Veterans Work Well

If you’re an employer, veterans are a competitive advantage.

If you’re a veteran, you’ve got so much to bring to the table, and a career change will be one of the best highlights of your CV/Resume.

I’m not a veteran but I have several veterans in my family and I’ve worked with numerous veterans during my career.

Hiring veterans is such a no-brainer to me, so it baffles me to think that misconceived perceptions around veterans can get in the way of their post-military career journey.

These are people who have been trained in a high-performing, collaborative and dedicated culture, which evolved it’s approach to excellence over hundreds of years. Why wouldn’t you want someone like that in your workforce?

It’s also worth noting that some people are concerned that a veteran wouldn’t be a cultural fit in a workforce.

So here is a friendly reminder that you don’t want cultural fits – you want cultural adds.

You want people who can respectfully join your culture but bring their own perspectives, values and behaviours, adding to the sum total expertise and perspectives of your group.

Their difference in experience, training and insight will only add to the collective knowledge of your team, department or organisation. If you integrate everyone respectfully, you will benefit from better innovation and delivery as a result of the larger sum-total of your group’s experience and knowledge.

Here’s a British advert from a few years ago in support of hiring veterans in the workforce. If I can’t convince you, maybe Joanna Lumley will: