Perspectives: Veteran Job Candidates

This entry hopefully will provide some needed perspective on the value of prime veteran (experienced) job candidates to all sizes and types of businesses and all types of jobs. In my experience, there are basically two types of veteran job candidates.

Seasoned (Consultant) Veteran – Seasoned veterans were often great in their day, and peaked in their prime, but did little to capture their experiences, build on their intellectual assets and grow their personal value throughout their career. They are in most cases out of date, have a closet full of baggage (bad habits) and are in fact, ready to retire. They often make great consultants for specific projects that directly relate to their area of expertise but generally do not represent a good employment investment.

Prime (Employable) Veteran – Prime veterans, like myself are at the other end of the spectrum. Many of us are in our prime at this point in our careers. At our peak today, we have captured years of experiences, documented positive and negative lessons learned, build intellectual assets instead of collected baggage and are in fact ready for fresh, new experiences. This type of veteran also makes a great consultant, but can really make a better investment as a contributing employee.

Prime Veteran Intellectual AssetsAlthough seasoned veterans have years of experience, most have not done a good job of capturing those experiences the way a prime veteran has. A prime veteran has built on their experiences, organized and stored them, can analyze and articulate them, create relevancy today through integration with new ideas and transfer them for today’s applications. Listed here are some of the intellectual assets that I have developed throughout many years of life/work experience.
1. All types of lessons learned and documented
2. Experiences captured, analyzed and articulated
3. Continued education and personal development
4. Formulated perspectives layered over time
5. Relevant information captured and organized
7. Valuable relationships and established networks
8. Perfected strategies and techniques
9. Acquired skills and applicable abilities
10. Keen awareness, problem solving and business sense
11. Managed knowledge and accumulated wisdom
12. Practiced processes and proven systems
13. Self-starting and internally motivated
14. Documented, organized and accessible database
15. Work ethic and business maturity
16. Fine tuned communication, presentation and interaction skills
17. Technology savvy and proficiency with many business applications
18. A healthy self-image yet an experienced team player

Prime Veteran Value
Although a seasoned veteran may add short term value through a consultant type relationship, a prime veteran can have a lasting impact on any organization by filling a full time position, handling a temporary (fixed time) project or meeting part time job needs. Because of the value they bring, prime veterans like myself, can often represent the best value-to-performance ratio for an employer's dollar by delivering many of the following benefits.
1. Accelerated start-up
2. Reduced start-up costs
3. Reduced start-up resource allocation
4. Faster integration (assimilation into culture)
5. Quicker results and contribution
6. Increased intellectual assets
7. Seasoned and updated perspectives
8. Valuable resources that can be leveraged quickly for business
9. Mentor other employees
10. Valuable (applicable) information and database
11. Transferable skills and strategies
12. A fresh, new source of energy
13. Personal organization and job structure
14. A proven track record of performance
15. An acquired level of company loyalty
16. Realistic job expectations and respect for authority
17. Respect for tradition and proven strategies
18. Enthusiasm about new ideas and calculated risk taking
The Bottom Line
If a prime veteran's resume comes across your desk and they fit the posted job position, you owe the veteran an opportunity to interview and demonstate the value they can contribute to the company - they have earned it. You also owe it to your company to not miss a potentially great candidate simply because of age or perceptions - its your responsibility. You may be surprised at what a prime veteran can offer your business.