Company invites veterans to enter tech field

Veterans who are looking to enter the technology field are invited to apply for a position in SharpDecisions’ VETS program, an initiative started by the New York technology firm to help veterans enter the quality assurance testing and data mining fields. Funded by a $250,000 pledge from SharpDecisions, the program will bring about 200 veterans into the company, where they’ll receive a salary, benefits and valuable technical skills.

“It’s a no-brainer,” said Karen Ross, SharpDecisions CEO and president. “We are bringing jobs back to America with Americans who raised a hand and went abroad. (Veterans) have discipline, they’ve got rigor. You tell them it’s an 8 a.m. meeting and they are there at 7:59.”

The plan is to hire veterans in teams of about 15 or 20. Each team will be led and supervised by a long-time SharpDecisions employee who will instruct team members in quality assurance, software testing, data mining and user-acceptance technology.

No prior technological knowledge is required for admittance into VETS, Ross said. Veteran participants will work on projects like testing workload limits for software and servers that the company maintains for its clients.

“They can learn skills with anybody, in fields like health care, hospitals, financial or anywhere,” Ross said. “These skills go across the aboard. It is technology and everyone uses it. It is the start of their careers.”

The program currently has a team of 13 veterans, and another team of 15 will begin on July 15.

Veterans interested in applying for the VETS program should visit SharpDecisions’ VETS page for more information. The company hires primarily in the New York City area but plans to open the program to other regions in the near future.