Veterans Day honors all the individuals who served in the military for our country during times of war or peace. This day is to honor all those who served so hopefully you spend time honoring those in active military duty but also those who have been discharged. The unemployment rate for veterans has declined in recent years, but there are still a significant number of veterans who are not a part of the working force in our country.
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO), like Resourcing Edge, is an excellent resource to help you manage all areas of talent management. We can assist with everything from recruiting top talent, including veterans, to ensuring your company has compliant policies that are veteran friendly. In this article, we will look at the traits that make veterans excellent hires and how to overcome a common obstacle in the hiring process.
Why Hire a Veteran? Here are 5 reasons to start with:
- Collaborative tendencies – As a whole, the workplace strives on teamwork. This means that having people in your company who have a “team first” attitude is a pivotal part of the success of your company. Military personnel are trained in a team-centric environment. They are taught to think in terms of team outcomes and contributing to the overarching goal of the team. This training and mentality would be a valuable skill for most positions.
- Adaptability – openness to change. Military personnel are trained to remain calm during stressful situations which leads to the ability to handle change in the workplace with a calm and collected demeanor. The level-headed approach that a veteran brings to your team can help your business weather the next professional storm.
- Strength of will – the willingness to work extremely hard. Veterans are well known for their ability to perform under pressure and meet ambitious deadlines. They often manage projects in trying circumstances. Almost any job will involve its share of challenging scenarios and time-sensitive deadlines. A veteran is well-prepared for these challenges based on military training.
- Trainability – coachability and the openness to receive constructive feedback. In most cases, military personnel are trained for roles they had little to no experience in upon enlisting. Their success depends on their ability to learn quickly and take the feedback they receive to become better. This can mean that a veteran will be a quick learner in a new role and may be successful in a role even without much experience with it already.
- Motivation to Succeed – In the workplace, this can mean the overall motivation to be the best in the department or company. The branches of the military heavily reward top performers, thus motivating a continual level of high performance. The drive to succeed and the ability to thrive in a goal-driven environment make veterans a top choice for employers.
How to Hire a Veteran:
One challenge an employer might anticipate in evaluating a veteran for a role is understanding how the veteran’s experience compares to a non-veteran. After all, less than 8% of people in the US are veterans. Chances are that the hiring manager or recruiter at your company are not veterans and may not have the same familiarity with a veteran’s work experience. Having some standard questions to better understand someone’s experience is important to an impartial hiring process. It will also help you evaluate a veteran’s experience in a meaningful way to compare it to another candidate’s experience.
One strategy would be to ask the same behavioral interview questions of all candidates. Behavioral interview questions are a trend we are seeing in HR. These types of questions invite the interviewee to share an experience that illustrates their strengths, behaviors and working style. You can take this approach a step further by asking standard follow up questions to ensure a full understanding of the experience conveyed by the candidate to compare it versus another person.
As an example, you might ask an interviewee to tell you about a time they managed a team. A useful answer for comparison’s sake would include how many people they managed, who they reported to themselves, what the major objectives were, and how performance was evaluated. With these details, a hiring manager can compare this experience to the experience of another candidate that they might be more familiar with.
As another example, you might ask a candidate to tell you about a challenging goal they met. You would want to understand why the goal was important to the organization, the timeframe and resources required to complete the task, and the candidate’s involvement and span of control within the operation. With that understanding, you can compare to other candidates you are considering on an even playing field.
Adding a veteran to your team can be a great decision for your company. Resourcing Edge is happy to help with that endeavor. As a trusted partner in talent acquisition, we assist businesses in a variety of ways. Our recruiting team is eager to work with companies like yours on recruiting strategy or helping with your next successful hire.
Resourcing Edge is a knowledgeable PEO that is here to help you hire the best talent for your company. A Veteran can very likely be among the top individuals for your next hire. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to serve those who have served our country. Contact Resourcing Edge today to put yourself in the best spot for recruiting top talent.
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