Employers continue to find challenges identifying top talent in today’s competitive labor market. Any talk of promising recruitment targets for the environmental drilling and remediation industry needs to include military veterans. Implementing a veteran-targeted hiring process into your recruitment strategy can help your company attract and retain some of the most driven, dedicated and hardworking employees in the market.

Establish Relationships with Veteran Agencies

One strategy employers frequently use starts with establishing relationships with veteran agencies. Hundreds of organizations and groups exist solely to facilitate the placement of veterans into appropriate civilian careers. Researching and forging relationships with these agencies can help you get the word out about how veterans can succeed at your organization.

Some agencies and organizations I’ve found significant success with include

• RecruitMilitary
• Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
• Hire Heroes USA
• Helmets to Hardhats
• The Skillbridge program through the Department of Defense (DOD)

Attend Outreach Events and Targeted Job Fairs

Hiring events and job fairs have been a longstanding recruitment strategy followed by thousands of organizations. In today’s post-COVID world, we have — in many cases — seen notable decreases in in-person event attendance. However, I don’t believe job fairs or other recruitment outreach events are going anywhere. Veteran job fairs continue to as a viable recruitment strategy, particularly in well-populated areas.

In many cases, online job fairs can be just as beneficial as in-person events — and often less costly and time consuming. Many of the agencies that host in-person veteran job fairs also offer options for online events.

Create a Bridge between Drilling and Military Service

Sometimes the best recruitment strategy is to simply define and advertise what your company has to offer. Help potential candidates see the value of coming to work for you. This strategy relies on well-crafted value propositions that communicate vision and purpose to potential veteran candidates. Consider the demographic target of your audience. Communicate the aspects of the job that most appeal to them. Research. Ask questions. What is important to veteran job seekers? Make an effort to tailor your outreach and job descriptions to those needs.

Get Involved with Local Military Installations

Getting involved with local or state military installations is an excellent tool to use in achieving veteran hiring initiatives. Take advantage of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) required of all separating service members. This program, actively used at military installations worldwide, serves to prepare service members for their next step in a civilian career. TAP involvement may create opportunities for your company to speak to classes or hand out information about your organization’s career paths.

Highlight Transferable Skills

For most civilians, reading a veteran’s resume feels like reading a foreign language. Acronyms and terminology specific to the armed forces don’t always translate well into civilian industries. In the same way, many veterans may feel as though they don’t qualify for a position in the drilling industry, mainly because they don’t consider the concept of transferable skills.

Transferable skills, as the name implies, are skills that can transfer from one career to another. A great example would be time management. Many service members learn to balance shifting priorities, tight deadlines and life-or-death situations. While these skills may not seem easily quantifiable, they boil down to effective time management and decision-making. Helping veteran candidates understand how their skills transfer into the drilling industry can be a game changer!

Of course, you can implement all of these strategies to recruit veteran employees, but following just one or two can ensure your company is on the right track. Remember also to leverage any existing veteran employees your company may have to help better understand how to target veterans when recruiting. Lastly, always remember retention. Retaining veteran employees and creating testimonials or success stories is a great tool for highlighting you organization’s veteran-friendly environment.