Do you think veterans are viewed as superior to other candidates for technology positions?

2015-10-21T15:42:05-04:00

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 21 at 2015 3:53 PM

2015-10-21T15:53:29-04:00

I've experienced superior, but have been told otherwise as well by peers (in their quest to find employment). It seems to depend on who's hiring, and their background.
If I was a hiring official or recruiter for a company, and I worked in the same field, I would definitely prefer veterans (in my case, Data Marines), since I would know exactly what to ask them, their field experience, and determine if they are qualified. I've mentioned this on a topic or two here on RP.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 21 at 2015 3:54 PM

2015-10-21T15:54:58-04:00

It depends on the Veteran's experience and the company. One of the challenges is the separation of responsibility in the military which can often result in a limited skill set for the Veteran. There are many larger companies that have multiple groups that manage their technology and a veteran can specialize, and in that case I'd see the military service as a leg up on the competition, especially if they already have a security clearance. For smaller companies where breadth of experience is as important as depth, I don't think the military experience would put the Veteran in a higher tier of candidate. For smaller hi-tech companies, there's often a need for skills in the latest and greatest technologies. I don't know many Veterans who have built highly scalable node.js systems or implement distributed NoSQL databases - it's just not in the technology wheelhouse for most of the military unless you're working in cyber or info warfare. As a Veteran that runs a global engineering group in the EU and US, I want to favor Veterans in my highly selection, but it's difficult to find in those coming off of active duty the right kind of skills for the technologies we use.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 21 at 2015 4:01 PM

2015-10-21T16:01:27-04:00

Forgot to add to my original post - Clearance, practical experience and adaptability vs general college education and no comparable hands on (this is subjective though).

Pikachu, I choose you (the first ones)...

Response by Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin made Oct 21 at 2015 8:49 PM

2015-10-21T20:49:38-04:00

Here's my take speaking specifically to Information Technology as a Veteran and a Cyber Operations expert. Are there positions where the Veteran can take precedence? Absolutely. Veterans preference at times has been known to take people who do not necessarily have the most qualifications and yet they can still be picked. However, where I work now (24th Air Force - Cyber) there are hundreds of Veterans applying for the jobs we've been advertising. Comes down to for them, do they have a degree (Comp Science, EE, Comp Eng), what certifications do they have, and finally their experience in the military. Needless to say, those Veterans with the degrees, certs, and IT experience are going to be selected first before they go with a Veteran without the qualifications.

Response by SSG John Erny made Oct 21 at 2015 9:55 PM

2015-10-21T21:55:31-04:00

With new MOS's that will revolve around IT and Cyber warfafe and defense I think that troops will have a great opportunity to pick up some great skills. If they also use their off time to take classes and train then the sky is the limit. The key is to find something you can excel at. Clearly the money maker is going to be security given the threats to the online community. I think the days of the desk top support specialist are going to deminish somewhat. The use of virtual desktops and dumbterminals is now the in thing for places like call centers and other cubicle gulags. The thing about businesses is the both love and hate IT. They love what we can do but they hate paying for talent.

Some one contacted me on linked in and wanted me to transfer user profiles and re-image 600 computers for $20 bucks an hour in Green River Wyoming also know as the middle of no where. No travel and no lodging. How about NO! Then to top it off it was a domain migration, the odds of something going wrong with that aspect are close to 100%

Response by GySgt Carl Rumbolo made Jan 4 at 2016 11:48 PM

2016-01-04T23:48:21-05:00

Depends on their background, experience and certification level. I have interviewed both enlisted and officers with great backgrounds, very viable candidates. On the flip side, also seen folks with certifications on paper...but no real experience or dated stale experience and not viable as a candidate.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 22 at 2016 9:52 PM

2016-10-22T21:52:26-04:00

I believe being a veteran can help with employments in technology position, but not significantly. Employers care more for education and experience background. Being a veteran will place you over an equally qualified candidate. Depending on the company that you are applying for, holding an active security clearance is a huge incentive to pick you over another candidate due to the amount of cost and time that is required to clear a freshly picked up civilian. It is also common belief in large companies that military background in the technology field usually does not translate to what you will do on the civilian side.

I contracted with a company that works in Aerospace while in my Junior year in an Engineering major. While I was applying for internship with the said company, the networking with management and other engineers from within the company, and my education background, played a much larger factor than my military service. Being a veteran does work in favor for you as many companies do prefer employing veterans; just don't overestimate how much more competitive the status makes you.