We take a moment to recognize the contributions and sacrifices of military veterans who have served our country. This Veteran Hiring Day, we are grateful for their service and honored to highlight this important group that contributes qualities to our organizations and communities.

Our gratitude for Veterans does not end on November 11th, as talent acquisition and recruiting professionals. First and foremost, it is critical to recognize the data surrounding Military Veterans transitioning back into civilian life. According to the Department of Defense, as reported by the GAO, approximately 200,000 service members leave the military each year, with many struggling to find work.

military veterans are 15.6% more likely to be underemployed than non-veteran job seekers. This is simply unacceptable. Furthermore, we must do more to prioritize hiring retired military personnel in our companies and businesses.

With a record number of jobs available in the United States, veterans represent a unique and untapped talent pool for employers. To help organizations of all sizes embrace, attract, engage, and hire Military Veterans, here are four recruitment strategies to help you embrace, attract, engage, and hire Military Veterans.

Top Veterans Recruitment Strategies 

1: Educate Hiring Teams on Military Structure

Hiring from this strategic audience starts with training your hiring managers and teams on how military skill sets can transfer to your open positions. Military skills, such as dedication, teamwork, and communication, are invaluable in the workplace, but may not be apparent to an untrained recruiter based solely on a resume.

Audience planning is a critical step in developing a diverse workforce, including Military Veterans, and ensuring you can fill a variety of roles proactively in the long term. By identifying Veterans as a strategic audience, you’re committing to getting to know this group and connecting with them through engaging, meaningful content.

You can then create personas based on your knowledge of where Veterans look for work, what motivates them, and what they seek in an employer. Talk to Veterans in your current workforce and alumni to gain real-world insight into the minds of Veterans and to bring your personas to life.

2: Collaborate with Advocacy Organizations

There are currently over 7000 non-profit organizations that help Veteran Hiring and military families. One company recently experienced great success by partnering with the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program to provide fellowships to transitioning service members.

This allows active-duty service members who are in the final six months of their military contract to work for a company and gain hands-on experience to help them transition into the civilian workforce. Since partnering with the fellowship program, this organization has hired ten Veterans and hopes to meet an overall goal of 5% Veteran hires.

MedTech Vets, Biocom Veterans Initiative, and Cand orful are some of the other programs available.

Determine who within your organization will serve as the recruiting liaison between these organizations and your company. Make these organizations aware of your open positions and express your interest in Veteran job seekers in particular. They will be able to direct qualified candidates into your recruitment pipeline.

3: Develop Messages That Are Particularly Appealing to Veterans

Veterans, as a result of their military training, are frequently inspired by causes larger than themselves. To best align with their values, inform them about your organization’s mission and the positive impact you make. Highlight military-specific characteristics that your team embodies, such as teamwork, commitment, and hard work, in everything from the job description to email communications. Include the stories of existing employees who have served in the military in your messaging to show examples of successful Veterans in your organization.

While Veterans have a variety of valuable skills and experience, civilian recruiters may struggle to decipher military jargon to understand how those skills match up with open roles. There are numerous online tools available to assist Veterans in translating their military skills for civilian resumes; talent teams should also use these tools to improve their ability to spot desirable skills on a Veteran’s resume.

You can also use this knowledge to write job descriptions that will appeal to military veterans. You can ease the transition and position yourself as a military-friendly employer by assisting Veterans in better understanding how their experience translates to positions within your company.

4: Advertise on Military-Friendly Job Boards

Certain job boards specialize in matching Veterans looking for work with relevant open positions. Use these niche boards to specifically attract the attention of Veterans. Not sure where to begin? Consider the following resources:

1) Job Objective

JobTarget assists teams in locating and attracting qualified, diverse candidates. The OFCCP compliance product from JobTarget distributes your job postings to “state job banks and leading niche job sites that reach Veteran Hiring, minorities, and individuals with disabilities.”

2) Recruit a Hero

Hire a Hero connects you with job seekers who have served in the military. This job board, which posts jobs in all industries, aims to “empower and recognize individuals who have sacrificed and/or given back to society.”

3)The Job Exchange in America

America’s Job Exchange (AJE) is a market-leading compliance solution that helps you maximize your compliance and diversity recruiting efforts. AJE will advertise your job “across a highly-targeted network of diversity and niche industry sites” and will provide you with the tools you need to facilitate outreach.

4) Maintain and improve your process

To ensure long-term success, it’s critical to understand where Veteran Hiring candidates come from and how they progress through the hiring process. Over time, your recruitment software should be able to provide analytics and reporting for each source, program, and campaign to generate key insights.

Read More: 10 steps to Effective HR Recruitment