Veterans In Technology
The ISM Way
By Joseph Laudon
I am a technical consultant and member of the marketing team here at ISM and proudly served our country in the US Navy. When I first transitioned out of the military one of the biggest struggles I faced was finding an organization that not only understood the value that veterans/mil-spouses bring to an organization but also stood by their commitment to hire, support, and retain them as well. When I heard from a fellow Navy veteran and close friend who is also a fellow ISMer Mike Anderson about ISM and their incredible amount of military influence I knew I had found what I had been looking for.
I have spent the last 3 years advocating and assisting in veteran, military spouse, and transitioning service member employment training and hiring efforts, and in my opinion, being veteran/mil-spouse friendly is not enough. Having veterans/mil-spouses in leadership positions that drive decision making proves an organization’s commitment to hiring and most importantly retaining veterans and mil-spouses. The ISM family includes 70+ veterans and 20+ employees with close military relationships and I have the absolute honor of sharing my interview with a few of them in the dialogue below.
U.S. Army Reserves
“As quickly as possible, look at the commercial or federal opportunity through that business type of lenses, and not the military lenses. The person must take their experiences, expertise, and lessons learned while in the military and apply them to the new opportunity, using commercial or federal terminology and organizational governance, as best they can. Many people in hiring positions never served so they do not appreciate how military experience translates to commercial/federal requirements.”
“Depending upon their background, they may pick up IT processes quicker than technical skills. Potentially, they could start in an Analyst (BPC) role and then get ServiceNow skills to be a strong contributor to the team.”
“What makes ISM special? Our history of transforming ourselves over the last 30 years, gaining unique experiences and expertise to be able to address any challenge or objective our clients might have. Also, our culture, of focusing on our people as our #1 asset, who in turn work as a solid, passionate team to deliver the highest quality services with impeccable integrity.”
Army
“Culture starts from up down and down up.”
“Take care of your people and they will stay.”
“We do whatever it takes and that applies to our clients as well as ensuring that our people are successful. ISM as a whole embodies the mindset that if you take care of your team and your clients they will do the same.”
“Air Force”
“I think a big thing is that no matter where you are, no matter your title, you can lead.”
“It’s simple… The people and the culture won me over and I turned down several other offers because of it.”