How to Hire Veterans in Five Easy Steps

Currently the unemployment rate among US veterans is 9%, compared to 6.7% for civilians. Why is there such a significant gap? The challenge comes from a disconnect between job requirements and specific skill sets that veterans acquire during their military service. Translating their skills into the millions of job openings available today can be an extremely difficult task. And, with the current screening tools and processes, most veterans aren’t even considered. How can your company overcome these challenges and acquire some of the most talented candidates? Follow our five easy steps. 1. Source Military Talent – Where Are They? There are some great resources online for finding military talent such as, Hiring our Heroes or RecruitMilitary. These sites are dedicated to sourcing veterans year-round. Advertising with an on-demand interview link can ensure you are recruiting veterans for your open positions, in an easy, cost effective way for both you and the candidate. On-demand interviews are a great way to cater to veterans because of the flexibility it offers. You can also attend military job fairs and events. Just send an on-demand interview link to top candidates as you meet them. 2. Candidate Pre-screening Now that you have a list of qualified veterans, how can you effectively assess their skills when they differ from the job opening requirements?  Using a digital recruiting strategy for pre-screening is a great way to give deeper insight into a candidate’s skills, personality, and cultural fit. This allows veterans to tell their story better than a resume ever could and also allows you to assess a candidate’s qualifications quickly and efficiently. 3. Recruit Remotely – Live and On-demand Military talent can often be overlooked due to travel costs and time constraints. Creating a digital recruiting strategy guarantees that you and the candidate will not miss out on a perfect fit. Both live and on-demand video interviewing allows candidates from across time zones and regions to connect with active hiring managers and tell their story. Setting up a virtual career fair is a great way to source talent from around the world, quickly and effectively. 4. Host Military Career Events Work with local Transitional Assistance Programs (TAP) or other military placement services (such as RecruitMilitary) to maximize your military career event efforts. It’s a good idea to use digital interviewing as a way to build awareness of current job openings in your company and connect with candidates prior to the event. Publicize your opportunities through a landing page prior to an event and allow prospective candidates to interview on-demand. From there you can evaluate and select individuals to meet face-to-face at the event itself. 5. Join the 100k Jobs Mission Pledge Over 170 companies have signed up to recruit 100,000 US military veterans since 2011, with many more organizations large and small interested in launching or improving their own military recruiting programs. Getting started can be tough, so make sure you have the right tools, including a digital recruiting platform, which can help get your program off the ground. Following these five steps will put your organization on the right path to hiring veterans in 2015.   Have more questions on Vet Hiring? Download our Military Recruiting Playbook by clicking HERE.