This is a direct quote from Keith Anderson at Impact Military Talent:

“We found that both from a specialization and leadership perspective you will not find better candidates than those who have served our country. The intensive training and experience that our veterans have puts them well ahead of comparable non-military candidates, if you stop and think about what a Lieutenant or Captain is charged with in his or her duties — sometimes responsible for tens of thousands fo dollars or equipment, and hundreds of soldiers or airman, how they serve under extraordinary circumanstances, and are tested under combat situations in high pressure jobs — you won’t see this kind of experience in comparable civilian jobs. These are extraordinary people.”

He adds, “We have also found a number of companies that share our view of the value of veterans, but there are many out there that have not taken the time to understand what these men & women can bring to an employer – in a job market such as the one we face today, our veterans are facing a difficult situation that has put them into competition with others who have spent 5-10 yrs or more in the corporate world. I hope that more companies look at the extraordinatory talents of these people.”

I hope so too! I also just joined a LinkedIn Group about this topic called “Hire our Veterans!” and I invite ERE recruiters to join us.

I can’t tell if you are prior-military, however, our experience and subsequent advice to military-experienced personnel is not to pay for job seeker services like career consultants as there are so many free services out there that are designed specifically for military-experienced talent.

Between military alumni networks, military-friendly job boards and job fairs and military-focused recruiters, military job seekers should be able to connect with free assistance and advice if they need it.

The one exception might be in the case of a veteran’s resume. It is so important for a veteran to have a resume that successfully translates their accomplishments into terms a civilian hiring authority can understand. This is a key element of their job search.

ACAP / TAP programs provide free resume services. However if a job seeker has been out of the service for a while, or if they aren’t finding success with their current resume, they might consider a military resume writing service that has a documented history of success writing military resumes. This can be especially helpful if the veteran is applying for a federal job and needs assistance with KSAs.

Here is a link to our advice blog for military job seekers:

http://www.MilitarytoCivilian.com