How to improve US and UK veteran employment prospects and fulfilling career exploration
Assisting US and UK military veterans in finding meaningful civilian work opportunities is the primary focus of our startup. With a personalized approach and leveraging their military expertise, we aim to help veterans explore various career options. This blog post highlights the reasons behind our decision, the challenges veterans face in the job market, and the development of our proof of concept and MVP. Through continuous customer development and refining our understanding of their needs, we strive to provide a valuable solution for veterans seeking fulfilling careers.
We believe all veterans deserve the opportunity to explore various civilian career options and discover their ideal professional fit. This fit may involve diverse career portfolios and roles that align with their needs, purpose, and evolving talents.
As an MVP-stage startup, we are committed to assisting veterans in finding relevant roles faster in the professional services and aerospace and defense sectors. We provide personalized recommendations that leverage their military expertise. Soon we’ll help veterans explore careers ranging from cybersecurity to sales and sustainability.
Why We Chose to Help US and UK Military Veterans (November 2022)
In November, we made the decision to focus on helping US and UK veterans discover meaningful civilian work opportunities. The combined workforce of these two nations comprises approximately 11 million individuals, making it a significant source of talent for US and UK businesses.
There were three primary reasons for narrowing our focus:
- I have 14 years of experience in the US Army and European defense contracting.
- I also have a diverse personal and professional network of transitioning military members and veterans in both markets.
- Focusing on a niche market where team members have firsthand experience is likely to enhance early-stage activities such as customer and product development.
The Pros and Cons of US Veteran Employment
Fortunately, our decision to focus on veterans was timely, as it coincided with Veterans Day in the US and recent news about veteran employment.
In 2022, 97% of US veterans in the civilian labor force were employed. Additionally, veterans generally have better employment prospects than civilians, with lower unemployment rates than the national average. In April 2023, US veteran unemployment is at its lowest point since 2000.
However, for some veterans, the civilian job market can be unwelcoming. It may take years of unsatisfying jobs before finding a career that aligns with their needs and purpose. The veterans we spoke with expressed concerns about the post-COVID job market trends, widespread layoffs, and hiring freezes. Some emphasized the need for networking, employer outreach, and interview preparation support.
Addressing the Complexity of Veteran Employment
Veteran employment is a multifaceted issue for several reasons:
- Veterans are not a homogenous group.
- The challenges faced by veterans in securing employment are not limited to finding a job.
- Employers also play a significant role in determining veterans’ employment outcomes.
According to an article from Harvard Business School, employer actions are the biggest barrier preventing US veterans from entering the civilian workforce. The report also highlights veteran recruitment programs that improve access and enhance veterans’ employment prospects.
At rolemodel, we prioritize at least 200 veteran-friendly employers in our end-to-end solution planning. We also recognize the importance of continuously improving military transition programs and enduring support from congressional lawmakers.
By focusing on 1) specific veteran demographics, 2) employer action barriers, and 3) challenges faced by veteran-friendly employers in sourcing and recruitment, we likely simplified the complexity and refined product testing and learning outcomes from early stakeholders.
Continuously Developing Our Understanding of Customer Needs
As we navigate the barriers to veteran employment, our focus extends beyond the initial stages. We are committed to ongoing customer development and understanding unique post-military employment challenges. This commitment stems from reflecting on my 2004 to 2012 Army experience and working with multinational militaries from 2013 to 2021.
During this time, I consistently engage in discussions with individuals in my network and explore the concept of meaningful work. While the perception of meaningful work may be subjective, we investigate its significance as a key factor for both civilians and military personnel.
Research conducted by McKinsey shows that meaningful work ranks among the top three factors influencing employee experience across different worker personas. Furthermore, lack of fulfillment has been identified as one of the top five reasons junior officers leave the Army.
Throughout our customer development process, we have engaged in discussions, interviews, and surveys and analyzed feedback from landing pages. These interactions have revealed recurring challenges shared by veterans, including the difficulty of knowing where to start, how to gain momentum, and how to find a clear starting point when transitioning from a military career to a civilian one.
These themes are only the tip of the iceberg, and by continuously seeking insights from our target audience, we can refine our understanding of their needs and aspirations, ensuring that our solution aligns with their goals.
rolemodel Proof of Concept Development (January 2022 — Late February 2023)
Our proof of concept (POC) is approximately 400 lines of code developed and deployed in Streamlit. Streamlit lets us quickly turn Python data scripts into web apps for testing and feedback.
The POC served as a starting point for veterans to find meaningful work opportunities across one company. From a technical perspective, we ensured that the user’s work design and job crafting templates included relevant data points. These templates could be matched to real job descriptions, and the matches could be compatibility-scored and ranked, providing the top 5 recommendations.
The Aim of the Proof of Concept (POC)
From a problem perspective, the sheer volume of job postings makes it challenging for online platforms to ensure the quality of each listing. Consequently, irrelevant or outdated job postings clutter the search results, wasting veterans’ time.
rolemodel’s benefit is that it saves time by offering highly personalized job recommendations beyond profile and search history. It incorporates over 200 relevant data options in our transferable knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs, and technologies (KSABT©) framework to help veterans design and discover career paths and specific roles.
The Proof of Concept as a “Clickable Prototype”
Since Streamlit turns Python scripts into apps, we gathered feedback from around 34 superfans to inform our assumptions and validate our minimal viable product (MVP) requirement.
The feedback themes, in no particular order, were:
- Not optimized for mobile, making navigation difficult.
- Too “clunky”.
- Contains excessive jargon.
- Disorganized data, making options hard to navigate.
- Missing military occupational specialties (MOS).
- Limited job database focused on defense contractor.
- Requires real job links, as “highly personalized job recommendations” is a significant part of the value proposition.
MVP Development and Launch (May — June 2023)
This month, we plan to launch the first version of our MVP for feedback and testing. This version is being developed in Glide, focusing on quick low-code development, user experience, interface, and value creation, which differs from the POC. We are incorporating feedback and recommendations from our superfans and will continue this cycle through September.
The revised MVP hypotheses are:
- Applicants will complete the personalized career templates that match them to job descriptions across various industries.
- Applicants will assess job fit and priority and apply competitively to scored matches.
Importantly, for the summer iteration, we are focusing on junior officers with rolemodel-o to validate the job recommendations across a smaller sample of MOS, career options, and open jobs. By starting small, we can refine our approach for future enlisted and non-commissioned officer (NCO) iterations. We are also working closely with a few junior officers in a concierge MVP model, helping them identify relevant roles, target resumes to roles, network, and apply competitively to companies like McKinsey and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Lastly, future blog posts will discuss UK veteran employment, how we plan to iterate our MVP to a business-to-business (B2B) pilot and get strategic partnerships across the US and UK. Right now, our endgame is commercial adoption.
Get Updates and Register Your Interest
Our superfans range from veterans to university career managers and veteran-owned businesses. Please sign-up to receive updates and get early MVP access.
We would love to hear from you and have you join us on this journey.
Victor R. Morris is a former US Army Captain and experienced international defense consultant. He was a training facilitator in over 20 European countries from 2013 to 2021. Victor is currently the rolemodel founder as well as a London-based social impact entrepreneur and certified professional resume writer working with Europe-based transitioning military members. His interests include talent management, machine learning, natural language processing, and writing children’s books.