While the unemployment rate continues to remain at its lowest levels in decades, veterans are still extremely underemployed, meaning that they’re not applying for or acquiring jobs that truly meet their experiences, strengths, skill sets, and capabilities. As a result, around 44% of returning vets find themselves leaving their first civilian jobs within a year. And many employers remain confused or lost as to how to effectively recruit, hire, and especially retain veterans. Keep reading to learn more.
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Why Hire Veterans?
As you consider hiring veterans, consider all the benefits for doing so first.
- Veterans are highly adept at understanding mission-oriented tasks and goals, are intuitive, and are highly motivated to get things done.
- Veterans are highly dependable and responsible and are typically very strong leaders.
- The government does pay for a portion of veterans’ education.
- Most organizations are eligible for tax credits and benefits when they hire veterans.
- Hiring veterans offers a great way to brand your organization, especially if it creates and distributes products made exclusively in the United States.
How to Recruit Veterans
According to Glassdoor, 80% of military jobs have a civilian job equivalent. However, a lot of employers miss the mark and don’t know how to properly recruit, interview, or hire veterans for their open positions. Here are a few things you can do to make the recruiting process more lucrative for everyone when recruiting vets.
Consult existing vets inside your organization. When creating recruiting materials or programs for veterans, consult existing veterans inside your organization to gain insight into what veterans will find appealing about working for your organization. Ask them how to do things like translate corporate lingo so that it makes sense in military terms. And ask them to evaluate job descriptions to see if the descriptions will make sense to veteran prospects.
Post the right announcements on the right sites. Once you have job announcements that are geared toward veterans, make sure you’re advertising them on the appropriate sites. Post them on sites like Military.com, HireVetsFirst.gov, TurboTap.org, HelmetstoHardhats.org, and USAJobs.gov.
Use the right resources. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation runs a nationwide initiative called Hiring Our Heroes to assist companies and veterans; check it out for more details about recruiting and hiring vets. Also, consider the Veterans Recruitment Appointment. Ultimately, search government sites and sift through resources offered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in conjunction with the United States Department of Labor.
Host career fairs. To demonstrate your commitment to recruiting and hiring veterans, host or join career fairs that are oriented and geared toward vets. Throughout the event, you’ll be able to hand out a lot of information and learn more about what types of opportunities vets are interested in pursuing at your organization.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, which will cover more information about how to hire and retain veterans.
Learn more about recruiting and hiring veterans when you attend the breakout sessions, Hiring Veterans: How to Attract, Recruit, and Retain America’s Finest, at RecruitCon 2019, in Austin, Texas on May 8-10, 2019. Register today and receive Early Bird pricing! Click on the banner below for more information.
