GEARING UP FOR THE SECOND INNINGS
Every year, more than 60 k military professionals disengage from the military mostly in their 30s and 40s and some in their 50s as well and look towards the corporate sector to tap into the various opportunities it has to offer. The veterans, with all the experience and qualities that they have to offer post a luscious career in the Military look towards settling down for a second career in the world of corporate. It is this very transition that Military- ToCorp makes possible with its various novel and pathbreaking initiatives. The founders of the organisation, Capt Varun Sharma and Sunny Makroo offer insights into how the organisation is committed to encouraging veteran-hiring in the corporate sector and going out of its way to make it a smooth sailing for the retired military professionals
"The conversation around veteran hiring in India has started maturing in the last few years as more and more companies have been coming forward and looking at hiring veterans through an internship model and/or traditional lateral hiring model"
- Sunny Makroo
Sunny MakrooCorporate Citizen: What led to the inception of a novel concept like MilitaryToCorp?
Sunny Makroo: It is more a personal tale than a professional one. The story, as much as one would like it to, does not entail any entrepreneurial bug or a great business opportunity. It evolved into one much later.
This is how it all unfolded… once upon a time, two childhood friends reunited after years. The better-looking one, Captain Varun Sharma, had had a successful stint as a Short Service Commissioned officer. He was on the lookout for opportunities in the corporate while also contemplating a Master’s degree. Offering a contrast to him, the little ordinary-looking guy, Sunny Makroo, was enjoying success in a management consulting and advising CXOs of Fortune500 companies.
A wise person once said that no one can stop an idea whose time has come and a testimony to this is the time when the two got together after a string of years, in an ordinary bar in Delhi. Capt Varun poured his heart out about the frustration he was confronting in making the transition to the corporate world. It was a revelation because Varun had been away for just a span of five years, his transition shouldn’t have been difficult at all! Soon, Varun decided to chronicle his experiences and learnings on a blog on LinkedIn. The blog instantly struck a chord with all the transitioning and serving military officers. His foresight let Sunny see an opportunity to steer the blog in the direction of a job platform – militarytocorp, a year later; and that is how it all began- in a beer bar and not a boardroom!
"We have placed hundreds of officers and more than a thousand Junior Commissioned officers and Non-commissioned officers. Our platform is global and so are our clients. Registration on our platform is completely free of cost"
- Capt. Varun Sharma
Capt.Varun SharmaCC: Over the years, how many former military personnel have you helped land corporate jobs? How do you make this possible?
Capt. Varun: We have placed hundreds of officers and more than a thousand Junior Commissioned officers and Non-commissioned officers. Our platform is global and so are our clients. We are not location dependent; we have placed candidates across India, Africa and Middle-East. Registration on our platform is completely free of cost and the platform is bespoke which is intuitive and military-friendly. M2C has its own data bank captured through its portal www.militarytocorp. com where all the retired and about to retire military talent register. The recruitment team at M2C has military DNA and thus they understand the military skills as well as their corporate relevance. M2C has vast experience of over nine years in helping the top-notch MNCs as well as Indian firms in hiring military talent. It has initiated many firsts in the veteran hiring space in India and continues to experiment.
CC: Why should companies look at hiring veterans? What do they bring from warroom to boardroom that has relevance?
Capt. Varun: The talent pool was selected by the military from the large pool in Civil through stringent parameters and then trained in the best leadership academies. The diverse talent pool think ‘out of the box’ and bring diverse solutions with problems solving skills. They are also battle-hardened workforce, have operated in VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world; can operate in trying circumstances with relative ease and come out winning. The talent pool is ‘Plug and Play’ talent pool available for all domains and industries, from IT, Finance to supply chain management and Engineering and at the same time they are highly cultured with strong ethics they contribute to the good culture of the organisation.
"M2C helps veterans build professional presence on targeted networks such as LinkedIn to increase visibility among potential employers"
- Sunny Makroo
CC: How does M2C ensure that the transition made from military to corporate by the personnel is smooth?
Sunny Makroo: M2C’s representatives are out there in the corporate corridors meeting business leaders across industry verticals dedicated to building awareness about the employability quotient of veterans; and putting up a comprehensive business case with staffing and business leaders to convince them about the immense value of hiring veterans.
Our approach to hiring is very consultative. We do not believe in the “spray and pray” approach to recruitment – our specialist recruiters have in-depth knowledge of industry verticals and we only serve the niche talent pool of veterans. We have made a very conscious choice to fulfil only the veteran hiring mandate because we firmly believe that veterans can add a lot of tangible value to the organizations with their domain and functional skills along with their soft skills and unique work ethic.
On the military candidates’ side, M2C understands that veterans require handholding when crossing over to the corporate world. M2C’s transition services are carefully engineered to make this transition happen seamlessly. M2C ‘Resume Building Services’ team understands the military and corporate language; and thus, helps in bringing up the right and compelling profiles on to the hiring managers’ desk.
Veterans spend less time on on-line professional networks during active military years and thus have limited knowledge of the impact of online networking tools. M2C helps veterans build professional presence on targeted networks such as LinkedIn to increase visibility among potential employers.
Military and corporate worlds work differently and understanding these differences hold the key to smooth transitioning. M2C specialist teams run customized workshops with veterans looking out for a second career based on their military experience. These immersion workshops give veterans a simulated experience and understanding of how corporates work, the general business behaviour, the latest trends in the industry verticals which inspires their confidence to approach select industry verticals for the employment opportunities.
