Hire America’s Heroes (HAH)

Pipeline Program

Community Need

With the end of the Iraq War (OIF), troop reduction in Afghanistan (OEF), and force reduction associated with federal defense budget cuts, thousands of military personnel and their families are re-entering the civilian workforcein an extremely competitive job market. Each year over 270,000 military personnel transition to civilian life entering a job market where there are already over a million veterans out of work. By 2020, the military will reduce its force by 80,000 individuals all of whom will need post-military employment, extending the unemployment crisis even further.

In the State of Washington, nearly 28,000 former service members are without jobs, ranking the state 10th in overall veteran unemployment. U.S. Army Veteran unemployment data for April 2012 indicates that Washington State ranks first in the nation, per capita, for Army Veteran unemployment. Over 65,000 activity duty and reserve personnel are stationed in Washington, all of who will eventually transition out of service.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM),with a population of over 34,000 active duty soldiers, in Washington State is the 3rd largest out-processing Army base in the nation. JBLM anticipates between 400 and 700 service memberswill transition from the military through their gates every month for the next 8-10 years. About 40% state an interest in remaining in the Puget Sound area and establishing their civilian life in the area. Combine this with over 20,000 Navy and Marine and over 7,000 Air Force personnel in the Puget Sound area, and an additional 5,000 Air Force personnel in Eastern Washington, makes for a very large pool of exiting service members.

While the poor economy is a major reason for high unemployment rates among recently discharged veterans, there are ranges of additional barriers that prevent them from effectively competing in the civilian job market. Despite high levels of education, training, and work experience gained while serving, many military job seekers are unfamiliar with the array of civilian occupations available to them.

ProgramRationale

The data paints a grim picture for transitioning service members attempting to transition to the civilian workforce. However the data also shows that many transitioners and job-seeking veterans in Washington match with high-demand civilian job openings in the State’s industries. If there are jobs available to veterans, and veteran skills match those open positions, why do high levels of veteran unemployment persist? See Figure 1 below as an example of the environment a veteran faces and the overwhelming amount of assistanceavailable.

In many instances, corporate recruiters in private sector businesses do not understand what service members do while serving so are at a disadvantage in determining veteran skills match with an open position. These recruiters are generally unfamiliar with military ranks and their attendant roles and responsibilities. These recruiters generally don’t understand the Military


Occupation Codes (MOCs) and Military Occupation Specialties (MOSs) that define a service member’s job functions while in the service. These recruiters rarely know how to translate those codes to the “essential functions” of the open position.

As much as we need to work with job-seeking service members to prepare them to transition to jobs in private sector businesses, we also need to work with the recruiters seeking to fill those positions to help them understand how the military veteran fits the position, can perform the “essential functions of the job,” and could be a better hire (i.e., “best qualified”) for the position than others competing for the same position.

HAH is in a position to positively impact this process on behalf of military transitioners and veterans.HAH has strong ties to Puget Sound Area military installations including the Army and Air Force, through their ACAP (Army Career and Alumni Program) offices at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and local Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard and Federal Reserve components through their TAP (Transition Assistance Program) offices. Through its relationship with these transition assistance programs, HAHcan offer job-connection assistance to transitioners up to 18 months prior to their separation from the military.

HAHalso has strong ties with its corporate sponsors and supporters. Our reach can span from the transitioning service member to the corporate recruiter in the private sector business community, creating a “Pipeline” through which the service member can receive assistance along the path from military to civilian workforce.

Description: Hire America’s Heroes Pipeline Program

Hire America’s Heroes Pipeline Program leverages our position as a conduit between the military community, to which we have strong ties, and the corporate community, to which we also have strong ties. We understand how corporations hire. And we understand military life and the steps a military transitioner takes when ending their term of service. We understand the cultural differences between military and corporate workforces. The Pipeline Programleverages our experience on behalf of both the military transitioner and the corporate recruiter to optimize the chances for transitioner placement in a private sector corporate job following military service.

Hire America’s Heroes programs and activities echo the six fundamental employment steps recognized by corporate Human Resources organizations:

  • Sourcing
  • Recruiting
  • Hiring
  • On-Boarding
  • Supporting, and
  • Retaining

The HAH Pipeline Program is focused on Sourcing, Recruiting and Hiring. We make specific best practices recommendations to corporations regarding each of these foundational steps. Additional information, for context, is provided in Appendix A.

