Our Mission: Help Cisco Partners Hire Veterans

Loyal. Dedicated. Disciplined. These are a few of the traits we use to describe our trained veterans. Traits that are inherent to their character, even when they transition to civilian careers. The training veterans receive during their service builds skills and characteristics that provide value to their future employers.

“At the core of being a veteran is dedication and commitment; they deserve opportunities when they reenter civilian life. In my experience with employing veterans, they have been some of the most reliable team members that I have hired at IntelligIS.” Marcus L. Wilson, President & CEO of IntelligIS, a veteran himself and a Cisco Channel Partner shares why he values veterans in his company’s workplace.

At Cisco we support veterans as they transition to civilian life or switch careers, with multiple programs and trainings. Our Talent Bridge Program works to connect transitioning veterans and their spouses with our ecosystem partners. Employers who use the Talent Bridge Matching Engine platform for recruiting can filter matching candidates by their veteran status. The Matching Engine automates the process of connecting you to qualified candidates, thousands of them having previous military service experience. We understand recruiting is hard work, but we make connecting with veteran candidates simple.

Our partner, AJ Jones, VP and CIO, Digital Technology, Raytheon Intelligence and Space, shares why he supports veteran hiring. “Our US Veterans bring unique value to our company, as they have the first-hand knowledge and familiarity with our military systems and operations, and a keen understanding of how important our systems are to the warfighters’ success. In addition, the values of adaptability, teamwork, integrity, problem-solving and communication taught in the military align directly with our culture within Raytheon Technologies.”

Growing Our Support of the Veteran Community

Recently we had the distinct opportunity to engage with veterans during Cisco’s Military Career Day. This global Webex event had the additional benefit of offering breakout sessions for participants. Attendees met with Cisco teams, and we demonstrated how our platform can enable a veteran with their career journey, regardless of if they are transitioning, are separated, or are exploring a career change.

As part of our veteran outreach, we are partnering with groups that assist transitioning military service members and their spouses. Two current relationships we are strengthening are with the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and Onward to Opportunity (O2O). The WWP has a veteran program to help with the transfer into the civilian workforce called Warriors to Work. The focus of O2O is on advancing the post-service lives of veterans and their families by offering upskilling, education, and career services.

How We Differentiate Veterans and Military Spouses

Since 2018 the Talent Bridge Program has supported veterans with various career resources and access to our Matching Engine. In the platform, veterans can self-identify their military service or indicate if they are a military spouse. This allows the candidate to be identified in the employer database with a unique badge.

In their user profile, veteran candidates can include their Military Occupational Code (MOC), indicate if they have security clearance, and include details regarding awards received and military schools attended. These details allow our partners to understand more about their experiences as they review matching candidates in the system.

If you would like to work with us in our efforts to support veterans, please reach out to TalentBridge[@]cisco.com. To register for the Matching Engine use your Cisco.com ID. Your credentials must be associated to your Partner organization for access to be granted.