VB

Veteran Bridge Solutions

military hiring workspace

Home This week Build my plan Tools Compare Report Pricing About
Command center

Put your hiring plan to work

Use the tools to prepare drafts for your team to review. Bring your priority and implementation questions to your monthly 30-minute working session with Dean, then update your shared action list.

Your next step

Prepare for your first working session

Choose one priority role and describe what is getting in the way. The preparation page helps you organize that information. It does not send anything automatically.

Prepare for the session

Already paid but cannot access a tool?

This week

Get your operating brief

Win over a hiring manager

The manager said no. Here's what to say.

Pick what they're pushing back on. I'll give you the words for the room, then build the one-page case you hand them.

Set up the programs
DoD SkillBridgeExplore structured training connected to employment opportunities+
  1. Confirm the fit. You offer real training in the member's last 180 days and a strong chance of a job at the end. They keep their military pay and benefits the whole time, and you pay no salary.
  2. Read the Industry Partners and Employers page at skillbridge.osd.mil, then submit the Inquiry Form under How to Participate. A SkillBridge representative replies with the application details.
  3. Complete the mandatory Employer Ethics Brief and save the certificate, and gather your business verification documents. Both are required to apply.
  4. Build your Training Plan and finish the application in the Content Management System. New applications are taken only in two windows a year: Fall, October 1 to December 1, and Spring, February 1 to April 1. Prep ahead and submit on the first day the window opens. Processing can run several weeks.
  5. Sign the MOU by DocuSign within 30 days of receipt, then wait for the DoD signature. With the countersigned MOU you become a Provider, onboard, and post your opportunities. Service members find them on the Locations page.
Know going in: becoming a Provider is an application, not an email to DoD, and the MOU is the instrument. Your Training Plan is the heart of it: spell out what the member learns and does. There is no salary cost to you, and the expectation is that you intend to hire the members who succeed. Company size is not a barrier: the registry includes employers from a flour mill to a residential pile contractor. What DoD evaluates is the Training Plan — real skills, real work, and a real chance of a job at the end.
Army PaYSGet a guaranteed interview with soldiers who choose you+
  1. Go to armypays.com and contact the PaYS team to start. There is no fee to partner, and charging job seekers a fee disqualifies you.
  2. Sign a Memorandum of Agreement with the Army.
  3. Forecast your future openings and load the roles that match soldier skills into the PaYS database.
  4. Soldiers and ROTC cadets pick up to five PaYS partners and are guaranteed an interview with you after service, when they are qualified and you have a vacancy.
Know going in: PaYS guarantees an interview, not employment. Over 1,200 employers already partner, including manufacturers like Clarios. It is a steady, no-cost pipeline of disciplined candidates who chose your company.
State National Guard and ESGRHire Guard members who already live in your community+
  1. Start with ESGR, the Defense office that connects employers with Guard and Reserve members. Go to esgr.mil and find your state committee.
  2. Sign a Statement of Support. It is free, public, and it marks you as a Guard-friendly employer.
  3. Ask your state National Guard for the employment or transition coordinator. Some states run Work for Warriors or a Job Connection Education Program. They connect you with members who want civilian work.
  4. Put your support for military leave and drill schedules in writing. That is what keeps Guard members and earns ESGR recognition.
Know going in: contacts vary by state, so use the ESGR state directory to find yours. A Guard member stays local, so this is a long relationship, not a one-time hire.
Military Spouse Employment, MSEPConnect with military-spouse talent+
  1. Go to the MSEP portal at msepjobs.militaryonesource.mil and review the partner commitment: recruit, hire, promote, and retain military spouses.
  2. Sign the MSEP partnership agreement with the Department. There is no fee. You join more than 1,000 partner employers.
  3. Post your roles to the MSEP career portal so spouses searching there find you. Remote and portable roles get the most traction, because spouses move.
  4. Report your spouse hiring, promotion, and retention each year, including spouses you keep after a move. That is the commitment, and it is the data that shows it works.
Why this matters: a military spouse may bring relevant experience that your hiring process has not recognized. Start with the requirements of the role and evaluate each applicant individually.

These steps point to official Department of Defense, Army, ESGR, and MSEP resources. Programs change, so confirm details on the official sites before you sign anything.