Key 7 – Create a Career Page Dedicated to Military Talent
This article is focused on your online presence.
How well is your company doing to build an online presence that is external facing to the military community from which you would like to recruit?
Are you sharing those stories that are throughout your workforce? Are you sharing information about career pathing opportunities available to veterans and spouses? Are you highlighting hot jobs and opportunities that would be great fits for veterans? Are you explaining how veterans and spouses are or can make a difference in your workforce?
If you do not currently have a career page or a place for military candidates to virtually interact with your military recruiters or to read about stories of your veteran employees, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to make a lasting impact on a potential military hire.
The Post 9/11 generation of service members and military spouses are the most technologically advanced individuals our military has ever produced. There is a huge opportunity for your company to share content relevant to this community, post job opportunities that would be a good fit for military talent, and to communicate about upcoming hiring fairs or recruiting events across the United States and near military installations. It is also a great place to highlight information that is relevant to their transition, starting from about 18 months out, the way that Walmart does through their Military Transition Timeline (http://walmartcareerswithamission.com).
Remember, the military community is tight-knit and people tend to share information they relate to. Your career page or your Military Talent page is a great place to interact directly with the military community. It would also be wise to have a presence on social media channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram specifically for military engagement.
Your online presence and appearance does not need to be overly sophisticated but it does need to exist. Contemporary marketing strategists all tend to agree that if you do not have an online presence, consumers (and, in this case, candidates) have lower amounts of trust in your brand. The more someone knows, likes, and trusts you, the more likely they will be to a) want to work for you, b) stay working for you, c) tell their friends and family about you.
Here are examples of great websites and portals dedicated to military candidates:
- Walmart – http://walmartcareerswithamission.com
- PwC – http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/experienced/why-pwc/military-veterans.html
- Citi – http://www.citigroup.com/citi/citizen/community/citisalutes/salute.html
- Verizon – http://www.verizon.com/about/careers/military
- Amazon – https://www.amazon.jobs/en/military
- Union Pacific Railroad – https://up.jobs/military.html
- USAA – https://www.usaajobs.com/military