Bringing Veterans into the Technology Business?

2015-03-24T13:48:14-04:00

The average American today is surrounded by technology. The smartphones in our pockets, the individual apps on those devices and the fitness monitors on our wrists are just a few of the artifacts symbolizing how technology has permeated into our everyday lives.

What is missing in all of this technology is the collective influence of U.S. military Veterans in the business and engineering efforts behind modern software and hardware. The most successful technology companies in the United States today were not founded by Veterans and are not currently led by Veterans.

There are certainly Veterans involved in the technology business, but there is a noticeable void of Veterans on the executive teams that are building the contemporary technology industry. Veterans are not shaping the technology market or leading the cadre of businesses building modern enterprise and consumer tools at companies like Google, Apple, Samsung, Uber, Facebook, LinkedIn, Evernote and Twitter.

I have seen the drought of Veteran influence in the technology industry first hand as a member of both the military and technology tribes.

When I left the active-duty Air Force in 2009, I went to Silicon Valley and took a sales engineering position at Google. After a few years I was promoted to a product management role. As I immersed myself deeper in the technology industry, I began to seek out other Veterans. The scarcity of peers and mentors in Silicon Valley with military experience was notable.

At Google, a company of over 30,000 employees when I resigned in 2014, there were only around 300 U.S. military Veterans. Many technology companies have recognized the need to recruit underrepresented communities and include Veterans in their diversity and inclusion strategies.

All too often though, the positions generated by these efforts are simply aimed at selling software, hardware or services to the government. These are not the coveted engineering and product management roles that are charged with designing complex software systems, leading development teams and creating new products.

When Veterans are able to join large technology companies, they are relegated to individual contributor roles or mid-level management positions. There are certainly exceptions where Veterans have achieved more in technology companies, but the frequency of these successes is largely anecdotal.

There is a better way! The world is full of interesting problems that have not yet been solved, and Veterans are keenly equipped to meet these challenges. Rather than joining large technology companies and fighting their way to the top, Veterans can become technology entrepreneurs, start businesses and change the world on their own terms.

There has never been a better time to grow an idea into a scalable technology company. Developing a technology startup does not necessitate an MBA, it simply requires having an idea, creating a vision, sustaining motivation and investing hard work. These are character traits that many Veterans already possess.

There are Veterans out there right now forging this entrepreneurial path, and there are programs expressly aimed at helping others along the way. If Veterans invest a bit of time to learn the language, understand the processes and connect with the right mentors, they can build the next generation of great technology businesses.

In an effort to highlight the connective pathways linking Veterans to technology entrepreneurship, Patriot Boot Camp and RallyPoint have partnered to publish a series of profiles on successful Veteran-led technology companies.

Stay tuned for great startup stories, amazing personal transformations and a lot of raw entrepreneurial motivation!

—
Sean Maday is a director at <a href="http://www.patriotbootcamp.org">Patriot Boot Camp</a>, an intensive 3-day event that seeks to help Veterans become technology entrepreneurs. The program is free for U.S. military Veterans and/or their spouses. The next Patriot Boot Camp event is in New York City on April 17, 2015. Follow their RallyPoint group page here!: http://rly.pt/patriot-boot-camp

http://www.patriotbootcamp.org

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Discover veteran friendly jobs at Patriot Boot Camp and connect with military members and veterans working there now.

Response by CPT Zachary Brooks made Mar 24 at 2015 1:59 PM

2015-03-24T13:59:40-04:00

I am currently working on getting myself more entrenched in the IT fields. I hope to move up the chain and become a mover and shaker in a few years.

What kinds of things can I do to develop my non military leadership skills and move upwards?

Response by SFC Charles S. made Mar 24 at 2015 2:03 PM

2015-03-24T14:03:53-04:00

I'm in IT in education and that is a field that is definitely on the upswing. Everyone is moving to 1:1 computing and digital standards. Employment with Veterans offers a lot of options to school districts. Having certifications helps but not necessarily a requirement. I would encourage anyone that has time to get involved in tech to go there. Money can be made and it's something Veterans usually have a knack for. Just MHO.

