipment and aviation maintenance codes map to trades we have not written full guides for yet. Search them in O*NET the same way, then use the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for each occupation it returns. If yours points to truck driving, our sister site Verified CDL Schools covers CDL training, and FMCSA's Military Skills Test Waiver Program may let eligible service members skip the CDL skills test^[9].

Step 4: Compare the trades on your shortlist

Once you have two or three candidate trades, compare them on the same footing. Our career guides put BLS figures side by side for this:

• Pay at every level, not just the median. The 10th percentile is roughly where new entrants start; the 90th shows the ceiling. The ratio between them varies a lot by trade.
• Where the work is. Pay and job counts vary by state. A trade with a high national median can still pay less in the state you plan to live in.
• Openings per year. BLS projections include openings from workers who retire or leave, so even slow-growing trades can hire steadily^[8].
• Time to full pay. A 4- to 5-year apprenticeship pays while you learn, but at apprentice rates. A school program costs time up front but may be covered by the GI Bill.

The home page table compares twelve trades on pay and projected growth at a glance.

Step 5: Check the rules that actually decide your start

Three different gatekeepers decide how much your service counts:

• State licensing boards for licensed trades such as electrical and plumbing work. Requirements differ by state and sometimes by city. CareerOneStop's License Finder lists the board and requirements for each state^[10].
• Apprenticeship sponsors, such as union joint committees, contractor associations and individual employers, decide advanced standing. The Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Job Finder lists registered programs by occupation and location^[11].
• Certifying bodies for trades such as welding, where the test itself is the credential.

Call or email a sponsor in the area you plan to live and ask a direct question: "I was a [code] for [years]. What evidence do you accept for advanced standing, and how is it assessed?"

Step 6: Build your evidence before you separate

Credit decisions rest on paperwork, and records are easiest to get while you are still serving. Gather:

• Formal training records, including school completion certificates and course lengths.
• Evaluation or fitness reports that describe the systems you worked on.
• Any qualification, license or certification you earned in service, with dates.
• A plain-language list of the equipment, systems and tasks you handled, and roughly how many hours. Use civilian terms: "maintained 450-volt shipboard distribution panels" reads better than a rating title.

If you are in your last 180 days, a SkillBridge placement with an employer in your target trade can turn this research into hands-on proof. Our SkillBridge section covers who qualifies.

Common mistakes

• Stopping at the first match. The first occupation O*NET returns is not always the best fit for your market or your interests.
• Treating a match as a promise. Plan as if you might start at the beginning; treat any credit as a bonus.
• Ignoring geography. Licenses are state-issued. Choose where you will live before you choose where to train.
• Waiting until after separation to collect records. Requests take longer once you are out.