Best Practices for Identifying a Military or Veteran-Friendly Employer
Starting a job search can feel daunting. In the military, many of the decisions are made for you such as what your job is, who you work for, where you live, and even your work uniform. After your time in service, you have the opportunity to make these decisions for yourself. Transitioning out of the military or moving to a new duty station is difficult enough, but all of the additional decisions you’ll have to make when you select a new career adds even more stress. It can be easy to develop “paralysis by analysis.”
Only you can choose the industry or job function that you want to do and that you know you are capable of performing. Hire Heroes USA wants to offer guidance on how to choose the type of employer that values your military affiliation. From there, you can begin researching which of these employers would compensate you fairly and is a cultural fit for who you are as a person and a professional. There are more ways for employers to show that they value your military experience beyond saying “Thank you for your service.”
We want to simplify this search for you by showing you how to identify which employers are interested in hiring veterans and military spouses. There are three main ways you can start narrowing down your search for your next employer.
1.) Companies tell you that they are military friendly in their metrics, words or deeds.
- – Start by looking at who is featured on Military Times Annual Survey, Military Friendly, HireVets, and Forbes. In order to qualify for these lists, employers must demonstrate the numbers of veteran and military spouse hires, retained, promoted and types of veteran and spouse integration programs they’ve created.
- – Check to see if they are a Skillbridge Authorized Organization program.
- – The employer has a Veteran Hiring Initiative.
- – They have a military specific landing page like Wells Fargo, Amazon, or The Home Depot.
- – Military Occupational Specialities or Codes are listed on the job description as desired experience.
- – Review the job requirements to see if the company allows military experience over education.
- – Search to see if they donate to veteran programs or offer military discounts.
2.) Companies show you that they are military friendly.
- – They offer Military Differential Pay for Reservists and National Guardsmen or have been recognized by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
- – Veterans and military spouses are in leadership positions at their organization.
- – They have Veteran Resource Groups at their company and empower them to make decisions and launch initiatives.
- – Search to see if they have unique training programs or apprenticeships specific to veterans or military spouses.
- – They partner with Hire Heroes USA directly. They may have targeted email campaigns sent directly to your inbox, participate in our events such as Virtual Career Fairs and employer spotlight webinars or post their jobs on our exclusive job board. If you are interested in learning more about our partners, please reach out to your Transition Specialist.
3.) You hear about them from your network.
If you hear of veterans or military spouses working for a certain employer, allow them to share why they selected that employer and what their experiences have been. Take them out for coffee, lunch or even book a virtual zoom session and see what insight they have about their personal experience.
In summary, keep the beginning of your job search as simple as possible. Prioritize military friendly employers because it gives you a competitive advantage in the hiring process. You know that the environment will be inclusive, supportive and provide opportunities for professional growth.
Brianna Morales is a Corporate Partner Success Specialist at Hire Heroes USA. If you would like more information or need assistance getting in contact with your Transition Specialist, log into your MyTrak or get registered to be assigned to a Transition Specialist at no cost to you.