Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Top rewards of hiring veterans

The training and long hours spent preparing for the battlefield has proven to pay off for veterans when leaving the military and entering the civilian workforce. In hiring veterans, employers report added rewards after onboarding these employees including responsibility, teamwork and the ability to work under pressure.

Almost four in 10 (38%) of human resource professionals nationwide have hired a war veteran in the past three years, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

The study also found that hiring veterans is even more popular in government entities, with 67% hiring a veteran. Half of publicly owned, for-profit companies report hiring a returning combat veteran.

Among employers who reported hiring veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars:

  • 95% said the benefit of hiring vets is they have a “strong sense of responsibility.”
  • 94% said they have the ability to “work as part of a team.”
  • 93% said they “see a task through to completion.”
  • 92% said veterans have the ability to “work under pressure.”


The situations soldiers are put in during training and deployment required them to “grow up fast,” according to Bryan Zawikowski, vice president of the military transition division at the Lucas Group, in a recent Human Resource Executive Online article.

As they complete their enlistment time, "a young officer at the age of 30 can have responsibilities greater than most [workers] in the private sector," said Zawikowski.

While veterans entering the workforce may need help transitioning and will have to adapt their skills to new tasks, their active-duty experiences have equipped them to meet those challenges, he added.

"By the time they come out of the military, they are used to learning new things, used to training and used to being held accountable for their performance and the performance of their team," said Zawikowski.


For employers looking to hire veterans and advice for transitioning soldiers, check out the following online resources:

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