Veteran Hiring Gap

Author’s Note: I wrote this point paper for a different/specific audience. It has gotten a chilly reception. I hope our crew enjoys it and I look forward to feedback from our unique group of veterans and business professionals.

Background

Transitioning from active duty military to civilian employment or finding a new career after serving is challenging and a new digital obstacle confronts veterans, especially former officers. Previously the interview and employment challenge is bridged by veterans’ assistance firms both for and non-profit along with veteran friendly employers. 21st century recruiting tools designed to streamline talent acquisition may be erecting a new barrier to interviewing and hiring veterans that conventional relationships between veteran transition services and employers isn’t addressing.

The Veteran Gaps

Veterans present unique challenges and opportunities for employers. Military service builds integrity, character, professional bearing, leadership, attention to detail, and unique skills not available to those on civilian career paths after completing baccalaureate studies with similar time since graduation. Veteran’s experience equips them to get started in civilian employment, but employers generally do not reap the excess benefits of veteran experience until later in their career as veteran employees gain specific industry and business experience. Veterans’ initial performance may lag their civilian counterparts, but as experience is gained veterans bring additional value to employers. The respective performance/learning curves are detailed below.

VeteranGap_Benefit

The vertical axis is performance and the horizontal access is time. The linear red arrow represents an experienced civilian business leader career trajectory and the blue arrow represents a veteran’s career trajectory.

Starting Veteran Gap

The staring gap on the left of the graph where the blue veteran trajectory is below the red civilian trajectory represents lack of specific industry or business experience that initially burdens veterans. The gap may be related to lack of industry certification or recognition, minimum years in a field, experience with specific technology, or other experience not consistent with the mission of the United States armed forces.

This gap also exists for veterans with some civilian career experience. Experienced veterans’ civilian counterparts are more likely to have the certifications and/or requisite years of specific mid-level or senior management experience whereas veterans’ experience appear to be lacking due to their years of military service. This is especially problematic for veterans that retired as senior (20+ years) commissioned or non-commissioned officers.

Long Term Veteran Benefit Gap

The long-term gap on the right side of the chart where the blue line exceeds the red is the additional benefit veterans’ military service experience contributes to the employers with the foresight to hire veterans and allow them to gain specific industry and firm experience.

Organizations truly motivated to consider veterans for leadership positions reap the benefit of hiring veterans knowing the starting veteran gap will soon be moot as the blue line crosses above the red.

Veterans Transition Assistance and the 21st Century Moat

Veterans are blessed with many for and non-profit firms committed to assisting them and their spouses transitioning from military service to civilian careers. The starting veteran gap isn’t new and these firms have navigated it brilliantly, but a new obstacle has been erected that requires new tactics from both veterans and the invaluable transition firms committed to them.

Many employers, especially Fortune 1000 firms, have instituted automated resume’ scanning and assessment combined with digital profiles to sort applicants according to binary criteria. Unfortunately, veterans’ unique backgrounds and experience do not conform to binary screening of resume’s and digital profiles and may be rejected due to the starting veteran gap.

Automated resume and digital profile screening reduces the personnel available in human resources and limits ability for veteran transitions services to network and build relationships in those critical departments. That combined with the high rejection rate for veteran resume’s from automated screening and the technology intended to streamline talent acquisition may have dug a 21st century moat around mid-level and senior management positions. The moat is a barrier to veteran career opportunities and to motivated employers who miss out on the long-term benefits accruing in the out years.

The days of a phone call recommendation or networking are disappearing and bridging the digital moat will benefit veterans, employers, and transition services.

BrentB67

About BrentB67

Tea Party refugee from the coup at center right. In charge of cleaning socks out of the lint filter. Junior Curmudgeon Lower Class. I don't give two nickels for a dime.
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30 Responses to Veteran Hiring Gap

  1. AdministratorAdministrator says:

    Two quick notes: First, the fact you illustrate has a more generic application: hire for character, train for skills. Because hiring for skills as if they were a silver bullet leaves the place filled with reprobates.
    Second, by normalizing the curves to C (graphically, by subtracting V-C), you get a J-curve, which is one of my favorite concepts. Pay me now or pay me later, but you will pay. >> That is, let’s invest in the foundation work now, that time-consuming and apparently pointless thing that I say you need to do, or else just slap the thing together and then pay several fixers to keep the slapped-together piece of crap barely functioning.

  2. AdministratorAdministrator says:

    I solved my veteran problem long ago by quickly realizing that any place which doesn’t see the benefit in hiring military veterans will not see the value in hiring me in specific. I find it easy to walk away from dumps full of hippies.

