Looking To Hire In All The Wrong PlacesByRaymond D. Matkowsky
Many companies claim that they just can’t find people qualified to fill a record 6.2 million open positions. Every open position a company has represents “money left on the table.” It also represents lost productivity and a drag on economic growth.
Many companies are focused on meeting quarterly earnings. They don’t want to spend the money on training individuals. They want people that can “hit ground running.” It is debatable whether or not such a person does exist.
Companies, however, overlook veterans. Veterans probably can provide them with more than what they are looking for. The Services teach their members everything from customer intelligence to robotics. Leadership skills, decision making, and team building are taught to younger recruits than at any other organizations. If you are looking for a person that can come as close as possible to “hitting the ground running,” a veteran maybe your choice. Other organizations cannot compete with the level of top notch extensive training and responsibility one gets at an early age from military service. However, it has been reported in Inc Magazine that approximately one-third of veterans are underemployed.
Exact cost numbers are hard to come by, but figures for the U.S. Army indicates that the range is within US$50,000 to US$72,000 spent to train a soldier. It is probably much the same for other Services. By hiring a veteran, you will be buying a lot for even a low level person plus you will have had someone else paying for most of his or her training.
Finding Qualified Veterans
Where do you find qualified Vets? The first place is to go to your normal source and make it known that you may be interested in hiring a vet. When you scan a resume be attuned to anything that indicates a person may be a veteran. Engage that particular person. Have him or her speak about their time in the military, their training and most importantly their responsibilities. You may find a “diamond in the rough.”
There are a number of organizations that may be of help. Every town and surrounding area has a number of Veterans organizations, such as the VFW in the United States, that may be able to hook you up with a qualified veteran at little or no cost. Other countries may have similar organizations.
There are more formal organizations, that are led by the Veterans Administration or the Department of Labor in the United States, such as MilitaryHire.com, Military.com, USAjobs, Vets.gov and CareerOneStop.org, which is sponsored jointly by both the United States Department of Labor and The State of Minnesota (USA). Each state probably has a local office to consult. There are also local colleges that have Veterans’ retraining programs. Each one may be a source of a number of qualified candidates.
Candidates may be more than qualified. They may be more up to date than many others are in industry. Many of the innovations that have been put to use by industry had its start in the military. The Internet, GPS, medical technology advances, etc. to name a few. The industrial usage came years after they were first proven by the military.
Hire a Vet, say “Thanks”
I have little doubt that hiring Veterans can go a long way towards filling the 6.2 million open positions that industry has. It is also a way to say “Thanks for your Service.”
If you have any further suggestions, do not keep it to yourself. Help your fellow readers!
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions drop me a line at rdm@datastats.com.
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