National Hire a Veteran Day

July 25, 2022 is National Hire a Veteran Day. MRC Global is committed to making opportunities available to veterans by becoming military-ready.

“Being military-ready is an extension of our promise to Respect all People,” Malcolm O’Neal, Senior VP – Human Resources, said. “It means that we respect that not everyone’s expertise and work history looks the same on paper, but both experiences are valuable and can help us win.”

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, one of the common challenges for a Veteran seeking to enter the civilian workforce is that a Veteran may have never looked for, applied for, or interviewed for a civilian job before. They may not know how to translate their military skills and duties into civilian terms. These are usually all new skills he or she will need to learn to land the new role.

For Joe Neal, currently serving as MRC Global’s Fleet Analyst based in La Porte, TX, one of the biggest challenges was translating the connection between the skills he gained over 20 years of service in the U.S. Army active duty or as civilian contractor, with the requirements of the job posting in a short application.

Joe had spent most of his military career maintaining the electronics and sophisticated panels, circuit boards and breakers needed to identify U.S. military vehicles from enemy vehicles and/or signal equipment.

He was sworn into the U.S. Army six months before he turned 18 years old, and two weeks after graduating high school, left for basic training.?After almost 10 years of active-duty service, he decided it was time to leave the military to go to school. He immediately began a career as a civilian contractor, a job that would help him fill the pages of three passport books, and simultaneously worked on his bachelor’s degree and six sigma at Villanova University.

“When I looked at his experience, he obviously was familiar with motor pool and maintaining fleets,” Orlando Romero, Executive Director – Corporate Services, said of Joe when he reviewed his initial application for the position. “He didn’t have the traditional corporate fleet experience but he was clearly a hard worker who was very organized. I’ve hired veterans in the past and they all have that pattern of independence, problem solving and leadership, which is exactly what I needed.”

"I've hired veterans in the past and they all have that pattern of independence, problem solving and leadership, which is exactly what I needed."

-Orlando Romero, MRC Global

Orlando offered Joe the job.

Neither of them could have known that the same month Joe reported for his first day to work, the company would send him to work from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suddenly, everything about the way MRC Global managed its fleet of vehicles had to be reevaluated in the new world.

“I feel like my military service prepared me for this role because it showed me that I may have to reach out to resources further than my grasp, which was helpful being brand new and remote during the pandemic,” Joe explained. “The military also gave me the discipline to understand that sometimes you have to build a process, then improve it and improve it again, and that’s what I’ve had the chance to do here.”

“I feel like veterans are natural problem solvers and always take a lot of personal responsibility,” Orlando said. “I encourage other managers to consider that when they are reviewing candidates. I’m proud to have Joe on my team, as I know many other MRC Global managers are of their own Veteran team members.”

MRC Global is committed to providing opportunities for networking and open positions for military service men and women transitioning into a civilian career. If you or someone you know is a former service member, please follow our LinkedIn page or apply for one of our open positions.

We would be honored to have you on our team.??