Transitioning out of the military and into the workforce can be tough for veterans. They find themselves confronted with a working world that does not understand the immeasurable skills and expertise that they bring to a business. It’s a hurdle that many veterans face as they leave the military and begin to focus on a new career.
So, here are a few items for you, as a business owner, to understand as you consider making a veteran the next addition to your team.
You’re hiring the military “can-do” attitude
The military goes to great lengths to train its members to see a goal, come up with a plan to achieve that goal, and then go out and accomplish it. When you hire a military veteran, you are getting someone with that can-do attitude. It is a person who has spent four or more years training to achieve every goal that’s set before him or her. If an obstacle comes along, that person is also trained to re-evaluate the situation and come up with a new solution that still achieves the primary goal.
Teamwork
One of the toughest things for employers to do when they hire a new employee is to determine how that employee will affect the chemistry of the team that’s already in place. One of the standout attributes of a veteran is his or her ability to work on a team.
In most instances, veterans have already run across a variety of management and coworking styles. In the military, it’s a fail or adapt atmosphere. Successful veterans have figured out how to adapt to multiple management and coworking styles and still accomplish the goal at hand.
Skills and Education
It’s easy to look at a veteran and say that he or she doesn’t have the skills you’re looking for because he or she did not go to college, but members of the military go through training that can be equivalent to what they would receive in college.
For example, an enlistee who holds the role of Information Systems Technician has the skills and training to do jobs such as cybersecurity analyst or database administrator. This veteran received real-world training experience that directly translates to these jobs.
About a month ago, we created a post to help translate military experience to the civilian job market. You can find it here if you would like more details.
Tax Credits
Not only do veterans make great employees for your business, but the federal government wants to make sure that they’re employed after they leave the military. That’s why it offers tax credits to companies that hire veterans. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) will offer large tax credits for every military veteran you hire. You can find more details about the WOTC here.
What you need to know about the WOTC is that the federal government is paying you to hire someone who is equal in skills and attributes to other applicants who may have gone the more conventional route of attending a two-year or four-year educational institution.
As we approach Thanksgiving, we here at Tax Credit Group want to say thank you to all the men and women who have courageously served our country. We are thankful for all of you!