Looking for a job after you’ve served your duty to your country? Military members go through rigorous training and learn diverse sets of skills to prepare them to defend their country. Those skills include leadership, communication, discipline, dedication, and a host of others that companies worldwide value in the workplace.
Yet, post-9/11 veterans have had the most trouble finding employment during and following service. In fact, military personnel have a higher rate of unemployment than the general United States population.
There are a handful of companies whose goal is to combat the disappointing statistics by actively recruiting veterans into the workforce. Here are 15 major companies that aim to come as close as they can to making as a big a difference as the veterans they employ.
JetBlue
JetBlue’s “Vets In Blue” program actively looks to recruit and retain veterans through a series of outreach and network events, career fairs, and mentoring opportunities. Each event is carefully executed to attract the best talent from a large applicant pool.
The airline launched its veteran program in 2012 as a way of giving back to the community by helping those who have served the country.
Think you’ll have trouble applying your skills? The unknown is what many veterans fear when going back into the workforce.
Currently, the company employs over 1,000 veteran crew members in a diverse set of areas: support centers, technical operations, customer support, flight operations, inflight services, and more.
The company is a part of the “100,000 Jobs Mission” – a mission created by a group of companies whose objective is to collectively hire 200,000 veterans by 2020.
Verizon
When it comes to deciphering what different companies can do for our veterans, it’s good to let the numbers speak for themselves. As of the now, Verizon has employed over 13,000 veterans. Like JetBlue, it is also a part of the 100,000 Jobs Mission.
Take it from the veterans themselves. The company’s website features several veterans who discuss what it’s like to work for Verizon. Each interview is meant to convey how veterans in different areas of the company have transitioned from service into the workforce.
The website also features several different resources for veterans, such as a military-to-civilian resume guide, military talent network, and even military discounts.
Amazon
When military recruitment is important to the founder(s) of a company, that belief is resonated through that company’s ethos. Jeff Bezos, founder of the Amazon, said:
“We actively seek leaders who can invent, think big, have a bias for action and deliver results on behalf of our customers. These principles look very familiar to men and women who have served our country in the armed forces, and we find that their experience leading people is invaluable in our fast-paced work environment.”
Amazon offers a robust network of programs to help its employees succeed, and its network of veterans offers mentoring and various support groups.
Earlier this year, Amazon committed to hiring 25,000 veterans within the next five years, and aimed to train 10,000 veterans and military spouses outside of the company in cloud computing- a sought after skill in tech companies worldwide.
The Amazon veteran portal showcases several employed veterans, who tell their story and what they do at the company, making it easy to relate to those who have been in their shoes before.
Sprint
“You’ve faithfully served your country. Now serve with a winning team where hard work, integrity, strong commitment and teamwork are highly valued.”
These are the word’s displayed on Sprint’s veteran job portal. Sprint recognizes the commitment made by veterans and believes they can have the same type of commitment to the company.
To make the job seeking process easier, the company created the Military Jobs Transcoder. Using their military job code, veterans are able to be matched with the best civilian jobs.
Using the Transcoder is simple: veterans just type in their job code and are presented with a list of job openings most relevant to their skills.
Macy’s
Macy’s is a household name, and while many have stepped foot in its store, it’s not as obvious that the retail giant has a longstanding relationship with the country’s veterans.
In 2012, Macy’s launched its yearlong Military Executive Development Program, with a mission to employ the best military veterans in all departments of the company. The goal was to reintroduce veterans to the workforce and help each new hire find success and acquire new skills.
Macy’s firmly believes that the skills gained during service translate well into its career opportunities. With thorough training and support, the company places veterans in many areas, from operations and store management to logistics.
United Rentals
United Rentals is ranked #12 in the GI Jobs 2014 list of Top 100 Military Friendly Employers. It encourages veterans to put their hard training to work and takes pride into transitions them into the United Rentals workplace.
The company supports active military members by offering work flexibility necessary to those who serve in the Reserves or National Guard. They offer pay during active duty deployments and job protection for family and current service members during medical or active leave.
The Military Skills Translator tool helps job-seeking veterans to find positions within the company that best fit the applicant based on their military title.
Bank of America
Bank of America is the primary bank for more than two million Americans and is ranked #14 in the Top Military Friendly Employer list.
The bank has been supporting veterans for over 90 years and has several partnerships with military organizations, and various products and services geared towards military customers.
The Military Transition and Career site helps vets find a position that aligns with their skills and military experience. It hosts a slew of military resources, like their Military Transition Action Timeline Tools set and Personal Development section (featuring study guides on writing resumes, cover letters, interview tips, etc.)
On a grander scale, Bank of America has committed to hiring 10,000 veterans within the next few years. Other notable feats: more than 1,900 homes have been donated to military families, and over 40,000 military-related employee volunteer hours in 2015 alone.
