Benefits September 15, 2009

Employers Like Hiring Vets

September 15, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Some 41% of employers in a new CareerBuilder poll have hired a U.S. veteran or a National Guard member in the last six months.
Reported by

Not only that, the survey found, but 21% are also now actively recruiting veterans and members of the National Guard for open positions – most frequently for information technology, engineering, management, and sales slots. Forty-three percent of employers stated that if they had two equally-qualified candidates, they are more likely to hire the person with military experience.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

They identified the following attributes associated with military personnel as critical to emphasize in the job search process:

  • Disciplined approach to work (68%),
  • Ability to work as part of a team (63%),
  • Respect and integrity (57%),
  • Leadership (50%),
  • Problem-solving skills (46%),
  • Ability to perform under pressure (44%), and
  • Communication skills (37%).

A challenge for employers interested in hiring veterans, CareerBuilder said, is understanding how their military skills translate to civilian positions.

Employers said it can be hard to spot identify veterans in the first place because they don’t always include that status on their resumes. In fact, 11% of veterans said they don’t include their military experience when applying for positions, while 12% said they do so selectively.

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 4,478 U.S. workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non government) ages 18 over and 2,667 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions; non-government) ages 18 and over between May 22 and June 10, 2009.

«