Verizon Wireless focused on veteran hiring

Verizon Wireless, a frequent exhibitor at Legion job fairs, is continuing its push to hire veterans into its offices nationwide through its special military hiring website and a concentration on sponsoring and attending military hiring fairs around the country. Verizon will maintain a booth at the Legion’s job fair in Houston at the organization’s national convention on Aug. 27 (see below).

The company has partnered with organizations like The American Legion to actively recruit and engage veteran job candidates in a grassroots manner. Veterans are a perfect fit for positions within the company’s information technology, electronic engineering, communications, project management, and automotive and mechanics departments, says Evan Guzman, head of Military Programs & Veteran Affairs for Verizon.

"We have a military veteran engagement, and it’s a business priority because we believe veterans add significant value to our company and also bring a cost reduction in recruitment," Guzman said. "Our goal is to make veteran recruiting a part of every day."

Specifically, Verizon reaches out to veterans through its Transitioning Military resource page on its national website. The page features a Military Skill Matchmaker that caters a company-wide job search according to military service branch and specialty. The search returns careers with Verizon that are ideal for the veteran’s military background. Or, veterans can run a generic search of jobs and career opportunities with Verizon.

"The Military Skills Matcher was created with the intent to make it easier for veterans to find careers based on their military experience," Guzman said. "Veterans can put in their military experience or buzzwords to find jobs based on skillset or preference"

The company also maintains a significant presence at Hiring Our Heroes job fairs which are held throughout the country. Verizon co-sponsored a Hiring Our Heroes event in East Rutherford, N,J, which brought around 400 veterans to MetLife Stadium - home of the NFL’s New York Giants.

As part of its commitment to hiring veterans, Verizon has plans to attend numerous other job fairs throughout the year, including maintaining an exhibit at the Legion’s military job fair during the organization’s annual national convention.

Guzman says the Texas area is ripe with jobs and hiring opportunities for veterans who are interested in working at Verizon, including positions in human resources, information technology, customer service, finance, marketing, supply chain and various other areas.

"We have a lot of jobs in the Texas area," Guzman says. "We’re going to be recruiting out there toward almost every available skillset that we have open."

Gutzman says Verizon is focused on hiring military and veterans for two reasons: because they come ready to contribute to the company in ways that civilians often can’t, and because hiring veterans who stay with and contribute to the company helps its bottom line.

"From a business standpoint, we hire veterans because they bring a mission-oriented approach, have an accelerated learning curve, and they have advanced technical training because the military has such advance technical training itself," Guzman says. "Over 83 percent of jobs in the military have a direct civilian counterpart. They are used to being trained for what they learn, then they go on the job and execute."

During the Legion’s 95th National Convention in Houston, Verizon will be participating in the Hiring Our Heroes Transition & Benefits Career Fair, Aug. 27. Learn more about American Legion’s career-building events during National Convention here.