Veterans are productive. Evidence attests this. Veterans bring a variety of skills. Veterans understand the value and role traits like leadership and teamwork play. Organizations have a moral responsibility to hire veterans. Beyond moral obligation and patriotic duty, organizations have witnessed drastic success rates in having veterans in executive and leadership roles.
Hiring a veteran requires a particular framework. Let’s look at the essentials.
The best person to hire a veteran is a veteran.
Just as companies expect their candidates to know a bit of the company, recruitment managers must understand the military’s basic principles and culture. Therefore, no one will be in a better position to understand the military’s structure and policies is someone with a military background. Veterans can connect better with someone who has been in their shoes, and therefore having a veteran or a dedicated team in charge of hiring veterans will be better than having a generic recruiting team.
They protect your family with their life; now it is time to show that you care about their family.
Unlike candidates from non-military backgrounds, those who have served in the army and other parallels are very particular about what their family gets in the job they decide to take up.
Veterans are retired soldiers. When they signed up to protect the country with their lives, they were already prepared to sacrifice their lives for the greater good. That is why soldiers are always concerned about what their family gets in case they die in the line of duty.
Companies need to understand that it is imperative to let them know that you are thinking about their family’s welfare when dealing with veterans. In the USA, veteran spouses have an unemployment rate of 18 percent. Is there something you can do to provide opportunities for the veteran spouses as well when you are hiring the veterans?
Give them the honor they deserve.
Companies often club their need for hiring veterans on their regular careers page. This is a big mistake. When it comes to hiring veterans, ensure that you have taken enough measures to design a page that resonates with their psyche through visuals and content that caters only to veterans. Doing this will allow you to expand on very particular details to those with a military background.
Understand their world so they can make your world better.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, more than half of recruitment managers have no idea about military structures, ranks, and profiles.
When recruiters have adequate knowledge about the military profiles, they will be better positioned to understand what profiles fit what profiles in the organization and therefore make appropriate hires.
Eight hundred organizations from federal, state, and non-profit can help funnel ex-military candidates into civilian employment in the US. These organizations also have screened applications.
Companies can contact these organizations for applications, as these organizations get hundreds of applications weekly. The company needs to take care of a team that can help filter through and manages the applications.
44% of veterans leave their first post-retirement jobs, and one-third of veterans feel a strong disconnect with their employers and civilian co-workers. Recruitment managers must think out of the box when it comes to hiring veterans.
Instead of traditional job fairs, companies must focus on targeting social media platforms to scout for talent. Veterans bring valuable life and interpersonal skills to the table to improve the company’s outlook and vision. Look out for them so they can look out for you.