The Applicant

The ideal applicant for the Pipeline Program is a transitioning service member that has six months or more remaining on active duty. This time enables the service member to research careers, industries, and companies of interest and then gain needed training or certificates if necessary. The Pipeline Program will accept unemployed, drilling Reservists that understand the process may take months and is not for finding a job immediately.

A service member interested in assistance from HAH initiates the process. The applicant fills out an application online (Annex B). The application records a variety of information from the transition service member including but not limited to basic background information, preferred location to live after the military, and companies he/she is interested in. This datais forwarded to the HAH Pipeline Program Manager.

The applicant receives a welcome letter from HAH with the program guidelines (Annex B) and a request to schedule a meeting with a career coach. The guideline illustrates what the applicant can expect from HAH, as well as, helpful tips to further the applicant job search. The tips include networking opportunities, using social media, and resume hints.

A career coach is then assigned to the applicant and initiates the first meeting. At the first meeting the career coach and applicant discuss information captured by the Jot form. The career coach clarifies the applicant’s expectations and desires. The career coach will also assist with resume preparation, industry or company targeting, skills translation, and mentorship.

The applicant and career coach continue contact during the transition process. Below is a diagram a typical applicant process.


While the above flow is typical in actuality the steps from Career Coach Gaining Interest of Company to Job Offer may repeat several times. There is also the possibility that the Career Coach is not able to gain the interest of any sponsor company and the applicant is then referred to other resources to gain employment.

The crucial step between the Career Coach Gaining Interest of Company and the Corporate HR Department determines one of two possibilities: 1) If that Corporation is interested in the service member, and 2) If the service member is interested in that company. If there is a mutual interest with both the corporation and service member the process move forward with the applicant becoming a candidate and a corporate recruiter attempts to find a position. If there is not a mutual interest on one of the parties than the career coach steps back in and searches for new opportunities with a different company.

As with any program there is an end to the services HAH provides a service member. If an applicant meets any of the following conditions the applicant will no longer receives assistants from the Pipeline Program.

  1. An applicant finds employment of any kind.
  2. An applicant no longer generates interest with potential connections made by the career coach.
  3. An applicant fails to take initiative in his or her career search.
  4. An applicant enters an educational or training program.
  5. If after a maximum period of six months post-discharge has elapsed and the applicant is still not employed.

Applicants removed from the Pipeline Program for reasons mentioned above may still receive services from HAH (Career Fairs, Networking, etc.) as they are still part of the larger audience served by HAH.

The Career Coach

Hire America’s Heroes will engage and train Career Coaches to implement the Pipeline Program. Career Coaches will serve as the primary Point of Contact (POC) for both participating companies and contacts atthe ArmyACAP and Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard and Reserve component TAP programs. HAH Career Coaches initiate and manage the continuum of support services that are provided by the Pipeline Program.

An important selection criterion for HAH Career Coaches is that they have experience in the corporate world. Ideally, they will also have served in the military and have personal experience with military culture and the transition process itself. (See Annex C for more information)

In the Pipeline Program, Career Coaches meet with HAH member companies to identify positions they fill regularly, on an ongoing basis. These are positions most likely to be open at the point in time when the transitioner leaves the military. HAH Career Coaches also work alongside transition assistance services to identify qualified transitioners and to determine whether or not they are interested in receiving assistance through the Pipeline Program.

Once the Career Coach and transitioner begin to work together, specific companies and specific job options can be identified early in the transition process – ideally between 9 and 18 months prior to the transitioner’s ETS date. Within this window, the transitioner can continue to complete his or her military obligation, fulfillthe requirements of transition assistanceprograms, and can begin to take advantage of many HAH services provided through the Pipeline Program such as professional networking opportunities, informational interviews at identified companies, company visits, job shadow experiences, mentoring opportunities, short-term training programs, etc.

HAH Career Coaches will then work with individual transitioners to facilitate the following steps toward corporate employment:

  1. HAH Career Coach will “meet with” (virtual or in-person) the self-identified transitioner interested in the Pipeline Program,
  2. HAH Career Coach will provide transitioner with an overview of the company who has expressed interest in applicants within the transitioner’s MOS, desired career field, or desired location after military service.
  3. HAH Career Coach will provide transitioner with an overview of the specific position that is a match to the transitioner’s MOS or skills.
  4. If the transitioner is interested in further pursuing the opportunity, the Career Coach will introduce the transitioner to a recruiter in the participating HAH company,
  5. The recruiter will send a written “screen” to clarify the transitioner’s existing skills, skill gaps, strength areas, and areas for improvement. The intent of the “screen” is to identify and close skill gaps during the transitioner’s remaining time in the military.
  6. Once the written screen has been reviewed by the recruiter, if there is continued interest in this candidate, the recruiter will conduct a phone screen with the transitioner,
  7. Once the phone screen has been conducted, the recruiter will make a recommendation of either
  8. Accept the transitioner as a “candidate” for the identified position, or
  9. Recommend the Career Coach locate another opportunity for the transitioner
  10. If written and phone screens are completed successfully, and the transitioner applicant becomes a “candidate” for the identified position, a new series of opportunities emerge including:
  11. Participation in informational interviews with various company representatives as scheduled by the recruiter,
  12. Arrange for a company visit or Job Shadow experience,
  13. Assistance by the HAH Career Coach and by Company representatives to identify areas for further training/education needed to ensure candidate competitiveness for the identified position.
  14. In ongoing interactions between the HAH Career Coach and the Corporate recruiter, the candidate will be assisted with:
  15. Tailoring their resume to the specific positions of interest,
  16. Introduction to a corporate mentor who can further assist the candidate during their remaining time in service,
  17. Participation in internship or apprenticeship opportunities if such participation would facilitate employment opportunities and military obligations permit.

Through Hire America’s Heroes Pipeline Program, and guided by Hire America’s Heroes Career Coaches, military transitioners will begin the process of identifying employment opportunities in HAH member corporations and will engage in activities that lead to corporate employment.

Success Metrics

As with any program we must have goals to hold ourselves against. It would be a natural choice to measure our success with the amount of veterans hired by our sponsors and we will ultimately track the number of applicants that find employment. Since there is no guaranty of employment we must have realistic goals that will enable a service member to reach the inner circle. The Pipeline Program’s success metrics include a tiered effort from interaction to interview and industry forums presented to assist employers in the understanding of military skills that relate to positions in their companies.

The first measurement is a percentage of interactions between the applicant and career coach. An interaction is defined as any discussion between a career coach and applicant that leads to further discussions. A goal of 90% interaction rate is realistic at this stage of the applicant-career coach relationship. This percentage rate was chosen with the understanding that HAH will not be able to contact 100% of the service members that submit applications and some will not need or want assistance after filling out an application.

The second measurement is a percentage of introductions made on behave of the applicant by a career coach to a desired company. An introduction is defined as relaying an applicants skills and qualifications to a company point of contact for consideration of employment. A goal of 75% (of the interaction 90%) introduction rate is realistic at this stage of the relationship. HAH knows that not every applicant is well suited for a position within the corporate workplace and may need to find other employment or continue their education.

The third measurement is the percentage of phone screens conducted between an applicant, career coach, and corporate recruiter or points of contact. Once a career coach has been able to work with an applicant and determine his or her desires and determines the interest of different companies moving on to phone screens are possible. A phone screen will further develop the interest of both the applicant with a particular company and the company’s representative with the applicant. A goal of 50% (of the introduction 75%) phone screen rate is realistic at this stage of the relationship.

The fourth measurement is the percentage of interviews granted to an applicant. An interview is when the applicant has successfully applied for a position with the company and meets with a hiring manager. A goal of 25% (of the phone screen 50%) is set for this stage of the relationship. The ultimate measure of success of the Pipeline Program is enabling a service member to navigate to corporate recruiting process and securing an interview. It is then on the service member to impress the hiring manager.

The final measurement of success is the number of industry forums conducted each year. The goal of these forums is educate company representatives on which military service occupations would fit the positions within an industry and streamline a screening process. A goal of four forums for the first year and two a year then after is set. The first four forums are medical, information technology, manufacturing, and retail.

About HAH and the Pipeline Program

HAH was formally established in 2007 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to address the employment needs of job-seeking members of the “American Military Family” – veterans of all eras and all branches of service, transitioners from all branches, continuously-serving members of the National Guard and Reserve components, Wounded Warriors and their Care-givers, as well as members of Blue Star and Gold Star Families. We work in tandem with diverse allies to pioneer new strategies that help connect job-seeking members of the American Military Family family-wage jobs and civilian careers.

HAH is financed and supported by an array of corporations interested in employing members of the “American Military Family.” Additional support is derived from foundations, donors, and individuals interested in ensuring post-military employment for those who serve the nation.

The Pipeline Programis designed to specifically serve transitioners out-processing through military transition programs early in the process to enable the transitioning service member to use the maximum amount of time preparing for the next job.