The veteran community holds an incredible pool of highly educated and experienced talent, and yet they remain marginalized and underutilized when it comes to corporate employment. Joining us today on Talk Talent to Me is Chip Mardis, partner at Greenlight Connections, a veteran-owned, full-service talent acquisition and staff augmentation company that specializes in sourcing top talent from the military community. Chip guides us through the particular difficulties that a veteran may experience when transitioning into corporate America, and goes on to highlight how America is not well-prepared with regard to how to interact with the massive bank of talent coming out of the military. We discuss the biases and preconceived notions that this demographic faces, as well as the numerous positive qualities and skills which should stand out as an asset to any company, before diving into the various things that businesses can consider and do to make meaningful change and start placing hires. Tune in to hear this important and moving conversation today!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introducing Chip, and his diverse military and retail background.
• A bit about what led him to found this company.
• Why it's difficult for veterans to transition into the corporate world and be received there. 
• Some of the challenges Chip faced when searching and applying for jobs after the military.
• The tenuous transferring of leadership and skills during this kind of transition.
• What recruiting organizations should know when they're interacting with veterans.
• The nature of the military family unit and why military spouses are often overlooked.
• The many valuable qualities that make veterans and military spouses an asset.
• Chip shares the wariness of military spouses and veterans due to being marginalized.
• The importance of credibility with this demographic and how Chip has achieved that.
• Some markers of these career journeys, including location and success in medicine.
• Some other factors to consider such as childcare and adequate compensation.
• Hear about the fantastic work of the Veterans Administration and Hiring Our Heroes. 
• Where to reach out to in order to hire more talented individuals like this.

 

Tweetables:

“The military demographic as a talent source is a mystery on both sides of the isle. The candidates, either the veterans as well as the military spouses that are leading are somewhat unsure or unclear how to go ahead and pursue a career strategy and job search strategy.” — Chip Mardis [0:04:44]

 

“[There are] two sides. I don’t think the hiring forum understands the incredible value that a military veteran or a spouse can bring to the program. And there’s this huge gap where our veterans really don’t know how to conduct job searches and how to adequately prepare.” — Chip Mardis [0:05:54]

 

You need to calibrate that these are incredibly successful people that have stood by our country. Not to wave the flag but candidly, they have, and have just worked their tail off to be in this position. I think it’s an honor to talk to a veteran.” — Chip Mardis [0:11:03]

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 

Chip Mardis on LinkedIn

Greenlight Connections

The Veterans Administration

Hiring Our Heroes

The Limited

Designer Shoe Warehouse

nCino Corporation

Talk Talent to Me

Hired