  3. AdministratorAdministrator says:

    Naturally, I agree with your analysis. But that is because I already agree with it. No doubt you would like to convince the unwashed. So to nit-pick, some evidence to support your claims made and illustrated would help this article find a better reception, I should think.
    One of the claims made graphically is that civilians for some reason cannot accrue value in a compounding fashion as veterans do. That’s a hefty claim, and one which is sure to freeze out many civilian readers.
    While providing an exhaustive or comprehensive account of the benefits accrued would be as pointless as it is impossible, a few data points should be exercised and taken as exemplars of the larger point.

  4. BrentB67BrentB67 says:

    Admin, the target audience for this is the plethora of veteran’s assistance groups both for and non/profit.

    They work tirelessly telling veterans how to wear a tie, sit up straight, format a resume’, and answer “Tell me about yourself…” in under 2 minutes. That is great and veterans reap the benefits.

    What these firms do not do is build awareness of what veterans can bring to the table and then sit around scratching heads on why it is so hard to get veterans hired.

    They are massaging supply and ignoring cultivating demand. My assessment of the situation was not well received.

    I appreciate your comments.

  5. PencilvaniaPencilvania says:

    Looking at it from the PR point of view, it sounds like the veterans’ advocacy groups should target the HR department of one or two national companies, that are lagging in veteran hiring, for a campaign. The ‘Hire for character, train for skill’ mantra is the perfect theme for that; and also lobbying for these companies to change their automatic screening software to channel resumes with the ‘veteran’ box checked into a pile that is read by a human being to be fully considered. If the PR successfully changes one company’s hiring, ring the bell about that success to persuade others to succeed with veterans as well.

  6. BrentB67BrentB67 says:

    Pencil, great point, but what we are seeing is two (2) problems.

    The first is that every company wants to put a banner on their website that they support or hire veterans, but the reality often lags behind the marketing. They want the credit for supporting veterans, but don’t want to do the work it takes to make it happen.

    The second is that HR for many companies has been reduced to running the resume’ matching/filtering software, cataloging drug/alcohol testing, and ensuring compliance with myriad progressive hiring mandates. HR has less resources to build relationships with transition firms and outsource talent acquisition to black box programs.

  7. PencilvaniaPencilvania says:

    ah yes, ‘myriad progressive hiring mandates’ – understand. Well, we have a very pro-veteran president now, with a 140-character bully pulpit; have to find a way to catch his attention. I would think a well-spoken vet with business knowledge, who’s good at invocations and just had an excellent shave that morning, would make an impression . . .

  8. ctlaw says:

    “the horizontal access is time”

    axis

  9. ctlaw says:

    I think you need to flesh out the background and expand a bit particularly regarding describing the non-veteran you are comparing the veteran to.

    Assume your veteran is a 42-year old, 20-year, infantry officer interviewing for a position selling widgets.

    Are you comparing him to a 22-year old fresh college grad, a 42-year old person with 20 years’ widget sales experience a 32-year old person with 10 years’ widget sales experience, or a 42-year old laid off computer programmer who wants to get into widget sales?

    Perhaps you should compare to all these and more.

    • BrentB67BrentB67 says:

      CTLaw, I would like to do just that, but this was a 2 pager that went to some transition firms and a prominent private equity firm.

      The intent is to compare similar ages.

      Example: 25 year USN retired Captain whose last command was deep draft nuclear power command e.g. aircraft carrier versus 48-50 year old executive both applying for a C-suite position. The aircraft carrier captain will never make it past the resume’ filter.

      Another example 30-35 year old aviator with undergrad business degree separating and applying for an analyst or junior portfolio manager position with a buy side money management firm. The former aviator regardless of service never makes it through the resume’ matching filter.

      • AdministratorAdministrator says:

        Well, if a 25-year O-6 with a carrier command under his belt can’t work some contacts, he’s not bringing much to the table anyway.
        The whole world runs on personal contacts, even the military once you get past a certain point, and any veteran who cannot get into that had better stay for life and suck up that retirement.

        If a veteran brings so much to the table, then he should be able to crack the nut on landing a civilian job. The questions are how to A) translate the veteran’s value so that the civilian HR/mgt droid can understand it, and how to B) re-orient the veteran to the new world, which he will neither save nor change, but contribute to if he is lucky.

        • BrentB67BrentB67 says:

          Ball, in years past I agree with you entirely, but what I am seeing now is that the value of personal contacts is diminishing for a variety of reasons.

          1. HR has turned from support department to compliance legal gatekeeper and elevated in the decision making hierarchy. This is very bad.

          2. HR is relying more on automation, see Taleo, to sift applicants. There are less people in the gatekeeper department to form those relationships with. Translating military experience to civilian terms doesn’t matter. What matters is exact experience and age matching.

