Today we have two special guests ahead of Veterans Day. We are joined by Evan Guzman, former Global Head of Military Programs and Engagement for Verizon and founder of the MiLBRAND Project as well as Carl Germann, Editorial Operations and Management at Monster.
Source: MTMCOINS / iStock Unreleased / Getty
Before we dive into the questions, let’s take a brief look at the results of recent report by Monster entitled Monster’s Best Companies for Veterans in 2017.
This is Monster’s third annual assessment of companies that give back to those who have served by providing best-in-class veteran-oriented recruitment, hiring, and retention programs. ManTech International—a leading provider of innovative technologies and solutions for mission-critical national security programs—tops the list for the second consecutive year, as nearly half of its workforce consists of veterans.
The complete list of Monster’s Best Companies for Veterans in 2017 and their rankings are:
| 2017 Rank | Company | Industry | ’17: % of Vet Hires |
’17 Workforce: % Vets (Total) |
’16 Vet Hires: % Retained 12 Months |
| 1 | ManTech International | Technology | 64 | 46 | 55 |
| 2 | Intelligent Waves | Technology | 37 | 47 | 80 |
| 3 | US Customs and Border Protection | Law enforcement | 31 | 29 | 87 |
| 4 | Lockheed Martin | Aerospace | 28 | 23 | N/A |
| 5 | Booz Allen Hamilton | Consulting | 27 | 30 | 79.5 |
| 6 | Schneider National | Transportation Logistics | 22 | 28 | N/A |
| 7 | USAA | Financial Services | 22 | 15 | 89 |
| 8 | BAE Systems | Aerospace | 21 | 16.5 | 84 |
| 9 | Union Pacific Railroad | Transportation | 20 | 17.5 | 61 |
| 10 | Boeing | Aerospace | 15 | 15 | 92 |
Recruiting Daily Advisor: Do veterans offer more to companies than your average worker?
Evan Guzman: YES. Veterans possesses unique skills, leadership, experience and unique abilities that only those who served will have and be able to adapt into their jobs. In fact, there was an article that talks more about Veteran success: https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2017/07/29/report-young-vets-are-more-successful-than-their-civilian-peers/
Recruiting Daily Advisor: Are companies more receptive to hiring veterans than they were, say, three years ago?
Evan Guzman: Yes! Many large companies are realizing the long term benefits of hiring veterans in meeting business objectives. In addition, they are also discovering the long term benefits of being a military friendly company.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: What do veteran retention programs look like, and how have they changed over the last few years?
Evan Guzman: Overall retention of veterans is still too low and poses one of the biggest challenges for companies. While companies have made improvements, it is still too early to know for sure if these new tactics are working well. Many programs offer opportunities for career advancement, professional development and potential to increase their compensation. In addition, some retention programs offer veteran employees opportunities participate in worthy causes that serve the community, veteran program, and other notable efforts.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: I’ve read that many veterans struggle to find work. Why is that? Generally speaking, are there biases that companies show against veterans?
Evan Guzman: There are multiple barriers that affect veterans in finding employment. It can be a combination of veterans not knowing what they want to do once they leave the military. 55% of veterans are seeking to do something different than what they did in the military. It can also be not being able to articulate how their experience would be applicable to the job and so on… However, the biggest hurdle for veterans is employers/hiring managers not seeing military experience as an added value, unfamiliar with the military culture and/or simply that military experience does not relate to private industry.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: Do you have any final thoughts you would like to share with us?
Evan Guzman: While unemployment may have gone down for veterans, the challenges are still there. Retention is still a big issue for companies that hire veterans. In my experience there is no silver bullet. However, there is a silver lining. Veterans are increasing stepping things up to help their fellow veterans with their transition success and beyond.
The key to finding meaningful employment and stronger retention begins with meaningful conversations with veteran advocates and bridging the military-civilian divide.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: How can companies find vets to hire? Are there programs that they can participate in to meet potential vet employees?
Carl Germann: From the Monster perspective, we offer several tools that can help employers reach veterans: You can place a job ad on Military.com, which has a reach of 7 million visitors a month, and which is part of the Monster network. You can place a Premium Job Ad on Monster and get access to audiences on both Monster and Military. Or, you can also use our Power Resume Search tool to filter resumes uploaded on Monster by veteran status or security clearance.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: The list of industries featured in your survey is fairly diverse, but clearly has a focus on technology and aerospace. Are the types of industries that vets can find work in expanding? If so, what forces are driving that change?
Carl Germann: There’s a greater awareness in the corporate world for the value that veterans bring, and Monster wanted to highlight the employers making these strides and also help our veteran job seeker constituency find employers who recognize the skills, talents, and experiences gained in the service. Although there’s a focus on tech and aerospace in the winner’s list, the initial list of nominees included companies in the hospitality, food service, and transportation industries. And what we learned as we collected the data was that more and more companies have dedicated veteran recruitment teams—in fact the majority of this year’s winners all have such teams in place—and many of these are staffed with veterans. That kind of dedication is making a big difference across the workforce.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: This is monster’s third assessment of companies that hire veterans and/or have veteran-oriented recruitment, hiring, and retention programs. What changes have you seen over the last three years?
Carl Germann: We’ve seen quite a few changes in such a short amount of time. First off, the baseline for inclusion on this list for current-year veteran hires has increased from 5% two years ago to 15% this year. That shows a real commitment to veteran recruitment and hiring across the board. And secondly, we see top management at several of our winners are involved in this process. For instance, USAA (#7 this year) has specific training for management to learn how to interview veterans and understand the value of a candidate’s military experience. And at BAE systems (# 8 on our list) the CEO recognizes the work being done by veterans with a personalized message and a token of appreciation each year. This is evidence that veteran hiring is no longer a responsibility relocated solely to Human Resources departments, but is happening on an enterprise level.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: Are companies more receptive to hiring veterans than they were, say, three years ago?
Carl Germann: Most certainly. We’re seeing veteran unemployment falling across the country, and this year’s winners are prime examples of companies with very high percentages of veterans in their total workforce. Again, the baseline for our winners has increased to 15% (Boeing, #10) but goes all the way up to 47% (Intelligent Waves, #2). That comes from a commitment to on-boarding vets properly and also retaining veterans. Boeing boasts an impressive 92% retention rate for vet hires, and BAE Systems has an 88% retention rate for those veterans who went through their Warrior Integration Program as a way of transitioning into civilian jobs.
Recruiting Daily Advisor: Do you have any final thoughts you would like to share with us?
Carl Germann: During the process of collecting the data we were pleased to have so many companies cooperate with our requests on a very short deadline. Many companies have really good success stories to tell about veteran hiring and their internal programs, and we’re happy to help tell those stories.