Transitioning out of military service is a challenging process. One of the most difficult steps is acquiring civilian employment. Military careers provide clearly defined steps for promotions or specialty positions, making them linear and predictable. In the civilian world, career journeys and decisions are fraught with ambiguity and endless possibilities.
Active-duty military careers are rigorous, providing servicemen and women with robust skill sets in their areas of specialty. But military things are not understood well by the civilian world, and hiring managers are often unsure how to categorize a resume containing military job history that comes across their desk. Additionally, servicepeople train in more than just their specialty, so translating all their experience can be daunting.
Bridging the gap between veteran job seekers and hiring teams is essential, and the first step is translating the needs of the two parties into a language they both understand: skills. Rather than thinking about job titles, breaking job openings and history down into basic skills enables job seekers and hiring managers to connect, speak the same language, see beyond the surface, and identify an excellent fit in one another.
Skills Forged in Fire
For active-duty military, there is no such thing as a day off. Depending on their assignment, some are afforded more recreational time than others, but all military personnel know that even when they’re enjoying their off-duty hours, they need to be ready to report back to their command at the drop of a hat. This constant state of being “on the job” means that these people live and breathe the work they do, often under extremely stressful and tense conditions, which sharpens their skill set in a way that most civilians rarely get a chance to experience.
Military jobs come in all shapes and sizes. Still, regardless of specialty, some of the most important skills veterans possess from their time of service are leadership, communication, strategic thinking, mission-focused mindset, learning agility, adaptability, resilience, resourcefulness, and flexibility. All of these skills are related to or included in Indeed’s 2022 list of 10 key leadership skills, which shows that these veterans’ abilities align with the traits that civilian organizations aim to develop in their workplace leaders.
Military promotions are earned through a defined set of steps and demonstrated skills. It doesn’t start with a resume written to mirror the job description. The framework for military advancement is rigid and predictable, and while there are situations that merit slightly different advancement cadence, the processes of promotion do not leave room for creativity or the act of “selling oneself.” The civilian world, on the other hand, presents a not-so-cut-and-dry recipe for acquiring gainful employment.
Why Conventional Hiring Practices Are Failing Veterans
HR departments long have relied upon applicant tracking system filters, resumes, interviews, and LinkedIn profiles to determine the best candidate for a position. Civilians begin learning the art of crafting a resume in high school classrooms. While work history is certainly an important metric showing a track record, often, the real function of an outline is the degree to which a candidate can massage their background into a narrative that portrays the persona being sought out by employers. Getting to an interview without this is nearly impossible. And showing up at an interview with a strong work ethic, a proven track record, and earnest, honest answers does not always produce a job offer. This is vastly different from the military, where individuals are advanced in rank based on proven and predictable earned criteria that can’t allow creative persuasion.
Another important disconnect to note is that most civilian hiring managers do not speak the language of military jobs. Titles such as “Petty Officer First Class Operations Specialist” or “Cryptologic Technician” on a resume might as well be written in a foreign language; HR managers don’t quite know how to qualify for these roles. And veterans spend more time actively using their skills in these roles rather than preparing to connect the dots in a way that makes sense to a civilian.
A third party who has lived in both worlds and speaks both languages is sorely needed. Hiring managers need someone who can break down military job history into terms that they can translate to their own work environment. And veteran applicants need someone to help them connect the dots between their skill sets and the skills sought by job postings. The recipe for bridging the gap between the two parties truly lies in utilizing artificial intelligence inclusively to facilitate skills-based hiring.
Skills-Based Hiring: The Great Equalizer
Hiring based on skills sounds intuitive enough. You might even think, “Isn’t that already the norm?” But truth be told, this kind of hiring has been undervalued for decades. Hiring managers have been trained to focus on candidates’ previous titles that fit within a set of clearly defined parameters as the measure of a person’s worthiness for a certain position. The two main parameters they consider are education credentials earned and job history. But this method leaves out those talented candidates who fall outside the defined parameters or who earned their skills through unconventional avenues but are every bit as qualified to do great work and excel in the position, such as veterans, people with disabilities, or individuals who simply could not opt for a traditional education or career path and earned their skills in a different way.
In today’s environment, where organizations struggle to fill positions with motivated and capable workers, hiring managers need to rethink how they’re sourcing talent. That begins with job requirements. What if, instead of minimum years of experience in a given field, a job posting asked for the candidate to describe their experience in terms of the skills they used leading a team to accomplish an important goal or mission? What if, instead of degrees earned, a job posting required candidates to share a thoughtful list of the ways they’ve learned in their field or applied their skills to be successful?
The truth is that everyone, no matter what they’ve done in their lives, has collected skills along their journey that make them a valuable asset to some organization. What if, instead of comparing task accomplishments through previous titles, hiring managers understand exactly what skills are required to do the task and recognize those skills in a candidate regardless of their previous title? Skills-based hiring removes the labels, the need for fabricating a narrative attached to a job history, and gets down to brass tacks: Is the candidate’s skill set aligned with the skills needed for the job?
Bringing Needed Skills to the Table
Headlines long have lamented the employment statistics for veterans in America, and it’s for good reason. But the problem is not unsolvable. Veterans are hard workers who bring real and needed skills to the table, and organizations are hurting for reliable, skilled employees. We’re living in an age where payroll budgets demand that organizations do more with fewer personnel, underscoring the importance of ensuring each hire is as proficient and skilled as possible. Now is not the time for hiring managers to be picky about resume fonts. The return on investment of skills-based hiring is exponential. It starts with more successful interviews and better onboarding experiences, which result in higher productivity, greater employee retention, and increased profits. Employers quite literally have everything to gain by implementing this hiring practice.
So, for a change, instead of participating in the conversation about how veterans are struggling, why don’t we work to be part of the solution that will truly be in the best interest of everyone? Implementing skills-based hiring in your organization is not only a step you can take to help veterans, it is a measure that will serve your organization well in the long run by enabling these incredible veterans to put their skills to use for the good of your company.
