Annual CareerBuilder Survey Finds That Hiring Veterans Remains a Strong Focus, but Veteran Job Satisfaction Takes a Dip

-- 47 percent of employers say they have hired a veteran in the last year

-- 57 percent of veteran employees say they are satisfied and enjoy their work - down from 65 percent in 2015

-- If a hiring manager had two equally qualified candidates for a job, 68 percent would choose the veteran

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Nov 09, 2016, 12:00 ET

CHICAGO and ATLANTA, Nov. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Having one of the largest forces in the world, caring for U.S. veterans when they leave the military includes helping them find gainful employment. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 37 percent of employers say they will actively recruit for veterans over the next 12 months – remaining flat over last year (37 percent), but still up from 33 percent in 2014.

Also remaining unchanged over 2015 is the percentage of employers that have hired a veteran in the last year (47 percent). Thirty-one percent of employers have hired veterans that returned from active duty within the last three years.

However, veterans are significantly less content with their jobs than last year. While 57 percent of veteran employees say they are satisfied and enjoy their work, this number is down eight percentage points from 65 percent in 2015. Twenty percent report working in a low-paying job (up from 19 percent in 2015), and 22 percent say they are underemployed – working a job that is below their skill level (up 2 percentage points from 2015).

The national study was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from August 11 to September 7, 2016 and included a sample of 231 full-time veteran workers and 2,587 hiring managers and human resources professionals across industries and company sizes.

"Veteran hiring initiatives seem to be top of mind for the majority of employers, and it is almost always a hot-button topic in an election year," says Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder. "Our veterans bring a unique blend of discipline, leadership and problem-solving skills that employers would be foolish to pass up. But, it's also up to the employer to keep these workers involved and challenged to do their best work."

Top Jobs for Veterans

According to employers who are actively recruiting veterans, these are the top positions for which they will be recruiting veterans:

Customer Service: 37 percent
Information Technology: 33 percent
Sales: 28 percent
Production: 26 percent
Distribution & Logistics: 22 percent
Accounting/Finance: 20 percent
Human Resources: 17 percent
Business Development 16 percent
Marketing: 14 percent
Research & Development: 14 percent
Public Relations: 12 percent
Clinical: 11 percent
Legal: 8 percent

Highlighting the Right Skills

The same percentage of employers (47 percent) as last year say that they tend to pay more attention to resumes and applications that belong to veterans. Sixty-eight percent of hiring managers also say that if they had two equally qualified candidates for an open position – one veteran and one not – they would be more likely to hire the veteran.

In a resume and interview, it is important for veterans to demonstrate skills that an employer would find desirable. According to employers, here are the top qualities that they feel members of the Armed Services bring to their organizations after leaving active duty:

Disciplined approach to work: 63 percent
Ability to work as a team: 62 percent
Respect and integrity: 59 percent
Ability to perform under pressure: 54 percent
Leadership skills: 52 percent
Problem-solving skills: 48 percent
Ability to adapt quickly: 46 percent
Attitude of perseverance: 44 percent
Communication skills: 41 percent
Strong technical skills: 33 percent

Survey Methodology

These surveys were conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,587 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed) and 231 U.S. veteran employees ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed) between August 11 and September 7, 2016. Percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions. With pure probability samples of 2,587 and 231, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 1.93 and +/- 6.45 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®

CareerBuilder is the only end-to-end human capital management company covering the entire candidate lifecycle and employee lifecycle for businesses. As the global leader in its industry, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help companies with every step of talent acquisition and management. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries, providing solutions for talent and labor market analytics, job distribution, candidate sourcing, tracking, onboarding, HRIS, benefits administration and compliance. It also operates leading job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE: TRCO) and McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact:
Rob Zaldivar
312-698-1042
[email protected]
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR

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SOURCE CareerBuilder