Tech companies and veterans should work together — here’s how.
By Matthew Steckman and Scott Sanders
Matthew Steckman leads government and corporate affairs at Anduril Industries. He previous held leadership positions at Palantir Technologies and Zipline International.
Scott Sanders leads customer operations at Anduril Industries. He left active service last year after 10 years as an Intelligence Officer and Special Operations Officer in the Marine Corps.
Why tech needs veterans
All companies are more successful when their workforce represents a wide range of experiences, backgrounds, and ideas. In tech, among other underrepresented groups are veterans. Upfront, let’s acknowledge what many people’s first thought would be: well yes, look at the cultural mismatch. We’ve seen, from the perspective of a tech company exec and a veteran in the industry, that people should rethink those presumptions.
The key for both vets and tech companies is to look beyond stereotypes and think about how collaboration can make each better. That is doubly true when those companies, like ours, serve the defense industry, where veterans are singularly positioned to understand customers’ needs.
Veterans’ skillsets, while valuable and in-demand, can be difficult to identify from their resumes. Their strengths might include bringing a unique global perspective on management and leadership, quickly solving complex problems under high pressure, effectively managing and interacting with everyone from the receptionist to the founder, or a focus on individual leadership and accountability — all as valuable as they are hard to validate.
This is why tech companies and veterans need to be strategic and deliberate in seeking each other out.
There are thoughtful things both sides can do to help tech companies be better at finding, hiring, and retaining veterans. We believe that if each side challenges themselves to reevaluate their approach, then we can move the needle on veteran representation in tech, making these companies stronger and more effective at achieving their missions.
Perspective from a tech executive: how to hire veterans
Understand the person, even when it’s harder than usual
Take the time to see what’s inside the person, not on a piece of paper. Veterans will have non-traditional paths that don’t fit neatly into a box. To understand the full potential behind a veteran, it’s your job to ask questions that will unpack their experience and reveal their true story. Scanning for keywords won’t work with veterans.
Example 1: An applicant was accepted to a good college on an academic scholarship but opted to join the military instead. After their service, they have trouble putting their story on paper: they were not an officer and lack a college degree. Companies shouldn’t dismiss applicants like this outright. The key is getting to the root of their story. Why don’t they have a degree? What did they do instead that shows an ability to punch above their weight? Figure out if they were a lynchpin to achieving outcomes. If they were, then the degree means nothing in context.
Example 2: An applicant got an MBA, a degree some in the tech community dismiss as a waste of time and a missed opportunity to get on-the-job experience. But understand that veterans face a daunting set of adjustments when leaving the service, and many seek an MBA as a bridge to the commercial world. Again, before making judgments based on your views toward traditional credentials, seek the root of the decision making and empathize. Empathy is challenging because you lack shared experiences with the veteran candidate. The onus is on you to try harder.
Hidden skills and the scourge of keywords
Don’t hire a veteran (or anyone) for the last job they did. The reality is that most resumes don’t make it past initial screenings. How do we get past this and keep the hiring process fair for everyone? Vets are like everyone else in having strengths and weaknesses. Some may be best suited for operations roles or managing supply chains, but others may be best suited to code or create new virtual worlds that they themselves would love to explore. The point is to put aside the assumption that service members fit best in highly structured roles and organizations that mimic their time in the service. Both companies and veterans should think creatively about giving each other non-obvious opportunities. Related to that…
It’s hard to crosswalk job titles from the military to the private sector. Rather than relying on titles alone, thinking of job openings as a set of hard and soft skills that an individual expresses could open opportunities for the company and the job seeker. Consider breaking down your job opening description as a set of, say, 10 key skills. Having a clear sense of the most needed skills will also help you tailor the interview and the rest of the hiring process.
Hire the spikes. When you do the above, you’ll find that a lot of people with traditional experiences are roughly okay at each of your 10 key skills. Look instead for people with brilliant spikes (elite skills) in a handful of the key attributes, and imagine how to mentor them in the other areas. Veterans will often be “spikey” in their skillset. Put them in positions where they can maximize their existing talents, then instill balance by mentoring them and placing them with a team that has complementary skills. You won’t find a group better at overcoming and adapting.
Sink or swim doesn’t work; provide a structure for mentorship and growth
Onboarding is different. You need to handle veteran onboarding to your company uniquely, often with more detail and specifics. No kid gloves, but because you’ve sought skills rather than prior experience at a certain job, and because private sector onboarding might be entirely new to this person, a tailored process that takes this into account will help them realize their full potential from the beginning.
