The transition from military to civilian life is a challenging one, particularly when it comes to building a career. According to one study, of the approximately 200,000 people who transition from military to civilian roles every year, more than half of that number considers prolonged unemployment from failed job searches as the greatest obstacle in the process.
While employees with strong leadership characteristics benefit almost any business, many veterans report feeling exasperated about not being able to add value to their potential employers, particularly as it relates to their first roles in the civilian marketplace. According to one Veteran Job Retention Survey, half of the newly-transitioned veterans resign from their first civilian job within the first year; roughly 65% leave within two years.
Ways to Support Veteran Transition to Civilian Roles
Despite being highly skilled and well trained, almost one out of every three veterans resign from civilian jobs because they are overqualified, underpaid, lack growth opportunities, are unable to secure meaningful roles, or have difficulty adapting to the new workplace culture.
Professionals with military experience and earned acuities such as problem-solving, leadership, teamwork, and decision-making can be extremely useful to organizations. Empowering and supporting them as prominent members of the civilian workforce is important.
Read more to learn how employers can promote a smooth integration process for veterans.
Implementing Veteran-Friendly Hiring Practices
There is a significant communication gap between veteran candidates and hiring managers that is causing organizations to overlook incredibly talented individuals. This is due primarily to two causes – first, most hiring managers struggle to speak and understand military language and verbiage; second, veterans have trouble translating their skills and experience to civilian roles.
as a consequence, many organizations are unable to maintain their veteran-centric recruiting initiatives. This does not reflect a deficiency in the veteran candidates; rather, it is indicative of outmoded hiring policies.
To capitalize on this underrated talent pool, businesses must necessarily revise their hiring strategies in order to make them more veteran-friendly. For example, developing veteran-centric job descriptions can help hiring managers attract the best military candidates. Further, posting jobs on exclusive job boards for veterans can give organizations access to talented potential candidates. Additionally, specialized veteran staffing agencies can help in-house hiring managers to clearly articulate job responsibilities in a language veterans can easily understand.
Offering Training and Mentorship
Mentorship programs solidify veteran engagement and loyalty in an organization. By pairing veteran employees with senior colleagues with comparable or similar prior life experience, c new hires emerge better prepared to apply their military experience and skillsets in a productive and mutually beneficial working environment. Moreover, these candidates are empowered to build strong resumes that align well with their areas of interest within the company.
On occasion, it may be difficult for veterans to settle into their new roles and perform according to the required standards of their new roles. On-the-job training empowers them to better understand their roles within the organization, to improve their productivity, and generally evolve into high producers. Regular training workshops build an internal talent pipeline for upcoming open positions, prepare the veterans for future promotions, and make adaptation to new roles smoother as a result of reskilling and upskilling.
Creating an Inclusive Culture
Cultivating an inclusive workplace culture helps in identifying and effectively engaging veteran candidates; actively supporting them from onboarding to orientation is essential. This fosters a sense of belonging, encourages value, and enables aspiring performers to meet goals.
A business’ recruitment policies must be holistic. An effective method to openly display inclusivity is on online career pages. Websites that make note of diversity and inclusivity as part of the organization’s mission to hire veterans are more successful in attracting them.
Providing Equal Opportunities
Veterans possess unmatched skills that add considerable value to organizations that hire them. The assumption that all of them suffer from mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance abuse is an unfair and unfounded wholesale application that is of no benefit to military veterans in the job market.
Unlike many civilians, veterans receive ongoing training throughout their military careers and enter the civilian workforce with strong work ethics. Not only are they diligent workers, they are also likely to remain in their roles longer than most, due to their dedication and commitment when they are given the necessary tools for success. Businesses that fall for false stereotypes and hiring biases miss the extraordinary services veterans have to offer.
Including Veterans in Human Resources
Many hiring managers are unfamiliar with military ranks, titles, and roles, a common reason they fail to screen and shortlist suitable veteran candidates. For example, a recruiter in search of a warehouse inventory control manager may not realize that a former supply sergeant has all the necessary competencies to succeed in such a role.
Many veterans feel more confident applying and working for an employer that already boasts veterans in the workforce. Organizations that make their existing veteran staff a prominent feature of their recruitment process can proactively recognize ex-military talent, identify suitable veteran candidates by conversing with them, and help new veterans adjust quickly to the workplace as a functional part of the team.
Conclusion
Like other job seekers, veterans also look for careers that are the right fit, but their military skillset and experience are lost in translation when they enter the civilian job market. Even the existence of diverse soft skills in veterans make them potential candidates to become valuable additions to any workforce, the civilian perception of veterans’ abilities is one of the most significant barriers to their hiring. Understanding the difficulties of the veteran talent pool and addressing them efficiently can ensure that businesses do not miss the exceptional skillset these veterans can bring into any workplace.