M2C provides complete support and guidance to veterans by conducting simulated interviews that assess both the functional and soft skills of veterans. Post interviews, M2C interview panelists share detailed assessment reports with veterans on required interventions to improve interview success rate.
Based on nine years of veteran hiring experience and a collective sum of ten of thousands of veterans being coached and assisted in their transition, M2C has created a program for soon to be veterans to have a seamless transition from Military to Corporate. Career Transititon Program (CTP) is a world-class program designed exclusively for the soon to be veterans who have 24 months to 3 months into transition. The nominally priced program covers all important topics of career transition such as self and career analysis, Individual career plan, resume and interview tips, LinkedIn, networking, job hunting and much more in a friendly learning environment, delivered by experts in the industry.
CC: Tell us about the team at M2C. Since it comprises both veterans and corporate professionals, does the organization have a better understanding of both the corporate and military milieu and look for opportunities accordingly?
Capt. Varun: We are a team of retired military leaders and management consultants who understand both the turfs-the veterans and the corporates. This complimentary experience helps us in understanding the military as well as corporate vocabulary, and more importantly the unspoken yet mandated expectations – which most of the times makes the difference in delivering the best-in-class hiring experience. The MilitarytoCorp core team comprises of ex. retired officers, JCOs and NCOs along with seasoned recruiters from the civil world, these two DNAs perfectly symbolise everything that M2C strives for; to create a flagship platform for the exchange of opportunities, thoughts and ideas between military and corporate communities.
CC: How does M2C encourage diversity hiring and why is it important in the first place?
Sunny Makroo: Hiring and retaining diverse talent has a direct positive correlation with profitability and growth for any organization. From Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, more and more companies have been pledging to hire diverse talent to bring in creativity and unique solutions to modern-day business challenges. When thinking about diversity, too many companies make the mistake of focusing only on race and gender. The fact is that there are many more types of diversity and by focusing on only a couple of dimensions, companies are much less likely to reap the benefits of having a diverse workforce. In order to become a truly inclusive organization, companies should consider all different categories of diversity - including ones that are often absent from the public discourse.
"The talent pool was selected by the military from the large pool in Civil through stringent parameters and then trained in the best leadership academies"
- Capt. Varun Sharma
CC: How does hiring from the military encourage diversity?
Capt. Varun: One of the successful ways of hiring diverse talent by companies in the U.S is by tapping talent from non-traditional sectors such as the military. In India too, many organizations are encashing upon this exceptional diverse talent pool, which is giving them the competitive advantage and bringing in business values. As companies plan new initiatives for ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ hiring, this business case can help them in understanding the veteran talent better, working as a valuable resource for building a veteran specific “D & I” blueprint.
CC: How has the mindset with regards to veteran hiring evolved over the years?
Sunny Makroo: The conversation around veteran hiring in India has started maturing in the last few years as more and more companies have been coming forward and looking at hiring veterans through an internship model and/or traditional lateral hiring model. The U.S origin MNCs that hire veterans in the U.S are the ones that initially partnered with Military To Corp- M2C in India for Veteran hiring as part of their “D & I” hiring initiatives. Over the last few years, these MNCs and many Indian companies have streamlined and structured the hiring of this diverse pipeline as it has proven to be a successful strategy; in addition to gaining high-performing employees with low turnover.
CC: Please tell us about the noble initiatives by M2C of offering complementary services to war-wounded soldiers, dependents and the families of soldiers who laid down their lives for the country. What kind of profiles are they offered in the corporate sector?
Sunny Makroo: We salute the indomitable spirit of our veterans and their families in ensuring that our freedom is uncompromised and our security is unassailable. In view of this, MilitarytoCorporate pledges to support veterans that have suffered severe battle causalities, their immediate families and dependents of military women and men.
We promise to take care of our battle heroes who have suffered severe injuries by offering all our premium services such as resume building services, job fitment analysis, and higher education counselling sessions such as MBA at absolutely no professional fees. We will also provide free job assistance to the immediate families of our soldiers, who have laid their lives for valor and victory. PwD veteran rather of thousands of such brave-hearts who have made the huge sacrifice in the line of duty. They are skilled & have the resilience to restart their second life but lack a platform or medium.
At MilitarytoCorporate, we have created a process around & named it as: “Hire a PWD Veteran; hire a hero”. We are helping with the upskilling of PwD Veterans as well as resume writing and interview preparation, without any cost. Simultaneously, we are creating awareness about hiring them through conversation with military-friendly companies. Also, we are helping them with the placement in the corporate through skill/role-specific and location-specific exclusive job fairs.
For dependents of Armed Forces- at Militaryto- Corporate, we strongly believe that dependents of military women and men imbibe the great many qualities of women and men in uniform. MilitarytoCorporate is engaged with organizations that care for veterans and their dependents, and it is our endeavour to help dependents of armed forces in securing corporate careers for a great future.
CC: How is veteran hiring more relevant for companies in the present pandemic environment? Is veterans experience in operating in conflict zones bring any relevance to the corporate world?
Capt. Varun: Presently, we see an unprecedented situation owing to Covid-19, wherein the businesses are facing new challenges which have short, mid and long-term impacts. Given the current scenarios and for companies to successfully navigate the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) challenges emerging out, its leaders must be adept at dealing with crisis and find solutions by paying attention to new ideas, market trends, emerging patterns and fleeting opportunities. Military leaders are apt for such situations as fighting, surviving and winning out of chaotic situations comes naturally to these professionals. The concept of small team operations in the military which thrives on flexibility, cohesion, swiftness, common purpose and decentralised decision making will be applicable in business scenarios as well.