Harnessing the Talent of Veterans

Many service members transitioning to civilian life struggle to communicate their strong transferable skills and experience when seeking new jobs. We believe veterans bring essential talents to companies in the fields of finance, technology and economics. But sometimes there is a misconception among employers that it’s difficult to translate military skills and experience into private-sector expertise.

“As corporations evolve, continuing to build an awareness and understanding of veteran capabilities is increasingly important,” says Louis Saund, a founding member of our Veterans Employee Resource Group (VERG) chapter in the United Kingdom. “We wanted to help companies understand who these people are, what they can do and how they add value.” 

Louis, a former member of the British army, and Charles Martin, another UK VERG founder and army reservist, set out in 2017 to help more veterans secure employment at companies like ours. They spearheaded a new Moody’s Veteran Insight Programme (MVIP) with help from Andreas Naumann, Managing Director and Global Head of Relationship Management for Moody’s Investors Service and the UK VERG’s executive sponsor. The MVIP offers on-the-job training and networking opportunities to members of the armed forces who are in their last year of duty. 

“It’s a very personal experience,” Charles says of the transition from full-time service to civilian life. “In some cases, people have a great support network that gets them where they need to go. In other cases, they don’t.”

In 2017, the MVIP provided support for service members on the cusp of transition. Participants had a chance to demonstrate how their military skills and experience match up to civilian careers. And we had a chance to show them the benefits of working at Moody’s. Sandeep Rajan and Christopher Ashford, two of last year’s participants, have since joined our company full-time.

Read more from Moody's 2017 CSR Report