Every Human Resources Department writes employment advertisements that paint the same dream candidate. In one way or another, every job posting looks and sounds like this.
GREAT EMPLOYEE WANTED
“Top company is looking for a person who wants to work! Someone who understands workplace values, like showing up on time, respect for authority and meeting deadlines. We expect our employees to dress appropriately, be goal oriented and follow through on assignments. The right candidate will be a safety conscious team player who is detail oriented and eager to learn. This position requires ability to multitask, availability for overtime, good communications skills, and leadership qualities.”
Veterans of our United States Armed Forces fulfill these dream requirements in every way. Many of our servicemen and women come back to the workforce with high demand technical skills in areas that are easily recognizable and translatable into the civilian world. However, the skill sets of combat arms veterans can easily get “lost in translation.”
Returning soldiers who held the most critical jobs, the most dangerous jobs, the jobs that required the most sacrifice, also have the most difficult “translations.” These are the soldiers who engaged, fought, and defeated the enemy in direct combat, usually to take and occupy terrain. And during that occupation, these men and women served as cultural ambassadors of the United States.
What makes American soldiers special in war also makes them special in work. Although the capability of the American military to train and graduate these soldiers is considered sensitive information, the cost, time constraints, and emphasis on competency is genuinely respected throughout the world.
Most of the civilian public does not pay much attention to the development of the individual who enters our armed forces. It is not obvious to outsiders that military doctrine and training is designed to foster exceptional self discipline, self reliance, initiative and creative thinking. Above all, these soldiers learn exactly what it means to execute a job in the pursuit of a unit’s (think your company’s) objectives and goals. If that is not proven teamwork, I don’t know what is.
The veteran who returns from the service without a technical specialty or college degree still possesses a multitude of soft skills and characteristics that employers are screaming for. They have leadership training, life experience, critical thinking skills, integrity, respect, loyalty and accountability.
For more on this story by Susan LeMiles Holmes, pick up a copy of the Nov. 2013 edition of Valley Business Report or click on the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this Website.