Johnson & Johnson
New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson has been a pioneer in consumer goods and technology. Chances are, you’ll able to quickly think of a Johnson & Johnson product.
Johnson & Johnson values leadership and other core values taught during service. For this reason, the company happily employs veterans across the board. They’ve won a several rewards for their ongoing commitment to hiring veterans and hosts regular career events geared towards veterans across the country.
The veteran employment section shows how a veteran can grow within the company by highlighting the career track of several individual’s growth since first joining the company.
The Coca Cola Company
Coca Cola has been a longstanding supporter of hiring vets since 1941, when former company president Robert Woodruff pledged to place Coca Cola locations within striking distance to military bases.
Like many companies who value veteran placement, Coca Cola has a Military Skills Translator that helps prospective employees find positions suitable to their skills.
Says one current employee and veteran, ““Transitioning out of the military will present its challenges but it’s nothing that you can’t get through. We have a military veterans business resource group, with people who come from where you’ve been, to help you with your journey here.”
There are many areas of duty at the company that they actively seek to fill, such as: sales managers, mechanics, warehouse supervisors, accountants, supply chain managers, and more.
Delta
Delta has made a name for itself for its outstanding customer service and impressive aircraft fleet, but it’s looking to impress veterans just as much as does its customers. The company is committed to hiring veterans through the 100,000 Jobs Mission and currently employs over 10,000.
The airline company puts its money where its mouth is; it has donated $400,000 to the Fischer House, which supports families of military members who have been deployed. The website shows job seekers the potential they have at Delta, where many veterans have found a long-lasting career.
The company also has an entirely separate website, which features blog posts, veteran employee profiles, news updates, and a photo gallery.
Cisco
The Cisco Veterans Program aims to use human networks and technology to connect veterans with company opportunities. It believes that the skills veterans are trained to possess are perfectly geared towards the workplace: leadership, a strong work ethic, and dedication.
The company has donated $2.5 million to Futures Inc. – a separate mission to develop cloud-based pipelines that ultimately help match military job codes with civilian career paths. It uses this technology during career fairs to help military members find relevant jobs on the spot.
Cisco also puts military personnel through a series of IT trainings for certification via their-tracked IT Training and Certification Program.
Veterans Enablement and Troop Support (VETS) is the company’s employee program which helps active and retired members and their families with mentoring and support, both in and out of the workplace.
MetLife
Life insurance company MetLife is consistently recognized by the GI Jobs’ Military Friendly Employers List, and offers targeted training to veterans to help them enjoy long-term careers with the company.
The MetLife Veteran Network is a resource network open to colleagues that are passionate about promoting veteran resources and advocating on their behalf. The goal of MVET is to attract, develop, and retain veterans.
MetLife also supports American Corporate Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans transition into the workforce. Its website has a Military to Civilian Occupation Translator to help veterans find the right jobs within MetLife.
Time Warner Cable
“One veteran at a time” is Time Warner’s motto when it comes to hiring veterans at the company. Currently, they’ve employed over 4,500 veterans, in areas such as Network Operations, Technical Operations, Engineering, Sales, Construction and various others.
Ivory is one example of an outstanding veteran-to-workforce story. When he left the Navy in 2005, he ended up homeless; Time Warner took him in, offering him a job in the Customer Call Center, where he’s thrived ever since.
Time Warner Cable also offers a 4-year Apprenticeship Program in certain locations, where veterans are trained to become qualified technicians.
TotalMatch is the company’s job matching tool. Veterans fill out a series of questionnaires, which generates a TotalMatch Report with the best relevant, available positions.
State Farm
Like many of the companies on this list, State Farm is listed on GI Jobs Top Military Friendly Employers – and in the top 2%.
The company has competitive benefits to new employees, including a lump sum payment of $4,000 for renters and $10,000 to homeowners, home marketing and home finding assistance, temporary storage and other relocation services.
StateFarm takes a “never stop leading the way” approach to hiring veterans, giving them the opportunity to continue utilizing leadership and management skills within its diverse positions. The company is continually awarded for its customer service, community involvement, and financial strength.
IBM
Military service changes lives of the American people, and IBM is life changing company. Veterans who work at IBM deal directly with technology that impacts and effects the way the world works through technology.
IBM is committed to making an impact, and each individual that shares that philosophy in the company makes a difference.
At IBM, employees are expected to complete at least 40 hours per year of professional development, and mentoring veterans at qualified programs count towards those hours. Its Veterans Externship is geared towards those who are six months from transitioning out of military duty and seeking employment in the technology sector.
Do you have any further recommendations to add to this list? We’d love to hear from you. Add a comment to the end of this article, and we’ll look into the company.
