Hiring Veterans: Tips for New Businesses
Starting a new business is an exciting career move. However, few businesses can be run by one person alone. Eventually, you’ll need to find talented employees you can hire to join your team. When that time comes, make a real effort to include veterans in your candidate search.
Although veterans have a lot to offer for businesses, they’re an overlooked population when it comes to employment. There are several steps your business can take to make sure that your job openings are accessible for former service members. Here are some tips for how you can help veterans out on your end of the process:
Nail Down Your Business Basics Recognize the Value of Veterans
First and foremost, it’s important to make sure your business is truly ready for employees before you start looking to hire. If you jump the gun on hiring, you can wind up with a staff you can’t truly manage. Make sure you hit certain milestones first, such as creating your company’s homepage, setting up an LLC, or cementing all your branding decisions.
These basic measures don’t just give your business a good start; they also provide valuable stability. You should always seek to create a stable environment for your employees, but it’s especially compassionate to do so when hiring veterans. Many vets do best in predictable environments, so ensuring your business can provide that is a good move.
Recognize the Value of Veterans
As we said at the start, veterans are an undervalued resource when it comes to hiring. Many business owners underestimate the experience veterans get during their time in the military. After all, service provides more tangible business benefits than you might expect.
For example, service members tend to have strong problem-solving and organizational skills. This can make them extremely valuable assets, especially in a business’s early days. Business owners can fall into the trap of only turning to a single set of solutions for business-related problems. Service members may be able to spot alternative options more easily and, therefore, help you come up with the best techniques to thrive.
Reaching Out to Veterans
Of course, deciding you’d like to prioritize veterans in your hiring process is only the first step — you then must find ways to ensure they know you’re hiring. Posting your job on Intry, for example, might coincidentally help you to find some veteran candidates, but it’s not necessarily an effective technique for veterans specifically. For that, you should look into working with veterans services and organizations.
There are all kinds of federal, state, and local groups dedicated to helping veterans find gainful employment. You can send them your job listing and they’ll connect the opportunity with veterans who may be a good fit. This takes a lot of work off of your plate and gives you an extra layer of confidence that you’re getting viable candidates back from your search.
Making Your Space Accessible
Finally, when hiring veterans, it’s important to make sure your space is accessible. It’s relatively common for veterans to have some type of disability. The more you can do to ensure that they can easily navigate your space, the more likely you are to set them up for success.
Take some time to look over the Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility guidelines. Where possible, make sure your office space is accessible by wheelchair or other mobility aids. If that isn’t feasible, you should invest in virtual collaboration tools that will make it possible for people to work from home when necessary. These are some simple but powerful ways to ensure that your office is truly welcoming for veterans.
Veterans have a lot to offer your business, and you should be sure to include them in your hiring search. These steps can make a big difference when it comes to how likely veterans are to find, apply for, and thrive at your company!
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