Answering the Call: Tips on how to Serve our Veterans

As a Servicemember, I am heartened to see the outpouring of support for Veterans today. It’s a welcome reminder of how far we’ve come in a generation and a continued inspiration to feel the unwavering support our nation holds for its Military. Though these expressions are appreciated, I’d like to challenge us, as part of this unwavering support, to follow through with investment of time and expertise in enhancing our support for the Veteran community in the workplace.

On the surface, Veterans enjoy an unemployment rate of only 3.2%, however, there are challenges that co-exist within these measures:

• A Veteran is 70% more likely than a citizen to step into a role beneath their seniority.
• Overall Veterans are 30% more likely to be underemployed than their civilian peers, even when they have a college education.
• According to the Economic Policy Institute, 1 in 5 Veterans — or 1.8 million Veterans — are currently paid less than $15 an hour, despite 66% of this population falling into an age demographic of 40 years old or older, despite 61% achieving college experience, and 69% working full time.

It’s easy to chalk these statistics up to the transition process for our nation’s Veterans or the individual choosing to take roles below their experience level, and there’s a large contingent of best practices for this community – advising increased networking, enhanced resumes, diligent research on buzzwords, or starting their transition sooner. While personal accountability is critical, so is this community’s opportunity to extend a helping hand to the roughly 245,000 Servicemembers transitioning each year to ensure a greater rate of gainful, meaningful employment for skilled workers.

To demonstrate our appreciation of Veterans year-round, there are some simple HR changes organizations can make to positively impact this trend:

1. Invest in Veteran hiring education. Talent acquisition teams are perfectly positioned to make an impact, so invest in identifying common correlations between military occupational specialty (MOS), military jargon, and civilian roles. Google has enabled its search function to translate MOS, so it’s easier than ever before to manage this translation as an employer looking to help facilitate a transition for a Servicemember into its organization. Keep in mind, Servicemembers have been inculcated in a specific language and culture for years, so code-switching back to civilian jargon can be far harder than we give it credit. One easy way to tackle this shift is by building a simple flow chart translating common military terms to equivalent openings.

• For example, if you work in a warehouse, and someone was a squad leader, they likely supervised 8-16 people and could handle a production line.
• As another example, a junior military officer (JMO), has managed anywhere from a specific shop with 3-12 people, to a platoon with 28-43 people, or a company with 100+ people. They were also responsible for planning, scheduling, reporting, budgets, and would easily be able to step into operations, planning, or management role.
• Those running, or working in, a specific shop, would be subject matter experts in that domain, so their smaller scope of management is offset with them carrying more demonstrable knowledge they can transfer to your organization.

 As you ask the Veteran community to learn your organization’s language, take the time to learn their vernacular as well. If you start to engage Servicemembers, you’ll find yourself naturally starting to pick up the language, mannerisms, and phrases. Job fairs and networking events are fantastic opportunities to network with the community. Additionally, most Units have yellow ribbon events that connect Servicemembers with education opportunities encompassing resume writing and interviewing where your organization can actively engage and mentor. These instructional opportunities are critical to assisting Servicemembers with finding better employment. If you’re not sure where to start, engage with organizations like OJRV and ESGR that exist as bridges between Veterans and Employers to jump in with your time and learn as you go!

2. Develop Veteran advocates within your organization. In our organization, we pair with external organizations like OJRV and ESGR, but our engagement doesn’t stop after we attend an event. I review Veteran resumes and either speak to every candidate personally or connect them to specific teams in our organization with mutual interests. As part of our ongoing engagement, our advocates assist Servicemembers with resumes, provide interview tips and feedback, and in many cases, we advocate the hiring managers about how their past military experience can translate to specific job opportunities.

A couple of examples,

• A junior leader who was personally responsible for transferring over a dozen trucks of supplies across 5000km in Europe, neglected to include this experience on his resume because he found it to be an essential job duty that did not require showcasing until I explained that was a perfect demonstration of supply chain and logistics competency. 
•  I had a Soldier working part-time at a gas station, and when I asked why he didn’t use his training as a 25B, information technologist specialist, he said he never realized it would transfer. He was working as a help desk associate a few months later.
• I had a supply specialist tell me their job just felt like shuffling things around in cages until I explained they maintained accountability and maintenance of over $5 million dollars’ worth of equipment, and that as a junior NCO they were mentoring young Soldiers at the same time which demonstrated leadership ability.

I've lost count of the number of Military leaders that I spoke with who didn't think being a leader was a civilian role until I introduced them to operations/project management. Hiring managers are often amazed at the accomplishments of our Veteran community that are under-communicated in civilian terms. It’s often part of the challenge that can be unlocked through organizational advocacy because, culturally, this community’s humility can sometimes be detrimental to finding meaningful employment without the right level of engagement to translate that experience onto resumes and into the hands of key decision-makers.

How do you develop advocacy in your organization? There are roughly 20.4 million Veterans in the US workforce or 8.3% of the total workforce, so it's highly likely you are employing someone that can be a resource to assist, with some guidance and training, as an advocate which also helps enhance their role within your organization. If you’re not sure where to find access inside or external to your organization, start small - most Veterans are happy to assist you in helping other Veterans get a good start in their next opportunity. I personally will raise my hand and assist anyone with questions.  There are also several organizations such as the previously mentioned OJRV and ESGR, or HireMilitary, a great Veteran owned grassroots organization. All of these, and many more exist to assist with bridging this gap, so use those networking opportunities to also network with their staff and build a community of advocates and resources. I’d also encourage you to talk to other employers at job fairs and share best practices. A rising tide lifts all ships, so a collaborative environment helps turn you onto new strategies and best practices. Finally, most Servicemembers have connections with yellow ribbon groups such as Military OneSource or Department of Workforce Development (DWD) which are free services for Veterans, and these organizations are always seeking employment partners. If you are in Indiana, I also recommend you check out INVets and the great work they are accomplishing as a model.

3. Check your organization for bias. It is a common unspoken concern that a Veteran transitioning from active duty will be challenged when acclimating to civilian culture. When this unspoken bias is validated through a resume review, it casts aside the diversity Servicemembers bring to organizations. It should be expected that military and civilian resumes are noticeably different. Additionally, it should be accepted that the Military is only starting to heavily invest in transition resources, leaving many Veterans starting a new career, with a new form of documentation that was not necessary for their former profession. This should be regarded as a learning opportunity; a chance for continued improvement versus a negative interaction upon review.

Be willing to consult with Veterans leveraging your organization’s expertise to craft resume details that talk about their experience and volunteer your time to help explain how you interpret the information provided relative to opportunities with your organization and your clients. For any organization, hiring is inherent to their business, but we forget that candidates’ focus is narrowly engaged in their own experience. We are the ones that need to assist with content, construction, and preparation. This small investment in time for a candidate will show your gratitude for their service and will help ease the transition during a time of change for the person behind the resume. 

In the fast-paced world we live in, we’re already juggling more than we can handle, but these are basic steps organizations can pursue to open channels to the discovery of and investment in new talent, and in what better community can we invest our time than our Veterans? Recent research says 67% of recruiters say it’s harder to find talent, and 80% of hiring managers say there is a gap between the talent they need, and the talent they are receiving. Consider that with new challenges, we need new approaches. If your organization is serious about attracting talent, start today and answer this call to service on behalf of the men and women who have so graciously served our country as part of a network of advocates.