If you’re like most small business owners, you understand the importance of hiring quality employees. Veterans often make a great addition to teams, but many don’t know where to look when considering hiring them. In fact, the MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index discovered that 49% of small businesses with 20 or more employees and 37% of businesses with fewer than five employees say it is difficult to find helpful information about hiring or retaining veterans.
So, what’s an employer to do? Simply posting a job listing and noting that veterans are wanted won’t cut it. Read on for our list of resources that exist solely for helping veterans and their spouses find jobs.
Why you should hire veterans
Because of their training in the military, many veterans are hard workers who have been trained across a wide array of areas, gaining transferable skills that can be helpful in small business work environments. There are many good reasons to actively recruit military veterans, including:
- They’re team players. With teamwork being an essential part of safe military operations, veterans are known to be great team players.
- They’re organized and disciplined. Due to the nature of their work environment in the military, veterans have valuable organization skills and discipline that make them great employees.
- They follow through. In the military, under even the most stressful circumstances, an operation cannot be abandoned. Veterans are skilled at following through on assignments and know how to get the job done.
- They carry a sense of duty. Veterans are trained to take responsibility for completing missions and thus bring a sense of duty to the workplace.
- You’ll help reduce the veteran unemployment rate. Although the veteran unemployment rate is dropping, there are still thousands of veterans and their spouses who need jobs. By hiring a veteran spouse, you can help reduce that rate.
- You might be eligible for tax credit. A tax credit known as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) exists for employers who hire veterans from select target groups. Such target groups are dependent upon significant barriers to employment that veterans have faced. Through this tax credit, employers are incentivized to hire veterans from these select target groups.
[Read: 5 Tips for Hiring the Right Employees]
Due to the nature of their work environment in the military, veterans have valuable organization skills and discipline that make them great employees.
Government resources for hiring veterans
There are three valuable resources for hiring veterans, with the main resource being the Department of Labor. Within each, you will gain a wealth of information on how to hire and retain veterans and where to post your job listings to reach veterans and veteran spouses.
U.S. Department of Labor
An official website of the United States government, the U.S. Department of Labor offers a resource for employers to find qualified veterans, get policy and compliance information, be equipped with the tools to transition service members, and learn how to place veterans and wounded warriors in new positions.
Through this resource, you can also find out how to register veterans for apprenticeship programs and how to hire vets on a program that recognizes employers who recruit, retain and employ veterans. As part of the U.S. Department of Labor, CareerOneStop allows employers to post job openings for veterans.
[Read: 8 Founders Who Started Businesses After 30]
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
The Veterans Employment Toolkit offered by the Department of Veteran Affairs provides hiring managers with information on the care and benefits available to veterans and their dependents. This website also includes information on PTSD, compliance assistance, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and more.
Hiring Our Heroes
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation created the Hiring Our Heroes resource as a way to help veterans, transitioning service members and their spouses obtain rewarding employment.
Search the site’s calendar for upcoming career summits and hiring fairs, learn how to hire and retain veterans and military spouses through the Employer Roadmap, and receive information on how to participate in the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program.
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