The Veteran Talent Acquisition Partnership (VTAP) is a national 501c3 nonprofit based in San Antonio, Texas. VTAP recruits skilled and experienced transitioning service members and veterans and places them into high demand, well-paying, mid-level jobs identified by industry partners.

About VTAP

There are over 40,000 federal, state and nonprofit agencies and organizations whose primary mission is to serve the needs of veterans. Despite the unprecedented expenditure of federal and philanthropic resources, veterans continue to struggle with significantly higher suicide, unemployment and underemployment rates as compared to national averages.

The Problem

Post-military employment is the single greatest unmet need veterans face according to University of Southern California research studies recently conducted in four large metropolitan cities.

Those studies revealed that 80% of service members leave the military without a job while 75% of veterans are not receiving help finding a job. A 2017 Syracuse University Veteran Job Retention Survey confirmed that over 65% of veterans leave their first post-military job in under two years!

The lack of meaningful employment can trigger significant issues such as depression, homelessness and drug and alcohol dependency. While national, state and local veteran employment assistance programs are available, the vast majority of these programs place veterans in unskilled, low wage jobs. Veterans with skills that directly translate into the civilian workplace are the most employable yet receive little or no assistance. There is a widespread misperception that veterans with hard skills are independently able to find employment – unfortunately, a false assumption based on research findings and focus group feedback.

The Solution: Breaking the Paradigm

60+% of veterans possess skills and experience that directly translate into the civilian workplace yet these highly skilled veterans receive little or no assistance.

The Veteran Talent Acquisition Partnership (VTAP) proactively addresses the unmet need of skilled and experienced veterans by targeting high-demand industry sectors where there is a large skilled and experienced military talent pool to recruit from. Industry partners identify $55,000 to $100,000+ mid-level jobs. VTAP then recruits veterans and transitioning service members and hand-matches the veteran to the job that requires the skills gained while serving in the military.

Face-to-face meetings with over 25 potential national industry partners reveals that companies want to hire veterans with certain skills but do not have an effective way to find them. These same companies also struggle to recruit skilled, mid-level talent who have demonstrated leadership and management potential. More important, companies recognize and value the intangibles that come with hiring a veteran such as leadership and management skills, attention to detail, a strong work ethic, ability to work under pressure and high integrity.

Working closely with industry partners, three skill-sets were identified where demand exceeds the supply of qualified candidates. Correspondingly, there is a large former military talent pool with the specific skills and experience that meet industry’s growing demand.

Logistics & Supply Chain
Aerospace & Manufacturing
Facility Maintenance & Engineering

(Other high-demand industry sectors to be added in the future.)

How is VTAP different?

VTAP provides the veteran a personal, human-to-human connection while other veteran employment programs offer impersonal, online job search platforms.

Veteran-peer talent scouts will recruit, vet and prequalify a veteran and then hand-match that veteran to a specific job identified by industry partners. Prior to submitting the qualified veteran to the prospective employer, VTAP will provide personalized, hands-on assistance to help that the veteran successfully transition from the military to the civilian workforce.

How will VTAP measure success?

Objective, transparent metrics will confirm outcomes and ensure transparency to industry partners and funders. Metrics include:

Number and percent of veterans hired
Average starting salary
12, 24 and 36 month retention rates
Employer and veteran-employee surveys and feedback

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