Being a Veteran in the Workplace: Facing Challenges and Finding New Strategies

As veterans, the skills, abilities and lessons learned that we gain from active duty don’t always directly translate into professional settings. In support of National Hire a Veteran Day on July 25th, I’d like to share my experience and strategies surrounding veterans in the workspace.

Finding a job post service, for many of us, can feel like one of the hardest missions we’ve encountered. My first piece of advice to other veterans is to make yourself marketable. Take your active duty experience and think about how that equates to leadership, teamwork, and problem solving. Each of us–no matter the job, time in service, or rank–have had valuable experiences.

While some businesses may believe you need a college degree to be a leader, veterans know that’s not the case. Often, the average college graduate hasn’t had any experience in leadership, much less the experience of leading teammates through complex problem sets in a zero-fail mission. We, as a veteran community, need to lean into that. Tell your story to recruiters and interviewers. Provide examples of how you overcame challenges in service and led teams to successful and safe outcomes.

When job searching - and even after you land a position - one of the most common challenges veterans like us face is the perception that the military is driven by what people see in movies - yelling, pushups, the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan or Full Metal Jacket. People believe that a veteran is more likely to impose strict discipline, and because of that, many civilian employees may struggle to connect with veteran coworkers. In the workplace, my solution is typically to break the ice first by initiating positive interactions and building personal relationships.

A few years ago, I found myself struggling to make headway with my co-workers to build those relationships. I was also experiencing a significant void regarding purpose in my life. I was struggling with my identity remaining “Chris the Marine.” While scrolling LinkedIn one day, I noticed a posting from Travis Manion Foundation (TMF) about an event they were hosting for the veteran community. Afterwards, I began to research more about the organization. The TMF message of regaining a sense of purpose through serving our nation’s communities really struck a chord with me as I was trying to find my next “mission.” The TMF ethos of “If Not Me, Then Who…” resonated as well. I quickly signed up for some of the online training and began to find ways in which I could make an impact within my community.

I was accepted to TMF’s Spartan Leadership Program, and it was a game changer. The stories, resources and education that were made available during that 7-month program helped me gain perspective and direction. By choosing to hang on to that one single experience of “Chris the Marine” in my story, I had failed to realize that other opportunities were all around me. With TMF, I learned my true strengths and how they apply to my character; it gave me a greater understanding and value of my self worth.

I have been able to use all the skills I learned through TMF in my professional career. The power of positive emotion and empathy allows me to better lead those around me. Relying on “If Not Me, Then Who…” as a guiding principle transcends all workplace differences and helps me lead by example and with integrity.

No matter where you are in your post-service career, it’s important to note that veterans are leaders. We have discipline, we think outside the box, and we hold high standards for ourselves and our team. We solve complicated problems and work cross functionally with other teams to do so. We are adaptive. We value integrity, hard work, and teamwork. It is up to us to take the opportunity to build bridges and tell our stories. If you are looking to explore your strengths and redefine your purpose, you can learn more here: https://rly.pt/TMF