Posted on Aug 15, 2015
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
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Do you agree with the (6) Reasons Why Top Employers Hire Veterans?

http://www.careerealism.com/hire-veterans-top-employers/

If anything this article points out (6) things that you the veteran or transitioning service member should highlight during your pre-screening interviews, on your resume, and during the face-to-face interview. Hold onto these for the future!

The reason I ask this question is because I've seen a lot of posts/discussions where veterans aren't getting hired by the Top Employers.

Is this the case RP Members? Are Top Employers talking a good game about hiring great veterans, but not putting it to practice in the real world?
Edited 8 y ago
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Responses: 19
MSgt Operations Intelligence
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I have to say yes, these are traits/qualities that Veterans bring to the company. However, "We hire Vets" is getting old in my book. I would really like to see these companies actually list the percentages of veterans that they hire. And the percentages of veterans within their companies. My personal experience has been that they talk a big game, but don't follow through.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
>1 y
MSgt (Join to see) Exactly what I was looking for in a response. I believe you have hit the nerve that I was looking for. Are they just talking a big game and not following through on their commitment to hire veterans. When I was in the position and when I'm in that position again someday I will always look at veterans first. I know what they are made of and where they have been. My hopes are that the Civilain Recruiters and Supporters on RP will take notice of these posts and perform a check on their own institutions. I would like to here some feedback from LTC (Join to see) and SSG Gabriel Lord, MHRD on their thoughts about Top Companies hiring veterans. They may have some of the stastics we can look at. Maybe they will chime in today!
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CAPT Kevin B.
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I'd put those in the "can be" category. I'd also take into account why employers don't hire Vets:
- Fear of PTSD and will they go Postal?
- Culture clash and not worth the resources to fix it.
- Poor writing skills.
- Can disabled Vets perform?
and the list goes on. Ex Mils who are looking for employment need to have their receptors going in both directions so they can take advantage or tamp down the errant perception as it arises. A big one is Mil disability does not equate directly to L&I disability so the Vets need to know the differences and be prepared to address it.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
>1 y
CAPT Kevin B. All valid points - thanks for your input
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SGT Project Engineer
SGT (Join to see)
9 y
Very valid.. I would say quite a few companies, even really big ones, fear that they are receiving damaged goods by hire veterans. I see it happen, and it sucks.
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MAJ Emma Toops
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Edited >1 y ago
All 6 qualities are reasons why an employer would want to hire a Veteran; however, the only reason why any employer hires anyone, veteran or not, is that the person they select is who they PERCEIVE to be the BEST FIT for the position being filled. The items on this list might be part of "Best Fit", but typically they boil down to having the skills and experience to do the tasks/responsibilities inherent in the job, having the right attitude/motivation, will get along with others already on the team, will not be a risk to the needs or priorities of the company, and they can afford to compensate them for having all these things.

Where most Veterans fall out of contention is proving their skills/experience from the military to do the tasks /responsibilities inherent in the job. Many times, it's because they don't communicate themselves well enough to a non-military hiring individual who doesn't know enough about the talent coming out of the military.

This culture gap of information/understanding/communication is precisely why I do the consulting work that I do. Transitioning military have to learn how to present themselves well in order to be competitive. Civilians merely need to have some empathy and enough basic understanding of the military culture to ask the right questions to get to the information they need to make an informed decision. Too often, no one is helping the non-military with what they need to know, thus it all relies on the service person to bridge the gap.
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LTC Jesse Edwards
LTC Jesse Edwards
>1 y
I endorse this response and will pound my "how to get hired drum" one more time.
People hire people. People don't hire resumes. The odds of getting hired go up tremendously if someone already employed in that organization already knows you, is recommending you, and coaching you on the "Who is Who?" and "This is this company's culture" intel.
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