Hiring Veterans

 

Looking for a few good men and women for your business? Look no further than the U.S. military. Hundreds of thousands of veterans return every year from deployments and enter the civilian job market.

 

Veterans bring with them a strong work ethic, exceptional training, and proven leadership skills. In 2006, more than 500,000 National Guard personnel came back to the United States from overseas deployments.

 

Wayne Gatewood Jr., a retired Marine and president and CEO of Quality Support Inc., a personnel, management, and logistics company in Landover, Maryland, estimates that half of his 100 employees are veterans. "In jobs where teamwork, discipline, leadership, and a positive attitude are needed, I lean toward a vet," Gatewood says.

 

There are financial advantages to hiring veterans as well. Companies can benefit from a federal government tax credit as high as $2,400 per veteran hired.

 

In addition, veterans have valuable background and security clearances that are attractive to many employers, including government contractors, security, and technology companies, according to Ted Daywalt of VetJobs.com, an Internet job board sponsored and partially owned by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

 

More than 90% of military personnel have had background checks for various levels of security clearances, Daywalt says. In addition, veterans are trained to work with cutting-edge technology. Some 60% of enlisted personnel can program in at least one computer language compared with only 2% of the general population.

 

For more information on hiring veterans, go to www.vetjobs.com/ or www.hirevetsfirst.gov/.