There is a powerful and reliable talent pipeline that is often overlooked or misunderstood: the military community. Comprised of veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses, this community represents a massive and often underrepresented pool of highly dependable, adaptable, and resilient individuals. Hiring military personnel isn’t just a corporate social responsibility initiative; it’s a strategic business decision that can provide a huge competitive advantage.
At Military Friendly®, we believe that veterans are better off for their service and that they are the highest standard for talent. Our mission is to provide you with the resources and best practices to build military hiring programs that are authentic and effective, ensuring you can attract and retain this top-tier talent.
Why a Military Hiring Program is Your Strategic Blueprint
Recruiters and hiring teams face a common hurdle: translating military skills into civilian roles. Veterans and military spouses possess a unique combination of soft and hard skills that are highly sought after in the private sector, even though they might now know it yet. These are skills forged in some of the most demanding environments imaginable.
- Proven Leadership: Every service member, from a junior-level technician to a senior officer, is trained to lead. They understand accountability, teamwork, and how to achieve a common goal. Leadership experience is invaluable in roles from team management to the C-suite executive.
- Elite Soft Skills: The military is a masterclass in soft skills. Veterans are disciplined, experts in change management, and have problem-solving ingrained in their DNA. They thrive under pressure, possess an elevated work ethic, and are committed to a “mission accomplished” mindset. These are the attributes that drive innovation and organizational success.
- Technical and Operational Expertise: Beyond just their soft skills, service members are often highly trained in various technical and operational fields. They come with technical skills like data analysis, Python, and Java. These skills directly translate into strengths in coding, data handling, and application development, filling critical gaps in high-demand industries. It isn’t all what you see in the movies.
By building a dedicated program for hiring military personnel, you’re not just filling a job; you’re securing a competitive advantage with talent that is ready to contribute from day one.
The Military Friendly® Method: Best Practices for Hiring Military Personnel
A successful military hiring program is built on authenticity and a clear, data-driven strategy. Simply having a “military-sounding” tagline isn’t enough. You need to prove your commitment. The Military Friendly® designation provides the framework to do it.
1. Strengthen Your Brand with Credibility
The first step in a successful recruitment strategy is to build a brand that the military community trusts. Not unlike their civilian counterparts, veterans and military spouses gravitate to organizations that understand and support them.
- Go Beyond Jargon: Avoid using vague or clichéd “military” language. Instead, speak directly to the values of service and mission.
- Demonstrate Your Commitment: Your commitment must be backed by tangible support, such as veteran employee resource groups (ERGs), mentorship programs, and clear career path transparency. These are the markers of a true Military Friendly® organization.
The Military Friendly® designation is a third-party validation that proves your commitment. It’s a powerful signal that your organization has met the highest standards of support and is worthy of the trust of the military community.
2. Streamline Your Talent Acquisition Process
The military hiring process can be complex, but with the right tools, you can streamline it for both recruiters and applicants.
- Translate Skills with Precision: Many veterans struggle to translate their military job titles (MOS/Ratings) into civilian equivalents. You need to meet them halfway. Use military-specific competencies and skills in your job descriptions to make it easy for them to see themselves in your roles.
- Access the Right Talent Pool: Traditional job boards are too broad for tapping into the military talent pool. You need to go where they are searching. Our platform provides access to a vast, single-source military talent pool, including a robust job board, career fairs, and a network of veterans and military spouses.
- Partner with Experts: More than 200,000 service members transition out of the service each year. Our experts, many of whom are veterans themselves, understand military culture and the nuances of skill translation, helping you find the right fit for your organization.
3. Measure Your Impact and Prove Your ROI
For any military hiring program to be successful, you need to be able to measure it. This is where a data-driven approach is critical.
- Track Key Metrics: Set clear, quantifiable goals for your military hiring program. Track metrics like time-to-hire, new hire turnover rate, and retention.
- Leverage Proprietary Data: Military Friendly® provides transparent scoring and benchmarking reports that allow you to compare your performance to industry peers. This data helps you identify areas of strength and opportunity, and most importantly, it provides the proof you need to justify your investment to senior leadership.
Conclusion: From Service to Success
Hiring military personnel is a strategic decision that can elevate your entire organization. The military community brings a wealth of unmatched talent, and building a program that meets their high standards is a direct path to strengthening your brand, improving retention, and securing a competitive advantage.
Military Friendly® is the standard that provides the blueprint for that success. It connects you to a proven talent pipeline and gives you the tools, data, and credibility to build a program that is truly a “better service” to all.
Ready to attract and retain the best talent? Connect with one of our military marketing experts and get started.
