Ryan Stene led a discussion on military recruiting strategies for Minnesota recruiters. He began by providing background on his experience in talent acquisition and passion for recruiting productivity, branding, social media, and technology. Stene then discussed why companies should recruit from the military, noting that veterans have accelerated learning curves, leadership skills, and integrity. He outlined strategies companies can use to attract veterans, including developing military-focused content, attending career fairs, and translating military skills to civilian jobs. Stene emphasized creating veteran-friendly onboarding and promoting programs.

1. Military Recruiting Strategies
DISCUSSION LEAD BY: RYAN STENE
MINNESOTA RECRUITERS
OCTOBER 2012 CONFERENCE

2. About Me
 Based in Minneapolis, MN
 8 years of Talent Acquisition/HR experience with over 250 F1000
companies
 4 years with Monster
 Passion for Recruiting Productivity, Branding, Social Media and
Recruiting Technology
 Organizer of MN Talent Advisory Board
 Speaker / Contributor at MNREC, MNTRN and others
Twitter: @MNOnlineguy
linkedin.com/in/ryanstene
Ryan Stene facebook.com/mntalentadvisoryboard
ryan.stene@gmail.com Twitter: @MN_TAB
M : 952-381-1101 BeKnown: beknown.com/ryan-stene

3. Disclaimer

4. POLL
 How many people have a parent or sibling in the
military? Active or Retired?
 How many have a Military Recruiting Focus at your
company?

5. Why?

6. Military Fast Facts
 In 2012, US Military is projected to budget $172 billion to
support Military training
 In 2010, the Department of Defense spent $542 million on
servicemember tuition assistance programs.
 250,000 servicemembers transition to the civilian workforce
each year – in 2012-13 that is expected to increase by 25%
 12.5% unemployment rate in veterans returning from
Afghanistan and Iraq
 Average tenure for military skilled employees is 8 years (4.6
years for us citizen)
 Over half of our troops have a spouse, children, and/or an adult
dependent on them.
 Women represent 95 percent of military spouses and 80 percent
are younger than the age of 35

7. Why Recruit for Military?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training
Service, here are the top reasons to hire vets.
1. Accelerated learning curve
2. Leadership
3. Teamwork
4. Diversity Inclusion in action
5. Efficient performance under pressure
6. Respect for procedures
7. Technology and globalization
8. Integrity
9. Conscious of health and safety standards
10. Triumph over adversity
11. Tax Credits
12. Background Checks and Security Clearances
13. Government Paid Relocation Assistance
14. Work Ethic

8. VOW to Hire Heroes Act
 FACT SHEET: The VOW To Hire Heroes Act
 Tax credit of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans who
have been looking for a job for more than six
months, as well as a $2,400 credit for veterans who
are unemployed for more than 4 weeks, but less than
6 months.
 Tax credit of up to $9,600 for hiring veterans with
service-connected disabilities who have been looking
for a job for more than six months.

9. Talent Pool of over 10 Million Members

10. Top Military Employers
Top MN Military Employers
 US Bank #72
 XCEL Energy #99
http://www.gijobs.com/2012Top100.aspx

11. Top Military Career Sites
Site Monthly Visitors Site Internet Rank
Military.com
10,000,000 646
www.military.com
VA Jobs**
3,941,323 441
www.va.com/jobs
USAJobs
73,163 NA
www.usajobs.gov
Recruit Military
50,203 39,927
www.recruitmilitary.com
MilitaryHire 9,958
148,754
www.militaryhire.com
VetJobs
14,847 106,815
www.vetjobs.com
*According to compete.com
**VA Jobs refers you to other career sites

12. Areas of Expertise

13. Degree of Difficulty for Hiring

14. Jobs with Military Skill Sets

15. SHRM Survey
- 69% agreed that they need more tools to recruit for
Veterans
- 74% agreed that Veterans skills would help in the
workplace BUT they don’t know how to recruit them
- 60% don’t know how to translate Military skills to civilian
roles
- 88% believe that it is the “right thing to do” and make an
honest effort to recruit Military candidates
- 96% listed the following qualities of military candidates:
Responsible, Ability to Multitask, leadership, desire
to accomplish tasks under pressure, great at
problem solving

16. How?

17. The Challenge
 Military Skills are difficult to translate to Civilian
role
 Resumes are poorly formatted
 Military candidates are unprepared for job search or
interview process

18. Where do I start?
1. DESIGN A STRATEGY AND GATHER INTEL
2. CREATE CONTENT AND EDUCATE THE
WORKPLACE
3. ACTIVELY RECRUIT VETERANS, WOUNDED
WARRIORS AND MILITARY SPOUSES
4. HIRE QUALIFIED VETERANS AND LEARN HOW
TO ACCOMMODATE WOUNDED WARRIORS
5. PROMOTE WITHIN THE WORKPLACE TO GROW
AND RETRAIN
6. TOOLS AND RESOURCES

19. Design a Strategy and Gather Intel
• BUILD A INTERNAL TEAM – DO YOU HAVE VETERANS
CURRENTLY EMPLOYED? IS THE PROGRAM BACK BY
THE EXECS?
• BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE BENEFITS OF HIRING
TRANSITIONING SERVICE MEMBERS, VETERANS AND
WOUNDED WARRIORS
• LEARN ABOUT TAX INCENTIVES ASSOCIATED WITH
THE HIRING OF VETERANS AS WELL AS DISABLED
VETERANS
• PLAN FOR RESULTS: START WITH THE BASICS

