By Bridget McCrea
Good employees who will see projects through to the finish
without complaining or slacking off aren’t always easy to find. With the job
market loosening up and more companies getting back into the hiring game, now
is a good time to start thinking about hiring one or more of the many military
veterans who are currently looking for jobs.
Related story: 10 reasons companies hire veterans
The reasons for hiring vets are compelling, according to
Chris Marvin, managing director for Philadelphia-based Got Your 6, a campaign led by the
entertainment industry to create a new conversation in America where vets and
military families are perceived as leaders and civic assets. “The best reason
to hire veterans is because it's likely that your competition has already hired
some,” Marvin says. “If you don't put some of these leaders and assets into
your workforce, you'll lose competitive advantage.”
Leading the Charge
Marvin says the fact that vets have been trained by the
federal government to be leaders, team-builders, and problem-solvers makes them
particularly good job candidates for myriad positions. “Employers must
recognize that veterans bring intangible skills that are invaluable, and that
veterans are quick to learn a new work skills,” says Marvin. “The best approach
is to hire for the intangibles and then teach the tangibles.”
A number of industrial corporations have caught onto the
value of hiring vets. 3M, for example, is partnering with the Collision Repair
Education Foundation, the National Auto Body Council, and Operation Comfort to
help support rehabilitation and training and drive employment in the collision
repair industry for America’s returning veterans. The goal of the “3M Hire Our
Heroes campaign,” which kicks off in January 2013, is to donate up to $250,000
to benefit returning veterans and their families.
Goodyear has also thrown its hat into the veteran ring and
plans to hire 1,000 veterans in the next three years as part of the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring
Our Heroes program. Caterpillar Inc., is also involved in the nationwide
initiative, which helps veterans and military spouses find meaningful
employment via a network of 1,600 state and local chambers and other strategic
partners from the public, private, and non-profit sectors.
Reading Between the Lines
A veteran himself, Paul Cevolani, CEO at San Diego-based
business consultancy Novus Origo says
companies looking to leverage the benefits that military personnel have to
offer may need to go beyond just reviewing basic resumes and deciding “yes” or
“no.” After all, he says the applicability of job experience like, “operated
and maintained sophisticated equipment designed for tactical operations,” and
“proficient in the use and employment of my team’s assigned weapon systems,”
may not be readily obvious to a distributor’s hiring manager.
“Civilian resumes don’t always do vets justice,” says
Cevolani, who encourages employers to open up lines of communication with the
candidates to find out how their leadership, teamwork, and technical experience
translate into the civilian workplace. “Get them to communicate their skills to
you and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn just how applicable they can be
at your distributorship.”
Armed with 10 years of active Army duty and 11 years of Army
Reserve service, Lisa Rosser, founder of veteran recruiting and retention firm The Value of a Veteran in
Herndon, Va., says electrical distributors can benefit greatly from the “can’t
fail” attitudes that are ingrained in service personnel. “These are folks who
have to fix equipment and electronics in the dead of night and under extreme
conditions,” says Rosser. “No matter what you put in front of them, they’ve
probably seen worse.”
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McCrea is a Florida-based writer who covers business, industrial, and
educational topics for a variety of magazines and journals. You can reach her
at bridgetmc@earthlink.net or
visit her website at www.expertghostwriter.net.
© 2013 The Electrical Distributor. All rights reserved.