VETERAN HIRING: If a company states they are "Veteran Friendly," what is your initial reaction?

Agreed SGT Dave Tracy That statement has no impact on my decision to apply or not, or to support them or not. What does have impact is what they do with that statement. There was a Burger King next to base that had We support our troops signs all over it, but did not even offer the military discount that all other Bk's in the area did. So no support for them. I was at a local restaurant that was advertising a Veterans Appreciation Day. We overheard a waiter ask why so many mooches would show up for a free meal. All of us got up and left, I have never been back. What it means to the company is the only way this statement has impact. JMHO

I suppose if I wanted to drive a truck or sell insurance I'd be all set - that's all I see out there. Major, Sergeant Major or Private, most people don't even know the difference, nor do they care to learn.

Thanks for the insight Randy. I've seen and heard some instances which parallel with your experience. This type of situation makes the community ask "What does this company actually think Veteran Friendly means?". On the other side of the conversation, if the veteran community feels the term "Veteran Friendly" is FAKE then companies who are actually hiring veterans and using the moniker will get unfairly categorized in the group as well.

This has vexed me personally for a while, we are constantly tole how our "professionalism" and "leadership" skills are in demand - yet after we spend 25+ years doing what we do we are told we lack the 3 years of industry specific experience or our degree is in the wrong subject. Seriously, my degree is from 20 years ago even if it were in the field the information I learned would be so dated it is irrelevant. I think the people on the boards of these companies want to give veterans a shot it just doesn't get translated to the 30 something HR person who simply looks for the check-marks in the list of job requirements. Have to think outside the box and see how the military fits into the position. They either don't care to learn or won't...

Don't know is this is for the OP or for me, but its in response to my post so here goes... The problem, we can "civilianize" our resumes and job titles all we want, have quantifiable bullets and monumental achievments under that position yet all the employer really sees is that you were in the military. Take the same job title, same bullets and change who you worked for to another civilian company and the world opens up before you. For instance I say I was the VP of Regional Recruiting for a major company (US Army BN XO), I managed a staff of 75 people, 400 vehicles, 57 facilities achieved great benchmarks, managed huge budgets etc. All they really see is - ah, employer "US Army", in their uninformed heads they don't see that as experience they see it as military and irrelevant at best. Fair treatment would be to accept that the military doesn't make anything, we don't have profit and loss its not directly translatable but the theories of management are the same. I've heard "you need to learn the corporate culture" more than one time. Really, DOD is a corporate culture and if say I went from IBM to Apple from MID to MID level I'd have to learn the way they did things specifically just like I would after military service... I gurantee they don't tell a person who was a mid-senior level manger at a similar but not exact industry "yeah, I appreciate you were fairly senior there but we need you to start at entry level here and - well, you are overqualified for that so thanks..." They just don't comprehend that there are various levels of management in the military. They don't know the difference between a Private and a Colonel.

Glenn, I hate to hear that and hope you find something soon. In the meantime send me your resume...

Chad, where do I send it? I really am getting sick of all these alleged agencies that claim to help veterans.
I sent an email question to Wounded Warrior Project, of which I am a member, and they sent me back an automated response telling me how to join WWP, I mean WTF is that.
I also contacted USAJOBS and they said that they only post the jobs and have nothing to do with hiring agencies. They did refer me to some other site about veterans and they just refer you back to USAJOBS.
Sorry to rant, I'm just fed up with this whole thing about companies alleged valuing veterans and I'm really sick of hearing "thank you for your service".

Yep, you managed a battalion, that's nice what is that anyway? We need someone with 3 years in a manufacturing environment. Buzzz thanks for playing. Throw that one on the pile with the others..

They do hire veterans, just ask thier janitors how they get the floors so shiny, most will say, "I learned how to do it in Boot".

Has that been your experience Dan?

Yes, in the private and in State government