Posted on 11/04/2013 2:31:45 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Bob Loter
MUSCATINE, Iowa — When Bob Loter gives a talk to employers about hiring veterans to fill job openings, he knows what he’s talking about.
He’s a veteran himself.
Loter, the veterans program coordinator for Iowa Workforce Development, served for 20 years in the U.S. Army in the infantry and as a recruiter — two of those years recruiting people in Muscatine.
With foot problems and hearing loss suffered during his years as a soldier, he’s also a disabled veteran.
“I can’t run up a hill anymore in my combat boots,” he said with a smile.
Loter delivered a “Hiring our Heroes” talk Tuesday to the Muscatine Employers Council, a group that works to meet the workforce needs of local employers.
Among his tips to companies considering hiring veterans: • When interviewing a veteran, expect these traits from the applicant, he said:
— A self-confidence sometimes bordering on arrogance
— The person may be unsure how to interview or how his or her military experience relates to the job opening
— The person may sit during the entire interview at attention, very rigid, unsmiling and maintaining strong eye contact.
“Veterans don’t interview like normal folk,” Loter said. “Just get them to calm down and relax. Sometimes you have to work to pull information out of a veteran.”
• Because of the way promotions are handled in the military, veterans come to civilian jobs with high expectations. They want to know how they can earn a promotion and a pay increase. Since they received full benefits in the military, many — especially veterans with families — are looking for something comparable. And because the military trained them to be leaders, they expect fair and equitable treatment and recognition for their accomplishments.
•They’re also used to making above-average salaries. While the average wage in Iowa is about $37,000 per year, a private first class with two years’ experience makes about $38,000 annually — and it’s tax-free when he or she is deployed to a combat zone, Loter said. “Our servicemen and women get paid pretty well,” he said. If the applicant’s salary request is higher than what the local market bears, just tell the veteran to lower expectations, Loter suggested.
•Surprising to some people because it’s a lower figure than they expect, Loter said, is the current unemployment rate among all veterans 18 and over — 6.6 percent, as opposed to about 8 percent overall nationally and 10.9 percent for veterans who’ve recently returned from service.
•Employers would do well to remember that military personnel “are always tasked with additional job duties,” he said. Some learn to be safety officers, while others handle equal employment opportunity cases for their unit. Those skills and others are transferrable in the civilian world, he noted.
•Feel free to ask a veteran about years of service, grade or rank, military occupation and work experience and training received.
But stay away from questions like “Are you going to be called for duty anytime soon?” or “Did you see any action while you were in?”
That second question could be interpreted as fishing for confirmation of a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis. The PTSD rate among veterans is 13.8 percent, about double the non-veteran population.
“Most veterans you’ll hire have no issue with it,” Loter said. “Most veterans can do the job just fine. Don’t let that fear keep you from hiring a veteran.”
Hey 2ndVivisionVet, thanks for your service to our country and to our veterans.
I do what Bob does, but in Riverside County, California.
My company had an ex-Marine “John” who was working on the production line. The company got an audit finding during an ISO-9000 audit at his station. During a huge management meeting, including the plant manager and visiting VP’s it was decided to call him in. I said, “That’s not a good idea.” I was overruled as they wanted to get to the bottom of it RIGHT NOW. I said, “I’ll get him,” and immediately left the room. I found “John” and told him, “Listen, they just want to ask you a few questions about how you were trained. You are not in trouble.”
He stood at rigid attention, dripping sweat and loudly answered with “YES SIR, NO SIR.” Nobody seemed to catch on that he was really wrapped around the axel, so their questions contained a lot of “you did this, you did that.” I tried to reassure John when he left, but I don’t think he believed me. He really wasn’t in trouble and I’m sure it ruined his day or maybe even a week because they didn’t take even a moment to put him at ease.
I had car probs a couple of years back and a young vet, fresh back from Iraq helped me get set and back running. I wished above all else to have been able to hire him, or at least be able to give him a really good referral. These guys don't deserve what they're getting with this crappy economy..
Nam Vet
anybody have a good site for finding vets? I own a commercial RE company in Orlando and we’re looking for agents we can train.
Did you ever attend NVTI in Denver?
Jobvertise
http://www.jobvertise.com/resumes/search
Employers can access 25 resumes a day for free. Just register.
ActiveHire
http://www.activehire.com
Of course, there is the Craigslist and similar sites.
The best vet employment is with employers who already have lots of vets. Not too common, but when they happen, that company usually leaves skid marks on the competition.
Of course, USAA comes to mind, but that is too extreme an example, because not just their employees, but their customers are active duty and veterans, so it is very hard to compare them to anyone.
The most common veteran small businesses are in machine maintenance and production of boring but profitable things that everyone uses but are never an issue, like wallboard and industrial air filters. They never make waves, are never in the news, and their sales and production are pretty much the same year to year.
awesome, thank you!
Yes, I’ve found that to be true. Machine shops, vending companies, defense contractors, aircraft and marine maintenance, etc.
I agreed with most of what the speaker was saying but the big WTF moment was when he said that vets are used to making top or above average wage.
Great that you have those references!
I believe that a veteran has many attributes beyond skills learned in the service. Number ONE is that he understands responsibility and TWO can be counted on to wake up in the morning and give you a good day’s work. There are many “college grads” out there that can’t compete on just those terms! HIRE THE VET!
2 year PFC makes 38.000! I was a Buck Sargent when I got out in 72 and my last check was less than 450 dollars.
David came into my office in 2007, I’d put the word out I was needing another pumper and a friend sent him over said he’d just got out of the Army. He came into my office and sat down ridged as board. I asked him what experience he had in the oilfields and he said none so that kind of limited the conversation. Then I asked him who he was with and he said the 101st, I said your hired! He met me at the office at daylight the following Monday and I took him out to the ranch to show him where everything was and explain his job to him. He was very quiet and everything was yes Sir and no Sir. The 4th day of doing this he asked my why I hired him? He didn’t know that I was a Vet, he didn’t know that I was In the ARMY and he didn’t know that I was also with the 101st from 69 to 72. I pulled the truck over and we sat on a hill and talked for 3 hours. He talked about his time in Iraq and I talked about my time in Vietnam, he was a completely different person after that day. He’s now married with a beautiful wife and daughter and a son due in about 3 weeks. He told me they’ve chose the name Michael for their son which also happens to be my name.
Hire a VET!
I think I can explain it in less words. They give a shit! Sorry for the choice of words but the same thing was said to me many years ago when I first went into the oil business. The man that said that to me was an old MARINE who had hit the beach at Tarawa.
5.56mm
Sorry for the delay...yes, I attended the PPE and LES courses.
Hey SpaceJunkie2001
Give these folks a call:
One-Stop Career Center
1392 E Vine St
Kissimmee, FL 34744
(407) 705-1555
Ask if they have a Veteran Services Team or a Business Solutions Team, also, let them know that you are interested in hiring veterans. If they cannot help you, they should know of someone who can.
Note: Some One-Stop Career Centers will not post 1099 or commission only jobs, they will let interested job seekers know of the opportunity and even let you leave flyers at their location, but are restricted from posting the job on their web based job search engine.
good stuff Sergio. I will reach out to them and see where I get!
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