20. Strategy
Things to Consider when developing a strategy and
finding a partner:
 Reach
 Experience
 Breadth & Depth of Solutions
 Media, Technology, Expos or Career Fairs, Resume Database,
Postings
 Seeker Activities
 Career Fairs, Online events and content for seekers

21. Create Content and Educate the
Workplace
• CREATE A THEME – MAKE IT RESONATE
•D O E S Y O U R C A R E E R S I T E H A V E A V E T E R A N F O C U S ?
• WHAT IS THE APPLICATION PROCESS LIKE FOR A
VETERAN?
• CROSS REFERENCE THEIR SKILLS TO YOUR NEEDS
• MAKE IT EASY TO CONNECT WITH VETERAN
RECRUITING TEAM
• LIST UP COMING CAREER FAIRS
• BE A SHOWOFF! – PARTNERSHIPS, AWARDS, STATS,
PR
• BUILD A RELATIONSHIP – TALENT COMMUNITY
JUST FOR MILITARY

22. Create A Theme
You’ll Find Challenging You’ll find challenging
Work (Military) Work (civilian)
 “An Army of One”  You’ll be part of an elite
 "The few, the proud“ group
 You’ll find challenging work
 "Accelerate your life"
 You’ll receive training / gain
 "It's not just a job, it's
skills that will improve your
an adventure" life
 "Be all you can be"  Your work will have an
 "We're looking for a impact on others
few good men"  You’ll experience great
camaraderie

23. Best in Class - Themes

24. Best In Class - Messaging
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6LyNmOMRtY&feature=colike

25. Actively Recruit Veterans and
Spouses
• UPDATE JOB CONTENT TO REFLECT MILITARY
FOCUS INCLUDING JOB REQUIREMENTS
• USE INTERNSHIPS AS A WAY TO PROMOTE FOR
LACK OF EXPERIENCE OR DEGREE
• ACCESS CREDIBLE RESOURCES TO HELP YOU
LOOK FOR QUALIFIED VETERANS AND
WOUNDED WARRIORS WHO ARE SEEKING
EMPLOYMENT
• USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE YOUR
OPPORTUNITIES & VALUES
• GO WHERE THE TALENT IS

26. Strategy Focus

27. Veteran Job Channel
 Average 300K unique
visitors
 1.1 million page-views
per month
 Average 300K job
searches per month
 Over 1 million
resumes with military
service
 Over 800K active
resumes with
security clearance

28. Precision Targeting Media

29. Recruiting for Spouses
• shopped online in the
last six months
• are grocery decision-
makers
• have social networking
profiles
• are employed

30. HIRE Qualified Veterans and Learn how
to ACCOMMODATE Wounded Warriors
• CREATE A SPECIFIC ON-BOARDING PROCESS FOR
VETERAN NEW HIRES
• BUILD THE RELATIONSHIP / CHECK -IN MEETINGS
• HAVE AN ORG CHART TO ALLOW THEM TO LEARN
THE HIERARCHY
• MAKE IT CLEAR TO THE VETERAN (NEW HIRE)
HOW THEIR WORK WILL FIT INTO THE COMPANY'S
PLAN FOR SUCCESS.
• VETERANS UNDERSTAND AND RESPECT HOW THE
WORK THEY DO HELPS TO ACCOMPLISH THE
OVERALL MISSION

31. What is the “Applicant Experience” When
Veterans Visit your Career Website?
 Can they “find” themselves on the home page?
 Do they get the sense they could have a place in your
organization?
 Can they see examples of people just like them who
have successful careers in your company?
 Partner with Official wounded warrior programs
 Create specific veteran interview questions
 Include Veteran employees in the interview schedule

32. Promote within workplace to grow and retrain
 Place a value on military service (Vet of the Month)
 Develop and promote peer mentorships in the
workplace - Vet to Vet
 Practice Veterans appreciation and promote a
Veteran-friendly workplace
 Recognize that military families may have different
needs than civilian families
 Have a special Veteran Referral Program
 Support of the Guard and Reserve

33. Best in Class Example

34. Things to Consider for Your Career Site

35. Military Skills Translator

36. TOOLS and RESOURCES
•A M E R I C A ' S H E R O E S A T W O R K
•N A T I O N A L R E S O U R C E D I R E C T O R Y
•N A T I O N A L C E N T E R F O R P T S D
•U . S . D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R
•E M P L O Y I N G M I L I T A R Y P E R S O N N E L
•G I J O B S . C O M
•B L S M I L I T A R Y D A T A
•M I L I T A R Y . C O M

37. Veteran State By State Stats
SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, 2010 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 1-YEAR ESTIMATES

38. What should I do next?
 Small Organization
 Understanding your current openings
 Define your goal (# of hires, internal champions, etc)
 Create a strategy
 Small amount of Military Targeting
 Medium Organization
 Create separate section on your careers site
 Create a internal Veteran Focus group
 Create a referral program for veteran hiring
 Have special content and marketing for Veterans and expand to other business lines
 Large Organization
 Expand your strategy to social media with separate FB/Twitter/LI pages
 Acquire a Military Skills Translator – for medium size as well
 Have a budget and group dedicated to Military hiring
 Attend events and tradeshows
 Embrace it and Accomplish the goals you put in place

39. Thank You
Q&A