Mentorship matters. A mentor is key. Multiple mentors are even better. How are you going to surround veterans with peers who went through a similar transition? How are you going to expose them to folks that share none of the same background but are performing their intended job function excellently? How are you going to open your door to them to provide critical guidance and feedback as they ramp up? There is no excuse not to develop a structure and plan for each of these.
Win their loyalty. Watch for “insider bias” towards their previous colleagues, particularly if your company serves the military. It’s critical that they are loyal to your company and its interests first. Make sure expectations are clear on this and consider placing new hires on a project away from their former experiences, so they can learn and grow first.
Perspective from a veteran: how to find the right role and succeed in the tech industry
Finding a role that works for you
Bloom where you are planted. Veterans often face the question, “where do I fit in?” when it comes to unfamiliar organizational structures. Even in the flattest Special Operations Units, there is a clear chain of command from the Team Commander to the Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC) Commander, and corporate structures — especially in freewheeling tech startups — can be perplexing. Recently a veteran told me that his goal was to be the CEO. When I asked which field he was interested in, he only replied, “I don’t know yet, but I always see myself as the one in charge.” Veterans should look past the job title, start by getting a foot in the door rather than worrying about the perfect role, then excel in the role you have and make it your own. Veterans should apply the same advice they were given in the military and “get in where you fit in.”
Be aware of preconceptions, but don’t let them stop you. Matt mentioned that some tech companies dismiss an MBA. Other companies might hold the idea that the service does little to prepare veterans for the rigors of the real world, and that an MBA is required to be of any value to a top tier employer. None of these preconceptions should discourage you. When I was exploring life out of the service, I met another veteran at a large commercial real estate company who asked me where I went to business school. I told the man that I hadn’t been to business school, and I was promptly informed that I wouldn’t be able to work at the company until I had attended a top-five school. That company clearly wasn’t a fit. Skills matter more than a “right path” — find a company that appreciates you for your skills.
Don’t just look for a job, look for fulfillment. Most importantly, find a role, an organization, and a mission you can feel passionately about. Something kept you motivated while serving the nation during a time of war, whether it was complex problem-solving or managing a team of determined individuals. Harnessing this same passion in the commercial world will make all the difference in your happiness. If you aren’t successful right out of the gate, realize that most vets only stay at their first post-DoD job for 6 months. It’s okay to look elsewhere once you land on your feet.
Translating your experience to tech
Say it in English. When military members are writing resumes for the private sector, they often have a difficult time translating their service in a way that can be understood by those who haven’t served. For example, veterans tend to over index on combat experience and use terminology such as “supported partner force operations under combat conditions.” Most people do not know what that means. Put it in plain English wherever possible and, again, focus on skills. If you can explain what you did in the service to someone who has never served and barely can follow the plot to Black Hawk Down, then you are on the right track.
Talk about it even without talking about it. Nothing you did was that cool or classified that you can’t talk about it in general terms. Even if you spent your entire life in the special operations world, there is a way to describe what you did. It’s up to you to make it understandable, asking for help if needed. Describe your experiences so that the hiring and recruiting managers can understand what you’re capable of, even if you can’t share details of what you actually did.
Be a storyteller. People want to hear your story and support you. Be good at telling it. Nothing is more convincing for an employer than hearing the actual reason why you wrote, “Built/Constructed teams within a multinational coalition conducting counter-terror operations against ISIS in austere conditions,” on your resume. Give a sense of what was at stake, how you reached a solution, and how it improved you as a person and professional.
Get past the numbers. Veterans also seem to put an emphasis on how they were rated. Often a candidate will write “Ranked 1 out of 5 Captains in 1st Battalion 7th Marines.” No one knows what that means, and your reader is going to gloss over it. Describe what you did; tell a story about the problems you faced and how you creatively solved them.
Reformat your resume. Summaries at the top of your resume tell a narrative, but they don’t show the reader what skillsets you have picked up and demonstrated during your service. Instead, put more detail elsewhere in your resume and forgo the introduction.
Help others help you
Explore and build a new network. The tech industry can be notoriously insular. The industry tends to preach openness, yet most of those who get to the interview process do so from a referral, not an open listing. One of the most notable hurdles to entry for veterans is that many do not typically have a network outside of the military. Take the time to build relationships before you just start sending out resumes.
Ask for help. Don’t let fear or pride stand in your way. While there are thousands of organizations that focus on veterans, a few specific ones offer substantial advice and hands-on training for veterans preparing for their transition, such as The Honor Foundation or BreakLine Education. But often transitioning service members adopt a self-sufficient attitude and as a result fail to present their best attributes to the industry. Ask for help — others have walked this path before. Much better to learn from their mistakes than to repeat them.
