- The benefits of hiring a veteran are many.
- On the one hand, hiring veterans helps those who should be held in the highest regard for defending our freedom.
- But did you know that hiring a veteran can exponentially benefit your company in ways you might not have thought of?
- Keep reading to find out what the 10 top benefits you as an employer can gain by hiring a veteran.
Since the beginning of the Gulf War and all wars that have followed, there has been a push for American businesses, no matter their size, to hire veterans.
By hiring a veteran, you give a soldier the opportunity to reintegrate back into society after having been to war.
It’s a prideful prospect for an individual who we should celebrate with honor and respect after having defended our freedom and way of life. To that end, giving a veteran the chance to begin a self-sustained post-military life is a gift both the veteran and you can find enormously valuable.
But you might wonder how your business can benefit by hiring a veteran.
According to an article published on America’s Job Exchange.com titled Why You Should Hire Veterans? there are major positives you and your business can gain by having the presence of a military veteran on you staff.
- Veterans are qualified for the job.
As the article on American’s Job Exchange highlights, from the unique skills veterans bring to the table, including leadership and teamwork, to encouraging diversity, and finally meeting OFCCP compliance initiatives, hiring a veteran can help build a dynamic team and augment your affirmative action planning.
The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) impacts affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) hiring, specifically when it comes to hiring veterans.
If your company works with the government, the VEVRAA and EEO mandate that your HR team reach out to qualified veterans to ensure no discrimination takes place in the hiring process within your business.
- Veterans are skilled.
As an employer, it is important to recognize the unique skills veterans bring to the workplace.
Veterans have key skills and training that adapt well to civilian jobs and can help fill your recruitment needs. When hiring veterans, you should focus on their unique skills and training.
- Veterans have leadership skills.
Many with military training have been conditioned to take on leadership roles in one capacity or the other.
Maybe the veteran who you seek to hire was once responsible for his as well as others’ behavior, and whether that responsibility took shape on the battlefield or in more of a headquarters-like setting, a veteran will know how to lead, which can have the potential to make your company more efficient.
- Security clearances.
Due to the very nature of working as government employees, veterans arrive with background and security checks already in place.
This has its benefits if your business is affiliated with the government, a subsidiary of the government, or if you or a company you deal with is a subcontractor of the government.
Security clearances are vital to most government work, and if the veteran you are interviewing has one or more clearances, nab him or her as fast as you can.
- Knowledge of cutting-edge technologies.
Whether it’s the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or National Guard, the military as a whole is one of the most technologically advanced entities on the planet.
In fact, it’s safe to say a veteran probably has had more exposure to technology during his or her tours than any non-military personnel that you can hire.
Since the military relies on sophisticated technologies, veterans are naturally highly skilled in this area.
This can benefit you if:
- You have a particularly high-technology oriented job opening to fill.
- You are strapped for time and manpower which minimizes your ability to provide training.
- Ability to work under pressure.
Adaptability is a large part of being a soldier. Given this, those who have served in the military are used to ever-changing situations; nothing is ever scripted as it can be for non-military people.
To that end, veterans are familiar with:
- Long hours
- Difficult circumstances
- Ever changing conditions
- Ever changing responsibilities
There’s no doubt that these skills can easily translate to a civilian job and business.
Veteran hires can be particularly helpful for start-up companies in which due to their infancy and normally small staff size, many responsibilities have to be shared among the employees.
- Teamwork.
Think of all that the military does, from actual battle to building and rebuilding of military and civilian infrastructures, and you will understand how well veterans can coexist within a team environment.
Veterans realize how each individual in a team is vital for the group's productivity, success and morale.
Additionally, because the military is the most integrated entity in our country, veterans have learned to work side-by-side with individuals regardless of race, color, ethnic background, religion or economic status.
- Efficiency and Diligence.
Because of their extensive and intense training which emphasizes responsibility and accountability, veterans tend not to screw around on the job.
Veterans are trained to meet deadlines in a timely fashion in spite of any stress, and to complete their work to the highest standard possible.
Best of all for business owners, veterans understand the importance of sticking with a task until it is completed.
- Veterans are mentally and physically healthy.
Yes, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a very real and dangerous affliction. But by no means should that preclude you from hiring a veteran.
First of all, PTSD can be found in virtually any person in any part of society, the military notwithstanding.
And it doesn’t take only the exposure to warfare to trigger PTSD in a person; PTSD can come from something as civilian as an automobile accident.
Given that, a large majority of military veterans are perfectly healthy both mentally and physically.
This comes from a direct effect of their extensive training, which gives them an acute awareness of health and safety protocols.
Veterans generally represent a drug-free workforce that can be greatly beneficial to a company via protection of employees, property and materials.
- Integrity and loyalty.
Veterans have a proven track record of integrity and loyalty that can represent a huge positive to all employers.
This translates into veterans as sincere, reliable and trustworthy employees.
These characteristics, along with a veteran’s knack toward leadership can form the perfect employee package on which you can rely.
Conclusion
As the America’s Job Exchange article outlines, it is quite clear when considering the 10 benefits above that veterans are desirable job candidates.
With their training, adaptability and commitment already forged and tried under adverse conditions, as well as their willingness to work once they’ve left the service, veterans are difficult to refuse as a workforce.
If anything, veterans are the positive employees your company can make the best of because that’s what veterans are used to giving…
…Their best.
