How HigherEchelon Champions Vetforce
At HigherEchelon, the term “Veteran” represents nearly 50% of its workforce. As a service-disabled, Veteran-owned small business and consulting firm specializing in Salesforce implementation consulting, HigherEchelon understands what it means to serve, and, perhaps more importantly, what it takes to successfully transition from military to civilian life. For this reason, HigherEchelon is committed to hiring Veterans and those who support Veterans — a pledge often facilitated through valuable partnerships like Vetforce
Both Veterans, co-founders Paul Maggiano and Joe Ross understand what it takes to develop a highly technical skillset post-service. Their own post-service experiences drove Maggiano and Ross to deliberately foster a culture that cultivates Veteran professionals, appreciating both tangible and intangible skillsets Veteran candidates bring to the table.
“Vetforce candidates consistently rise to the top of our recruiting pipeline. We find that their tenacity, ability to handle adversity, and general attitude are a good fit for our culture and customer base. Their experience and passion for service also result in user-centered designs that exceed customer expectations, especially with our public sector clients.” — Paul Maggiano, Co-Founder HigherEchelon
HigherEchelon’s work with Salesforce skyrocketed after a few key engagements with military-affiliated clients like the United States Military Academy and the Special Operations Command. Such growth produced needs for technically capable, motivated, and innovative employees, which the Vetforce talent pipeline has undoubtedly produced.
HigherEchelon’s Vetforce talent pool began with one employee and has since grown to 10 professionals. The organization has experienced tremendous success hiring Vetforce candidates — in large part due to the community and culture within HigherEchelon.
Going to Vetforce first for its personnel needs continues to be a natural fit. Vetforce provides tremendous resources for skill growth including trailblazer modules, community forums, and networking events, all fostering collaboration and innovation. The highly capable skillsets and innovative mindsets in HigherEchelon’s Vetforce employees have proven invaluable on every project. As a government and Department of Defense service provider, HigherEchelon’s VetForce employees provide a unique perspective and understanding of clients’ needs. This perspective helps the team gain true insight into the issues at hand and ultimately produces a user-centered product exceeding all expectations.
This perspective’s value also extends across industries. Vetforce members’ experience with large, institutional systems throughout their military service often provides valuable best practices, synergies, and lessons learned that optimize our private-sector projects as well. A HigherEchelon Vetforce employee said, “It brings me joy to make other people’s lives easier using Salesforce.” This same affinity and dedication to service is what makes Vetforce candidates stand out.
HigherEchelon’s first Vetforce employee, Natalya Murphy, learned about Salesforce in early 2017 when she became interested in getting back into IT after pursuing other interests for a decade. She worked as a backend web developer but had not been fully engaged in software development for some time. As a military spouse, she eagerly joined Vetforce in April 2017 and, bolstered by her prior IT experience, earned three certifications within her first four months. She also gained real-life experience with Salesforce by volunteering for a non-profit during that time.
Soon after, she began freelancing for several Salesforce partners including HigherEchelon, which led to her becoming an employee in January 2018. Natalya credits the excellent online resources available through Trailhead and Vetforce with helping her integrate so quickly back into software development after a long time away. Whenever she talks to military spouses and soon-to-be Veterans, she encourages them to consider Vetforce as a way to gain the skills they need to be competitive in the civilian world — a world that is increasingly turning to cloud technology in both commercial and public sectors.
Another great success story is Neil Penso. He found HigherEchelon after being invited to Dreamforce by a Vetforce cohort. Neil said, “At Dreamforce, I was able to jump into a great network of friendly people and I felt right at home in the greater Ohana. It was at Dreamforce that I met and interviewed with HigherEchelon, hit it off with the team, and joined the organization a few months later — so I can really say that VetForce took my talent search from start to finish. Now, I’m in a challenging and fulfilling position that I enjoy immensely, and I work with great people, many of them also Vetforce members.”
Natalya and Neil are both great examples of how Salesforce is paving the way for military integration into the civilian workforce. Our military servicemen, servicewomen, and families are some of the most capable, resilient, and hard-working people in America. HigherEchelon recognizes, along with Salesforce, those capabilities do not end when service is over. Rather, they persist into the civilian world and provide a strong foothold in a never-ending climb towards excellence.
