Top 25 Biases Against Veterans

Here is what 20+ years of being in the bowels of Corporate America as an HR, Talent Management Professional with deep Organizational Design Experience, building world class veteran hiring programs has shown me:

1. Difficulty in Translating Military Skills: Employers still struggle to map military skills into civilian roles, leading to veterans being overlooked.? This includes the bias of accepting those transferable skills as the civilian equivalents.
2. Stereotypes About Adaptability: Veterans are perceived as rigid or inflexible due to their structured military background.
3. Mental Health Stigmas: Concerns about PTSD or other mental health issues deter employers from hiring veterans.
4. Emotional Intelligence Misconceptions: Veterans are often believed to lack interpersonal skills needed for civilian roles.
5. Underemployment and Skill Underutilization: Veterans are frequently placed in roles that undervalue their leadership and expertise.
6. Perceived Overqualification: Veterans are seen as overqualified, leading employers to fear they’ll leave for better opportunities.
7. Concerns About Command-and-Control Leadership Style: Employers assume veterans exclusively use a hierarchical leadership approach, seen as incompatible with modern workplaces.
8. Lack of Industry-Specific Experience: Veterans’ experience is undervalued if it doesn’t align directly with a specific civilian industry.
9. Age Bias: Veterans, especially those with 20+ years of service, face discrimination due to assumptions about age or "growth potential."
10. Assumptions About Relocation or Stability: Employers believe veterans are prone to frequent relocation or lack long-term stability.
11. Overemphasis on Civilian Education Credentials: Employers prioritize formal degrees over military certifications and practical experience.
12. Negative Media Portrayals: Media narratives focus on veteran struggles, creating a skewed perception of veterans as "damaged goods."
13. Misunderstanding of Veterans’ Career Goals: Employers assume veterans are only interested in military-adjacent fields like security or law enforcement.
14. Concerns About Transition Period Productivity: Employers fear veterans will require extensive time to adjust to civilian workplace norms.
15. Fear of Hiring Costs: Employers mistakenly believe that hiring veterans involves higher onboarding and training expenses.
16. Assumptions About Communication Style: Employers may assume veterans communicate in overly formal or jargon-heavy language, making it challenging to integrate into more casual or collaborative civilian workplaces.
17. Bias Against Structured Career Paths: The linear and structured career progression in the military can be viewed as lacking the entrepreneurial or innovative mindset valued in some industries.
18. Perception of Reluctance to Challenge Authority: Veterans may be stereotyped as unwilling to question authority or take initiative outside of strict chains of command.
19. Limited Understanding of Civilian Work Cultures: Employers might believe veterans will struggle to adapt to office politics, unstructured environments, or workplaces with ambiguous hierarchies.
20. Overgeneralization of Military Roles: Employers often lump all veterans into broad categories (e.g., "combat roles") without understanding the diverse range of positions and skills within the military.
21. Misconceptions About Deployments and Family Commitments: Employers might assume veterans past deployment schedules indicate potential conflicts with future work-life balance.
22. Fear of Veterans’ High Expectations: Some employers believe veterans expect preferential treatment or immediate leadership roles due to their service background.
23. Concerns About Veterans' Need for Additional Benefits: Employers may assume veterans will require more benefits (e.g., healthcare, accommodations), which they perceive as a higher cost.
24. Lack of Direct Networking Opportunities: Veterans often transition without the professional networks civilian peers build over years, leading to assumptions about their ability to integrate into informal hiring practices.
25. Underappreciation of Military Spouse/Family Considerations: Employers might see veterans’ family dynamics, especially military spouses or dependents, as a potential source of instability or distraction.

Once you see this, you cannot unsee it. And for some, it takes your breath away, doesn't it?

"Ya, but Eddie, what about all the great work of the 50K VSO's and government programs that are out there right now? Aren't they making a difference? Haven't we made progress? Don't you realize there are bigger problems in our nation right now?"

Short answer is "YES" but it is still not enough as it does not address the root cause. "D" all the above continue to persist in one form or another, in one degree or another. It hasn't gone away.

After 20+ years on this merry-go-round of seeing the same patterns over and over again, I've come to the profound conclusion the system is broken and is in need of a what I'm calling a "Whole Nation" solution that will lead to a reformation of structure.

What has been your experience?

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Eddie Dunn is the Founder of the Civilian Ready Foundation - A Reboot Camp Transformation Experience that helps transitioning service members and veterans master their re-entry BEFORE they leave the military. He is also the thought leader behind the Veteran Ready Playbook, a new standard in employer excellence that improves organization performance and grows revenue, by hiring veterans more effectively.