Companies today want to hire a diverse staff, which includes increasing the number of women and veterans in the workplace. While many employers have the right intentions, their approach to hiring veterans and military spouses is not always appropriately framed. Many spouses continue to try to hide their family’s military service for fear of losing consideration for a job, while others find themselves unable to effectively explain their gaps in work history. As a result, companies are often unaware of the person's status and unable to ask due to compliance issues, and candidates may be screened out based on their gaps in work history. The solution to this is education and awareness building. In order to tell the person's story effectively within your organization, you must engage with the candidate to learn and promote what they have to offer. By doing this, you will reach diversity recruiting goals for yourself and your team.

1. Recruiting Diversity:
Women & Military
Marcelle Yeager
CEO, ServingTalent

2. First Impressions

3. Military Life
 Moves: orders given for relocating to next duty
assignment (Army: 60-90 day notice; Navy & AF: 1
year)
 Move on average 3x during training; every 2-4 years
once job begins (enlisted varies more)
 Unaccompanied assignments (deployments & other):
3 months to 1 year – family stays in location or returns
to U.S. if overseas

4. Military Life
 Accompanied locations:
 Austria
 Bahrain
 Belgium
 Germany
 Italy
 Japan
 Qatar
 South Korea
 Spain
 United Kingdom
 United States

5. Foreign Service Life
 Moves: first 2 tours = 4 years total directed (1 year
notice)
 Officers lobby for all follow on jobs, and typically know 1
year in advance
 Maximum length of stay at HQ in D.C.: 6 years
 Unaccompanied posts: 1 year – family stays in prior
location if approved, or more often, returns to U.S.

6. Foreign Service Life
 Accompanied locations
 Everywhere there is a U.S. consulate or embassy
worldwide (https://www.usembassy.gov/) with the
exception of unaccompanied locations such as:
 Afghanistan
 Iraq
 Pakistan
 Sudan

7. Look Again

8. Candidate Screening

9. Candidate Screening

10. Unconscious Bias
 Job description
 Reviewing a resume
 Phone screening
 Interview
 Job offer

11. Agenda
 Hiring challenges
 The real deal: a close look at these populations
 Evaluating candidates
 Assess best fit
 Promote effectively
 Sourcing diverse talent

12. Hiring Challenges
 A bad hiring decision can cost an employer 30% of
first-year potential earnings, i.e., a $50K salary = $15K
loss (Department of Labor)

13. The Real Deal
 Unemployment rates:
 Military spouses: 28% (2017 Blue Star Families [BSF] study)
 Women married to veterans: 4x higher than all
American women(US Chamber of Commerce)
 Adult family members overseas at embassies: 56% (April
2017 Family Member Employment Report)
 Male veterans (2016): 4.2% (Department of Labor)
 Female veterans (2016): 5% percent (Department of Labor)
 66% of U.S. families with children under 18 earn two
incomes; only 47% of military families do (BSF study)

14. The Real Deal
 95% of 1.2 million military spouses are women
 Majority of active duty military spouses are under 31 y.o.; majority
of guard/reserve spouses are over 35 y.o.
 75% of 12,064 adult family members overseas at embassies are
women (April 2017 Family Member Employment Report)
 Our candidate pool of military & foreign service
spouses/veterans:
 75% possess a bachelor’s or higher
 43% hold a master’s, PhD, or JD
 10% have a security clearance
 20% are bilingual or trilingual
(DoD Military Spouse Employment Initiative)

15. Janine
 Janine holds a master of science degree in civil
engineering. Prior to moving overseas she was a
construction inspector for Pierce County Public Works
and a structural engineer for JGC where she prepared
3D models and design drawings of structural steel
pipe racks using Tekla Xsteel. After moving to
Germany with no knowledge of the language, she
landed an engineering role only 5 weeks after
arriving.

16. Lindsay
 Lindsay is an HR professional with a master's degree
and SHRM certification. She started in benefits
management and moved into the role of HR generalist
where she liaised with over 130 managers and
employees in 5 different states by providing
resources, consultation, interpretation, advice, and
assistance on human resource issues. Lindsay was
eager to get back into her HR career. She’s now in a
locally-based role that encompasses HR and other
duties.

17. Kylie
 As a successful CPA, Kylie was an auditor and a
senior accountant for a large financial firm, medical
center and a city municipality. After a military move
and the recent birth of twins, Kylie needed a career
that both allowed her to continue to grow
professionally as well as provide the flexibility required
to care for her growing family. She now works for a
virtual CPA firm.

18. Evaluating Candidates
 Skills and experience don’t fit a standard application
 Understand how to read veteran and spouse resumes
 Include spouses in veteran hiring programs if they exist
 Ask for self identification on an application
 Avoid leading questions in screenings and interviews
 Think creatively: how can this person benefit our team?
*Provide flexibility, receive loyalty*

19. Assess Best Fit
 What job level is appropriate for a veteran?
http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/skills-translator/
 What job level is appropriate for a retired FS officer?
 Senior FS (counselor, minister counselor, career minister,
career ambassador) is equivalent to military generals/SES
 FS-1 = GS-15
 FS-2 and FS-3 = GS-14
 How can I assess soft skills?
 Leader | Adaptable | Resourceful | Creative | Driven | Quick
learner | Works well under pressure

20. Promote Effectively
 35% of all workers report changing jobs within the
past 3 years (Gallup)
 Combination of unique skills
 Work history & leadership capability
 Lifestyle: broad worldwide knowledge; resilience;
drive; adaptability to change
 Remote employees: location, flexibility, time zone
 Monetary benefit for hiring a veteran
 Corporate social responsibility / PR

21. Sourcing Diverse Talent
 Reviewing resumes:
 Be cognizant of how jobs & volunteer roles held demonstrate
skills sought
 Realize some information may not be listed - expand search
terms: search for country name when seeking language skills;
volunteer positions
 Sourcing:
 LinkedIn and Rallypoint: search “military”, “veteran”, “military
spouse”, “foreign service”, “diplomat”
 Facebook: search terms above; also visit communities Veterans
Affairs; Supporting Our Veterans
 Organizations: Hiring Our Heroes; Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans
of America; Gary Sinise Foundation; DoD’s Military Spouse
Employment Initiative (MSEP)

22. Questions & Contact Info
myeager@servingtalent.com
703-953-0953
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelleyeager/
@servingtalent
www.facebook.com/servingtalent