Learning how to hire veterans is one of the highest-leverage moves a hiring manager can make. Military veterans arrive with proven leadership, security clearances, technical training, and a work ethic civilian candidates often spend years developing. Yet many employers struggle to find military talent, read a service record, or keep veterans past their first year. This guide walks through the full process — from where veterans actually are, to writing job posts they respond to, interviewing fairly, weighing hiring incentives, and onboarding for retention.
Why hiring veterans is a business decision, not a charity
Hiring veterans is not a goodwill gesture you make and write off. It is a talent strategy. In a 2021 study by SHRM and USAA, 91% of HR professionals said veterans perform equal to or better than their civilian peers on measures such as retention and reliability, and 98% agreed veterans can thrive in both team-based and independent roles. The traits employers say they struggle to find — accountability, calm under pressure, the ability to lead and to follow — are exactly what military service builds and tests.
Veterans also bring capabilities that are expensive to source elsewhere: active security clearances, hands-on experience with complex equipment, logistics and maintenance expertise, and a comfort with structure and standards. For a deeper look at the numbers and the case for it, see our breakdown of why hiring veterans makes business sense.
Where to find veterans and military talent
The first obstacle is reach. Transitioning servicemembers often separate without ever posting a public resume, and the strongest candidates are recruited before they hit the open market. To find them, go where they are:
- DoD SkillBridge. This Department of Defense program lets active-duty members complete a civilian internship during their final 180 days of service while the military continues to pay their salary and benefits. Authorized employers get an extended look at a candidate's civilian work before making a hiring decision — though DoD requires participants to be enrolled with a genuine intent to train, not as a guaranteed tryout.
- Transition assistance and base programs. Installation transition offices, hiring events, and recruiting relationships built near major bases connect you to people roughly 6–12 months out from separation. Our military base map shows where that talent concentrates.
- Veteran job boards and service organizations. Platforms and nonprofits dedicated to military hiring put your role in front of a self-selected, motivated audience.
- A veteran staffing partner. Relationships take years to build. A specialized agency maintains an active military and veteran talent network so you do not start from zero on every requisition.
How to write a veteran-friendly job post
Even great sourcing fails if the job description filters out the people you want. A few adjustments make a post far more effective for veteran recruitment:
- Drop the rigid degree gate when it is not truly required. Many veterans have equivalent training, certifications, and real responsibility instead of a four-year degree. Lead with competencies and outcomes.
- Translate your requirements into plain language. Civilian acronyms and buzzwords read as a foreign language to someone who just left the service. State what the person will actually do.
- Name the clearance and the location. If a role needs a Secret or Top Secret clearance, say so — cleared candidates search on it. If it does not, say that too, so you do not scare off strong applicants.
- Signal that you welcome military experience. A simple line stating you value military service and will help translate it lowers the barrier to applying.
Interviewing: how to translate military experience
The biggest hiring mistake is reading a service record at face value and missing the substance underneath. A platoon sergeant has managed people, equipment, training, and risk. A logistics specialist has run a supply chain. Your job in the interview is to map that experience to your roles.
Ask outcome-based behavioral questions: how they led a team through a difficult task, how they solved a problem with limited resources, how they handled a mistake. Listen for transferable skills rather than industry-specific jargon. Brief your interview panel ahead of time so a quiet, understated answer is not mistaken for a lack of accomplishment — humility is a cultural norm in the military, not a red flag. This translation work is exactly what a structured screening and placement process is built to handle before a candidate ever reaches your desk.
Understanding security clearances
If your work touches government contracts, clearances matter and they are slow and costly to obtain — a background investigation can take many months. Hiring someone who already holds an active clearance saves that time and expense. The levels, from lowest to highest:
| Level | Access granted |
|---|---|
| Confidential | Information whose unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause damage to national security |
| Secret | Information whose unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage |
| Top Secret (TS) | Information whose unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage |
| TS/SCI | Top Secret eligibility plus access to specific Sensitive Compartmented Information programs |
Always verify clearance status independently rather than relying on a candidate's word. Clearances can lapse, and adjudication details matter. LockLeed maintains a pipeline of candidates with active clearances from Secret through TS/SCI across the industries we serve, verified before every submission.
Hiring incentives: the Work Opportunity Tax Credit
The federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) has historically rewarded employers for hiring from targeted groups, including certain qualified veterans. When in force, the credit can reach as high as $9,600 per qualified veteran for for-profit employers, depending on factors such as length of unemployment, hours worked, and first-year wages. To claim it, employers submit IRS Form 8850 to their state workforce agency within 28 days of the employee's start date.
One important caveat as of 2026: WOTC's statutory authorization lapsed for employees who begin work after December 31, 2025, and the credit is not available for new hires in 2026 unless Congress reauthorizes it. The program has expired and been retroactively reinstated before, so many employers continue to screen and file Form 8850 on time to preserve eligibility in case of a renewal. Always confirm current program status and eligibility with the IRS or your tax advisor before relying on the credit.
Onboarding and retention
Hiring is only half the job. Research has found that a large share of veterans — by several estimates close to half — leave their first civilian role within the first year, often because the workplace feels unfamiliar, not because the fit was wrong. A deliberate onboarding plan closes that gap:
- Assign a mentor or sponsor who can decode unwritten norms, much like a sponsor does at a new duty station.
- Set clear expectations and standards. Veterans thrive on defined missions, measurable goals, and direct feedback.
- Connect them to other veterans through an employee resource group or informal network.
- Map a path forward. Show how the role leads somewhere; ambition and a desire to keep developing are part of the profile.
How a veteran staffing agency accelerates all of this
Doing each step well takes time and specialized knowledge most internal teams do not have on tap. A veteran-owned agency compresses the work: it maintains the network, translates the experience, verifies clearances, and delivers a short slate of interviewed finalists instead of a flood of resumes. On a contingency model, an engagement fee activates the search and applies toward the placement fee on a successful hire — so you pay for outcomes, not activity. Explore how LockLeed works with employers, or talk to LockLeed about your next hire and we will schedule a brief and build a slate.