Today we have the pleasure of hosting guest writer, Brittany Fisher. Brittany hosts financiallywell.info, a financial planning website with resources designed to help you make better financial decisions. Let’s see her perspective on hiring veterans below.
About 200,000 military members exit the service annually to begin their transition into civilian life. Before long, these people start to look for jobs at military-friendly companies that will appreciate the skills they have sweat and bled for during their time serving.
In general, veterans are viewed by business owners to possess more positive attributes than average employees. They’re typically highly disciplined, motivated, and detail-oriented, and possess a work ethic rarely found in average employees. If you’ve recently started a business (or are planning your launch), Military Money Matters has some tips for how you can attract veterans to your company:
Know the Benefits
When it comes down to it, MetLife points out that veterans typically possess tremendous skills, values, and worth ethics. Obviously, these traits can prove valuable to any type of business. Many veterans are cross-trained in a variety of skills that can easily translate to the civilian workforce. And they also tend to work well with others, lead effectively, and follow through on the tasks and projects they start.
Start With Available Resources
There’s no shortage of resources to help you recruit veterans, and that includes both private and government initiatives. For example, USAJobs, Hire Veterans, Hire Heroes USA, and RallyPoint are a few of many excellent resources for finding and landing superb veteran job candidates.
Have Your Stuff Together
Veterans are generally used to excellence. They settled for nothing less in the service, and those expectations tend to carry over into their aspirations as civilians.
With that in mind, if you want to attract veterans to your company, do everything you can to ensure that your business is being run well. Make sure your operations are running smoothly, that you are building a solid reputation, and ZenBusiness suggests fostering a healthy work environment.
Of course, a major part of keeping a business run smoothly is financial management. For instance, you must have an efficient payroll system. Research full-service payroll services that will help you stay organized. There are tools that will automatically schedule payroll, automatically calculate and file your taxes, and pay your employees through same-day direct deposit. This type of software is well worth the investment.
Bring in a Mentor
As previously mentioned, veterans acquire many different skills while in the service. Sometimes, however, it can be difficult for employers to understand how these skills can translate to the civilian workforce.
That’s why you need to use a mentor when recruiting veterans. Find a veteran who can serve as your company’s mentor to reach other veterans interested in working for you. The mentor can help you understand what skills each candidate possesses, as well as help the candidate identify a position that will best suit their skills.
Get Your Network Involved
There are other ways that you can use veterans in your workforce. If you have current veteran employees, for example, use them to recruit other veteran candidates. Perhaps they have colleagues who are looking for work, or maybe they have connections to resources you don’t.
Also, U.S. Veterans Magazine advises reaching out to other veterans in your network, whether they are a part of your professional network, family members, or friends. When a veteran candidate is approached by another veteran, the candidate is more likely to trust your organization and give it a chance.
When you are building your staff, start by recruiting veterans. That’s the best way to land educated, dedicated, disciplined, and highly skilled candidates to fill a wide variety of roles within your company. Along with following the tips above, keep researching how you can attract veterans to your business, and leverage all the resources available to you.
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