Finding jobs for transitioning servicemembers
An idea for a business dedicated to helping transitioning servicemembers find civilian careers was hatched aboard a Navy ship.
Navy veteran Michael Hinkle, a member of The American Legion Small Business Task Force, is president of SkillMil Precision Hiring. Serena Moyer is in charge of veteran spouse outreach at SkillMil, which uses decades of military experience and an automated approach to precisely match unique veteran and spouse skills set with employers. This hybrid matching solution helps candidates find quality job opportunities and ultimately results in improving their satisfaction and experience.
They are the guests on this week’s episode of The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast.
“The idea for SkillMil came a long time ago when I was on the USS Cheyenne,” explained Hinkle, who conceived the idea with Noel Gonzalez, the CEO. “We noticed a lot of young E-4s, E-5s, who were transitioning out of the military. Six months before that, these same people had been down range, in charge of millions of dollars worth of equipment. Fast forward when they get out and they can’t find a job.”
Hinkle and Gonzalez envisioned a platform to help transitioning servicemembers with resumes, contacts and other means in the job hunt.
“We wanted to help them transition the skills they used inside the military to skills outside the military,” explained Hinkle, who also is host of SkillMil’s Diapers and Deployments podcast.
Moyer, a military spouse, understands the plight of spouses who seek a return to the workforce after often relocating frequently to duty stations.
“We want spouses to know that we are not leaving them behind,” she said. “At SkillMil, we want them to be able to create profiles with us and be able to put down on paper that even though they had to move around they carry their skills around.”
Hinkle also talked about his role with the Legion’s task force and how it relates to advocating Congress for changes in support of transitioning servicemembers.
“The American Legion is working hard to change some of these things right now,” he said, referring to improvements to the certification process that will help transitioning servicemembers find better jobs more quickly.
Check out this episode of Tango Alpha Lima and more than 60 others available at the Tango web page, or via download on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or other major podcast-hosting sites. You can also view all of the episodes on the Legion’s YouTube channel.