Looking for IT Talent: Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Hire Military Veterans

Here are some points to consider when your latest offer has just been rejected (for the third time, or more) for the “qualified computer professional position” that is in such demand today. Or maybe your openings exceed the quantity of high potential applicants within your grasp. Break free of convention, and check out this talent pool:

Military veterans are graduates of the world’s largest system of specialized professional and technical training schools — those operated by the Department of Defense. Veterans of active duty military service are one of the nation’s most important sources of well-educated, highly trained, and strongly motivated employees who possess a wide range of technical and professional skills.

Since all the major military operation systems (command and control, communications, administrative, logistics, intelligence, weapons, etc.) are highly computerized, a majority of military members are trained in the use and management of computer systems.
Today’s high-tech armed forces demand an ever-rising level of technical skills and educational standards to operate and maintain more complex systems than ever before. Technical training in the military is on the cutting edge of advancing technology.
Ninety-two percent of active duty military personnel in the United States use computers at their places of duty. U.S. military members have experience in a broad range of computer systems. 73 percent use desktop computers; 43 percent use computer workstations; 51 percent use LAN systems; 22 percent use client/server networks; 17 percent use mainframe computers, and 13 percent use minicomputers.*
Forty percent of military personnel in the U.S. have job assignments that involve information resource management. They include computer operators, programmers, system analysts, LAN specialists, MIS managers – the entire range of computer skills.
The current military is the most highly educated in history. More than 98 percent of all service members are high school graduates and over 46 percent have graduated or attended college.
Military members are given great responsibility and leadership roles early in their careers that they carry with them into the corporate sector. Veterans because of their military training and experience mature easily into responsible positions for their employers.
Military veterans are accustomed to assuming high levels of responsibility for the employer’s property. Service people are responsible for thousands – even millions of dollars worth of government property, computer systems, tanks, planes, fleets of vehicles, etc. This responsibility hastens maturity making them seasoned leaders and managers.
Rigorous military training develops highly motivated goal setting individuals. Military training and experience instill a mindset of working toward an objective until it is achieved. A competitive environment demands that they be winners. This some winner’s psychology can be harnessed to the task of achieving the goals of your company.
Over 200,000 highly trained and qualified personnel will be leaving the military during 2000. They will be seeking jobs that take advantage of their experience and technical skills. The vast majority of them have held jobs that involved the use of computers and many have information resources management experience. Veterans can be great assets to your company.

*Congressional Commission on Service Members and Veterans Transition Assistance *Data based on Army Times Publishing Co. 1995 DoD Survey <*SPONSORMESSAGE*>