That day came, the final day of 10 years of service as a U.S. Army Soldier. I was ready. I had weighed my odds of continuing to serve or to remove the daily camouflage uniform and transfer into a suit. I knew with all the awards and promotions I had received as an Automated Logistics Specialist (92a) any company would be proud for me to join their workforce and I was ready to show them my skills.

Finally, the company I sought after asked me to come in for an interview. I was proud as I layered my briefcase with military recommendations, awards and my very well documented DD214.  

With a well-creased suit and shined shoes, I opened the door to the office. 

Of course, I noticed the others sitting there but I didn't worry, I'm a veteran with more than a simple skill set. I have overseen major projects, created and managed productive teams and always completed any detailed task with pride and honor. 

As they called my name, I stood proudly and walk through the door as a cadence was being called with every step. I sat and greeted the recruiter as I handed him my resume and a packet showcasing my talent. The recruiter seemed to stare at my resume as if I had done something wrong. Although most companies require a 10-year history, I was set. For the last 10 years I have trained, worked and advanced in promotions in the exact same type of position this job offered. 

The recruiter paid little attention to what the U.S. Army thought of my performance and treated my DD214 as if it was a scratch sheet of paper, he proceeded to ask "have you had any managerial experience in the last 10 years?". I struggled as I tried to convey my previous role as a Sergeant and the soldiers I led. I was in disbelief he couldn't see who I was and what I could bring to their company. The questions seem to get harder by each moment and before I knew it, that dreadful closing speech " we have your records on file and will give you a call to let you know our decision".

I walked away feeling as if I had been locked away for the last 10 years and I didn't have a place in this civilized world. I couldn't believe the one thing I was most proud of didn't measure up to the next person who just graduated from a 2 or 4-year college. No job experience, no real-world conflicts and surely no awards from high officials commending their job performance.

This led to over a year trying to find a position that would allow me to showcase my skills and ultimately ended up with a job paying a subpar rate per hour.

I continued to exploit my resume and accolades until I finally settle to accept defeat and work alongside others who didn't match my experience. It was then I realized the words on those papers didn't describe my highest value and to add when asked, I had no idea on how to convey my worth to those who wanted to listen. [The Lost Battle].

Ladies and gentlemen, for however bad this may sound to you, the worst part about my story is that this is not my story alone. This is our story. You see more and more every day, our veteran men and women are enduring this same type of stigma at the hands of unknowing recruiters and staffing companies who simply don’t understand, don’t have the training or don’t have the tools necessary to align civilian roles to our military skill sets.  

And in most cases, it’s not their fault. How could we ever expect a civilian business professional to have an innate, keen and intimate understanding of military acumen without ever having been introduced to or immersed in such an environment?

Today we’re leaving this critical translation up to interpretation leaving the hard working well-deserving men and women of our US Military left to fight a losing battle.  

I am here today because this simply must change. And so I ask you to close your eyes and imagine that there was a way to convert military values into civilian success for the global workforce? And what if it were accurate, automated and instant, leaving no room to guess, no room to interpret and instead allowed top recruiters to hire top “Veteran” talent faster! 

Now open your eyes and re-imagine the future is now. Introducing the first-ever automated Veteran Recruiting tool designed to convert military values into civilian success! Designed to discover in minutes what used to take hours BrandDisco©’s 8-Question assessment is redefining the way the world's screens military talent by aggregating the success factors vets place the highest value upon allowing the system to instantly convert that value into instant worth recruiters can use to better align with civilian job skills.

BrandDisco© is pioneering to help companies colorize what’s not as clear as black and white. I invite you to learn more about BrandDisco© by visiting www.getbranddisco.com. Feel free to comment below & share this message with each and every Veteran and/or HR Recruiter you may know.