Across this country, former service members garner much respect for their service. As such, it isn’t too hard to convince employers that they should expand their workforce and hire veterans. Unfortunately, veterans are among the most underemployed demographics in the United States. This lagging employment rate often indicates a problem with how businesses approach identifying, attracting, and hiring veteran talent. This blog explores a few general steps that employers can take to ensure that their organization appeals to a greater number of veteran candidates.
Read on to learn more.
Be More Active at Local Bases and VA Centers
A business located near a military base or a VA center is in a unique position to recruit vets from the existing, localized talent pool. Military bases are often open to local businesses engaging with service members intent on transitioning back to civilian life. Getting in touch with such a base or installation allows businesses to engage with a large number of soon-to-be veterans. At the same time, local VA centers are an excellent space to engage with veterans and military spouses living in the area. In both cases, employers can leverage the opportunity to be more visible to their target talent pools and build a positive, veteran-friendly perception within the community.
Leverage Existing Veteran Employees
Existing veteran employees are often an underutilized asset when it comes to veteran recruitment drives. A big obstacle when hiring veterans is developing enough trust such that a veteran candidate sees potential employment as a meaningful and sustainable proposition. Most vets are predisposed to doubt whether they would be able to function in a civilian role, in the midst of a large civilian workforce. A friendly face, or in this case, a person with a similar background to a veteran candidate can go a long way in establishing a modicum of comfort and trust. Candidates that are made aware of other thriving and growing vets in the workforce are more likely to interview and remain engaged when hired. If at all possible, businesses should try to include their existing veteran employees in the recruitment process.
Reinforce Veteran-Friendly Employment Policies
Veteran-friendly employment policies are a big part of an employer’s brand and value proposition when hiring vets, but it may not be enough for employers to simply introduce themselves as a vet-friendly business. Instead, employers may need to increase their effort to position veteran-friendly hiring policies as a prominent part of their employer brand. From branding to corporate messaging to advocacy from existing veteran workers, businesses must reinforce this image at each touchpoint in hiring, onboarding, and beyond.
Create a Separate Careers Page for Vets
The language barrier between military and corporate settings is often one of the biggest challenges when trying to hire vets. Most veteran candidates may have the skills that an employer is looking for; however, they may struggle to contextualize them amid the civilian workplace or even recognize them as skills that translate well in corporate settings. The result? Employers miss out on very valuable new hires simply because of unfounded concerns. A good way around this is to create a separate Careers page for veteran applicants. The page and job listings can be structured (with the help of experienced recruiters) in ways that facilitate interaction and encourage potential applicants to more easily bridge the language barrier.
Work with Specialized Veteran Recruiters
One of the biggest causes of low veteran recruitment rates is the fact that most general or in-house recruiters lack the necessary experience and rapport needed to deal with veteran talent. This does not necessarily imply a lack of competence on their part; it is simply a matter of specialized experience.
Veteran recruiters or third-party firms specializing in veteran recruitment often prove far more effective at engagement, successful hiring, and onboarding. These recruiters have the necessary experience to identify the transferable experience and soft skills in veteran candidates. With their experience and familiarity with both veteran candidates and corporate employers, these recruiters can act as a much-needed liaison between both parties. The result is, in most cases, a marked increase in veteran hires.