Each year we honor the service of our military on Veterans Day. A time to give honor and respect to all of the men and women who have served the country.

Rather than focusing on veterans’ past service in uniform, bringing light to the characteristics and skills of a veterans as they transition from life in uniform is a great challenge. Interviewing a veteran for hire, many recruiters question how transferrable the hard and soft skills these candidates bring to their civilian roles. 

Understanding Soft Skills

The term “soft skills” is confusing to understand because these skills are not clear-cut and solids as others. These skills are also referred to as transferable skills, social skills, and interpersonal skills. Soft skills are difficult to measure because these are the abilities that how you approach others or handle your professional life. Veterans may have to face to face some problems when they are going to look for work at the civilian level because they come from an entirely different environment. Here is a list of various soft skills that a veteran may have or you can expect to find in all military service members. 

• Communication Skills 
• Flexibility
• Integrity
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Planning skills
• Technical skills
• Problem-solving skills

With these skills, a veteran is often expected to be more flexible and serve in a variety of work environments

Communication skills

Effective communication is one of the most basic and essential soft skills that a veteran must have it. Communicating in a civilian workplace is different from the military, but veterans have many practical communication skills that employers may want. Veterans have excellent writing communication skills which they have learnt during their military service. In the civilian workplace, detailed-oriented writing, with the focus on critical information is the most demanding quality that employers want to read. So, mention it in your resume if you have these types of soft skills.

Flexibility

Veterans can adapt and accept the change in their working environment or responsibilities. Adopting the change is the most demanding skill for the business environment. Veterans can easily navigate to new idea or work as compared to the civilians. Being calm during unpredictable chaos is another advent for a veteran. Flourishing, in an ambiguous environment, is a rare skill for a civilian but common among veterans. So, use it to your advantage.

Leadership and teamwork

Leadership and teamwork skills are most relevant to those who served as a member of the military. Veterans are disciplined of these skills because the military work environment is structured with levels of the unit organization. During their military service, they have to face the situation many times when they worked as a leader or a team member. These skills are also relevant to the business environment and all other departments. So, these skills are often found in veterans as compared to civilians. It is an excellent advantage for a veteran to work in city departments.

Problem-solving skills

The technical and planning military work environment is dynamic, mostly unpredictable and highly stressful. Military service members can ensure the safety of their team and the success of mission or task assigned to them. The leaders and the team members are also responsible for solving the problems, which may occur during the work. Veterans prepare a suitable plan to overcome these problems and can manage all kinds of risk. They have better problem-solving skills as compared to others.

Make your soft skills stand out

There is a rule of thumb that every time you make an abstract statement, follow that statement with a real-life example. Making your soft skills stand out will make a welcome for you in any company or organization.

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