          3. The average age of HR managers and gatekeepers is dropping dramatically. I know HR managers of large enterprises that are <35 with reports <30. That means millennial and that means raised in a digital world where the machine matching algorithm is absolute binary truth. Personal relationship, nuance, etc. is meaningless. There is a formula, flow chart, app that receives input and generates an answer that is treated as hiring gospel. Personal contact value is near zero.

          4. I've personally been interested in a position at a firm founded by a prominent USNA grad and former presidential candidate. I reached out to the hiring manager and networked with a very respected pro-bono veteran placement service also founded by a USNA grad thinking if I bracket the threat with networking my chances of interview increase 2-3x. The response from both is there is absolutely no way I could set foot on the campus and speak to the hiring manager or anyone unless I went through the digital matching process in HR first. Rejected instantly.

  10. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    What is the time it takes for the investment to pay off?

  11. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    Brent, good ideas are rarely treated well on the first go around. Truly bad ideas with great code words is what you want for a great reception. Lying helps.

  12. EThompson says:

    George W. has taken up painting in his spare time and has devoted an entire section of his library to portraits of veterans he has met and considers good friends. He has started a foundation headed by vets to help their military brethren acclimate to civilian life, develop interview skills, and learn how to educate future employers how the discipline, character and skillsets of a military life can translate seamlessly into the corporate world. YTD this organization has placed over 1,000 vets. Can’t think of a better use of a former president’s influence and time!

    I myself have hired an ex-Marine to set up my computer systems and to install security programs. I am consistently impressed with his knowledge, professionalism, and promptness. He now has over 800 accounts yet manages to return every single text or call within 24 hours. (As an interesting aside, although he was involved in a lot of direct combat, he was also Mattis’ private driver in Iraq!)

    • BrentB67BrentB67 says:

      ****

      If there were a few more putting their time and money to the issue like you this wouldn’t be such an issue.

      • EThompson says:

        You know Brent, I actually didn’t hire this soldier based upon his military background. I was just impressed by his efficiency and competency plus he also had a 4 star recommendation among his clientele on the Internet. :)

        • BrentB67BrentB67 says:

          That is key Liz. You hired him for the value he brings you and your enterprise, but you didn’t discount his USMC service as many firms do when considering him for an interview.

          The point of the article isn’t that companies should hire veterans based solely on their service. The point is that that firms shouldn’t exclude interviewing veterans because their unique resume’s do not match an algorithm.

          Additionally, you are reaping the benefits of having given him consideration for the position.

  13. DevereauxDevereaux says:

    There are firms, the most successful probably being Career Builder, who specialize in finding the right guy for the right position.

    Perhaps some time spent with them might be useful.

  14. EThompson says:

    I really enjoyed this post so I have to add one more comment:

    Whether its the Navy, Seal Team 6, Army, Rangers, Marines, or Air Force, these young men and women develop enormously impressive tech skills.

    See:
    armedforcesmuseum.com/top-ten-most-elite-special-operation-units-in-the-us-military/

  15. TKC1101TKC1101 says:

    Veterans , especially senior NCOs and Officers face the challenges you describe well. I have used some networking to help out a few over the years and my learning is summarized as follows:

    -Managerially skilled vets , which should include NCOs and officers for the most part are no different than any experienced manager looking to switch industries, but they need to present themselves as such.
    – converting the military jargon to simple terms of: managed such a number of people, such and organization, responsible for budgets and assets of X dollars,
    – performed personnel reviews and development
    – Measured success of mission in the following ways, improved process in the following ways

    Most folks in the military had to adapt to several different challenges over their tenure, tell stories about how you had to learn under pressure and on the job each time.

    If you are talking to someone with a skills list, you are coming in at too low a level.

    My best advice was to network to the owner of the business. If they give you a listen, the internal barriers all fall away many times.

    Also, if you have not read “Never Eat Alone”, stop what you are doing and read it, and then go about your career hunt.

  16. PencilvaniaPencilvania says:

    ‘Never Eat Alone’ – did Mike Pence write the foreword?

    :)

  17. EThompson says:

    “As Ferrazzi discovered in early life, what distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships—so that everyone wins.”

    Great point. A business relationship has to be a win-win for both parties or it fails and will never be sustainable. I have and continue to do a lot of business with companies who give me everything I ask for because I do the following:

    1. Narrow my resources to make the few I keep important.
    2. Insure that they get the floor space, visuals, and window exposure necessary to grow the business.
    3. Write substantial yet sensible orders that are paid on time.
    4. Keep in constant communication with the owners, the merchandisers, and the salesmen. Everyone is critical to my success and I’m not too shy to pressure them about their individual responsibilities.
    5. Know that people who are good business owners/entrepreneurs/manufacturers like to be challenged. It gives them confidence in YOU.

  18. EThompson says:

    Oh wait… Isn’t this what the Donald does? I apologize for stealing a few pages from his playbook. :)