It’s All About the Long Game

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Tom Downs, Senior Manager of Diversity Talent Acquisition at Capital One, sits down with Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient and Hiring Our Heroes and Toyota Personal Branding Ambassador and Elizabeth O’Brien, Hiring Our Heroes Senior Director of the Military Spouse Program, on this episode of the Sitrep podcast.

Listen in as Downs discusses Capital One’s military hiring strategy with Meyer and O’Brien. Downs shares Capital One’s military engagement strategy and why, he believes, military hiring has been a key factor for putting Capital One in a position to win the long game.

Top Takeaways from “It’s All About the Long Game”:

1. Capital One has been and will continue to be committed to veteran and military spouse employment.

“The strategy of Capital One has been and continues to be: we do what we say. Back in 2011, there were 500,000 pledges from different companies to hire veterans. We have stayed in the pledge and feel the day that you hire, or a company hires, a veteran or military spouse is the day that company got much better…we are in it for the long haul!” – Tom Downs, Senior Manager of Diversity Talent Acquisition at Capital One

2. Capital One recruiters champion veterans and military spouses throughout the hiring process.

“It is getting the military equivalency added and also having recruiters and hiring managers educated on the value of a veteran and understanding their resumes and qualifications.” – Tom Downs, Senior Manager of Diversity Talent Acquisition at Capital One

3. There isn’t a secret solution for veteran and military spouse employment, but by companies learning from each other, progress will be made.

“We want to make sure we are getting better and helping other companies get better… we need to get out there and make Capital One known as a brand, not just for ‘what’s in your wallet?’ but also an employer of choice for veterans and their spouses.” Tom Downs, Senior Manager of Diversity Talent Acquisition at Capital One

The HOH Sitrep podcast is the official podcast of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes initiative. Subscribe to the HOH Sitrep podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast service and never miss an episode.

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