Veteran friendly employers: what the label means and what to ask before you accept

Around Veterans Day, the phrase shows up all over careers pages and hiring fair banners. Companies announce awards, post badges and call themselves veteran friendly employers. A lot of them mean it, and the label still tells you very little about what your first year there will look like.

The useful part is what sits underneath the label. How many veterans a company hires, how many of them are still there a year later, and what support exists once you're on the payroll are all things you can learn about before you say yes to an offer.

What the label can mean

There's no single standard behind the words "veteran friendly." Some companies use them because they recruit at military hiring events. Some use them because they won a designation. Others use them because a lot of their staff served. All of those can be true at once, and none of them guarantees a particular experience for you.

One of the clearer yardsticks is a federal award for veteran hiring, retention and professional development, with gold and platinum levels. It's worth knowing what that award measures, because its criteria line up closely with the questions that matter most to someone weighing an offer.

What a federal veteran hiring award actually measures

To earn the gold level as a large employer, with 500 or more employees, a company has to show that veterans made up at least 7 percent of everyone it hired in the prior year. It also has to show it kept at least 75 percent of the veterans it hired the year before that for at least 12 months. Platinum raises those bars to 10 percent and 85 percent.

Hiring numbers are only part of it. A large employer at either level needs a veteran organization or resource group that helps new veteran employees settle in, including coaching and mentoring, plus programs that build veteran employees' leadership skills.

Platinum adds three more pieces for large employers. One is a dedicated human resources professional, or the equivalent of one full time person, focused only on hiring, training and keeping veteran employees. Another is pay for Guard and Reserve members on active duty that, combined with their military pay, brings them up to what they earned before they were called up. The third is a tuition assistance program for veteran employees taking college or other credential courses while they work there.

Smaller companies apply under their own size categories, with similar percentages and a shorter list of required programs.

So a company that holds this award has put real numbers on the table. Applying is voluntary, though, and a company without it may still be a great place for veterans.

Retention is the number that tells the story

Hiring veterans and keeping them are two different results. A company can bring on a lot of veterans at a career fair and lose many of them within a year, and the hiring number alone would never show it.

That's why the 12-month retention figure is so useful. It reflects what happened after the welcome, during the stretch when the job stops being new, the culture differences show up and the first performance review lands. It's also the hardest thing to see from the outside, so it's worth hearing directly from the company.

Questions that open up a real answer

A broad question like "Are you veteran friendly?" is easy to answer with a quick yes. More specific questions tend to get more specific answers. Here are the ones we think are most useful:

• How many veterans work on the team I'd join, and in what roles?
• Of the veterans hired in the last couple of years, how many are still here?
• Is there a veteran resource group, and what does it actually do for new hires?
• Who would I go to in my first few months if something about the culture didn't make sense?
• What does the path to the next role look like, and how long does it usually take?
• If I'm in the Guard or Reserve, how does the company handle pay and my job when I'm called up?
• Does the company offer tuition assistance, and does it cover the kind of program I'd want?

How a recruiter handles these says a lot too. A specific number, a name of someone in the resource group or an offer to connect you with a veteran on the team are all good signs. A vague answer isn't a red flag by itself, since a recruiter may simply not have the data. It's still worth noticing which questions get a real response.

Talking to people who already made the move

The most honest view of a company usually comes from the veterans who already work there. A short conversation with one of them can cover what no careers page will, like how their skills were valued, how long the adjustment took and whether they'd make the same choice again.

A small, specific ask tends to land well with someone you haven't met: a few questions over a 15-minute call, about one role or one part of the company.

Reading the offer itself

Some of the support that matters most to veterans shows up in the offer details, separate from any label. Guard and Reserve members can look at how military leave is handled. Anyone planning more school can look at tuition benefits. Everyone can look at how the first review works and when pay increases are considered.

If any of that isn't clear in the offer, it's a fair thing to ask about before you accept. The answers also make it easier to compare offers side by side.

Where Loona One fits

Sorting out which companies fit you, and keeping track of what you learn about each one, is the kind of research Loona One is being built to help with. It works for you, keeps your Career Record in one place and helps you search for jobs and SkillBridge options. Search and the Career Record are in private testing right now, with limited job coverage while we test, and Loona One is free for the Founding 100.