Returning veterans are proving to be powerful new hires.

By Mark Hendricks

When Constance Cincotta needed to hire two key employees, her search led to an unexpected place. Glenwood Mason Supply Company Inc., the $25 million building supply company Cincotta founded in New York City in 1992, needed a worker with excellent integrity and loyalty to check shipments leaving the company’s yard and a manager who could mold yard workers into a cohesive team.

“When I started thinking about who I was looking for, all the characteristics were [those] I associated with the military,” says the entrepreneur. Cincotta wound up hiring two former Army officers and was so satisfied with the attitudes and skills they brought to the job, she later hired another former soldier to work as a maintenance mechanic for her 80-employee company.

The thousands of people who leave active service with the U.S. military each year are becoming increasingly attractive employee candidates to entrepreneurs. “Even five years ago, the commonly held belief was that anyone who spent significant time in the armed forces was too inflexible to succeed in the private sector,” says William M. Houchins Jr., vice chair of executive search firm Christian & Timbers in Columbia, Maryland. “All this has changed. CEOs and boards now value the lessons learned from military experience.” As military personnel continue to return from stints in Iraq and Afghanistan, entrepreneurs can put this experience to use while helping vets who are ready to embark on civilian careers.

Drew Myers, president of RecruitMilitary LLC, a Loveland, Ohio, company that matches employers and ex-military job candidates, says military veterans offer good character and a strong work ethic. “When you hire a veteran, the reference checks have already been done before the interview, by virtue of honorable service,” he says. Many veterans have extensive training in areas from IT to leadership, all paid for by the government. About a quarter of officers have engineering, science or technical backgrounds, making them attractive to construction, manufacturing and high-tech firms,

Myers says. Many others specialize in logistics and transportation— key areas of expertise for a variety of companies. Even soldiers strictly trained to fight offer finely tuned abilities to lead teams and solve challenging problems in stressful situations.

Most veterans enter the civilian labor force with an appealing combination of work experience and eagerness to prove themselves, Myers says. Of course, they also present challenges. For instance, few small companies can match the benefits former soldiers received as government employees. Nor is it always immediately obvious how to translate military training into profit-making work activities.

Most issues can be dealt with through careful interviewing. Cincotta was careful to avoid those who seemed as though they’d have trouble integrating into her firm’s culture. She asked candidates pointed questions about their ability to lead in an environment where lines of authority are less absolute than in a typical military hierarchy.

“I was concerned they might be too forceful or abrupt with employees,” says Cincotta.

You can find veterans by visiting local military bases and contacting the office in charge of helping former service members transition to the civilian world. There are also a number of online recruiting tools that allow employers to search veterans’ resumes and post job openings. These include Corporate Gray (www.bluetogray.com), The Destiny

Group (www.destinygrp.com) and RecruitMilitary (www.recruitmilitary.com).

Before extending an offer, Myers suggests making it clear to veterans how their work will fit into your company’s plan for success. And emphasize that pay will be based on performance. After you’ve brought a vet onboard, explain how he or she will be trained to handle new duties. Says Myers, “Vets respond best if they understand the training plan and it’s realistic and measurable.”  

Mark Henricks writes on business and technology for leading publications and is author of Not Just a Living.