Response by CPT Zachary Brooks made Mar 24 at 2015 4:19 PM

2015-03-24T16:19:13-04:00

I see you have followed this discussion and we have spoken about this before. If you are still interesting in going this route, send me a message and I can link you up with some recruiters as well as a non profit or two that can training you in some of the early skills to assist in transition. I've gone from MI to Signal recently and I know how difficult that transition can be from a civilian perspective in this area.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 24 at 2015 4:33 PM

2015-03-24T16:33:31-04:00

I am a tech nerd, by hobby and career. I don't have all the latest gadgets, but I have a few. I'm still not afraid to leave my cell phone at home and often do. What I can't stand, is being with a group of people who cannot break away from being "connected" for more than a minute at a time.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 24 at 2015 7:24 PM

2015-03-24T19:24:35-04:00

The Federal Web Community is making leaps and bounds into using technology to better serve the citizens in a more efficient manner. We've had hackathons and Challenges and opening up our data and apis for the public to consume and leverage into something that can serve the public good. I'm very proud of my colleagues and all that we have done. I will also add that we are doing it leveraging open source software such as Drupal, Umbraco, WordPress CMS, GitHub for code repositories, as well to save taxpayer dollars. Many of us in Gov are passionate about doing great work and leveraging the latest technology to do so. The Federal Digital Strategy and 18F initiatives have afforded us to do all of this. I think there is room for Veterans to come aboard and do great things for the Government.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 24 at 2015 7:54 PM

2015-03-24T19:54:50-04:00

Any military pre or post that are considering getting into the IT Technology field, I would recommend going the Security route. Get into IT Tech schools for your CISSP, Firewall, Internet Vulnerabilities or anything IT Security related. There is nothing but growth for Top Notch Security Specialists at every corner. I have worked everything from cradle to grave in the IT field and settled on IT Security as the end point to my career. You can do firewalls with Checkpoint, Palo Alto, Cisco,Juniper or go to the WAN side with routers and switches which everyone is primarily Cisco. Companies are getting more where engineers are silo'd to specialties instead of the jack of all trades type engineers. SO pick a specialty and go all in.

Response by SSG Keven Lahde made Mar 24 at 2015 8:11 PM

2015-03-24T20:11:03-04:00

I am be the only one these days that doesn't own a smartphone. Am I the only one???

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Mar 24 at 2015 8:22 PM

2015-03-24T20:22:04-04:00

I hope that tons more veterans find their way into tech. Would be great to see this happen over the coming years!

Response by LTC John Shaw made Mar 24 at 2015 9:07 PM

2015-03-24T21:07:28-04:00

Don't forget the telecom and cyber side of the technology field. If I were just starting out the new cyber track looks like a great place to go!

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Mar 24 at 2015 10:36 PM

2015-03-24T22:36:01-04:00

The only reason I got a mobile phone is because of my business. The only reason I finally got rid of my dumb phone and got a smart phone is so I could send pics to vets I work with and receive pics of hooves from my customers. I still don't know what all my "smart" phone does and probably never wil.

Response by SSG Keven Lahde made Mar 25 at 2015 6:00 AM

2015-03-25T06:00:44-04:00

Will take a smartphone if anyone has one to donate....lol. I have Walmart Family Mobile. I know I need to update.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 25 at 2015 8:58 AM

2015-03-25T08:58:15-04:00

Piggybacking on this discussion, I saw this article. There was a Global Info Security study in 2013 and it shows the top five skillsets that are lacking in the IT field. They are security analyst, security engineer with skills in planning/design or application, security auditor, and security architect.

The U.S.A. Cyber Warrior Scholarship, presented in a partnership between (ISC)² Foundation and the program sponsor Booz Allen Hamilton, will provide recipients of this scholarship with training, textbooks, phone application-enabled study materials, certification testing and placement assistance of qualified* returning veterans who served in the United States Military. This program will focus on six (ISC)² certifications that will better position returning veterans to transition into the civilian workforce: SSCP®, CISSP®, CAP®, CCFPSM, HCISPPSM, and CSSLP®. I think this would be a great avenue for a returning veteran to persue a certification.

Maj Private RallyPoint Member, CPT Zachary Brooks, SPC P K., Capt Richard I P.

U.S.A. Cyber Warrior Scholarship | (ISC) FoundationUntitled Page

The 2011 (ISC) Global Information Security Workforce Study indicated for the first time the enormity of the gap between demand for cyber security workers and supply. The 2013 study, conducted by Frost & Sullivan, in partnership between (ISC) Foundation and Booz Allen Hamilton, shows the top five skill sets lacking are security analyst, security engineer with skills in planning/design or application, security auditor, and security architect....

Response by SPC Ryan D. made Mar 25 at 2015 11:01 AM

2015-03-25T11:01:55-04:00

There is good money to be made in IT/security, but if you are so inclined, development is where the great money is at.

If you know any current language being used (e.g. Python, Perl, JavaScript), you can find a job just about anywhere you want to go in the six figure area.

Response by PVT Jonathan Camilleri made Aug 18 at 2017 3:08 AM

2017-08-18T03:08:37-04:00

What do you think is required to work in technology?