MATAWAN, NJ--(Marketwired - November 04, 2016) - In honor of Veterans Day and in an effort to educate employers on how to effectively recruit and retain military veterans, iCIMS, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based talent acquisition solutions, released a new research report, "America's Heroes at Work: The Veteran Hiring Report."

In collaboration with RecruitMilitary, the nation's leading veteran hiring company, the study was conducted to gain a better understanding of post-9/11 veterans' experience and expectations while job hunting and at work, following their military experience. The report explores key factors veterans believe are holding them back from landing a job and what they look for in an employer. It also highlights tips for employers to build programs for recruiting and retaining talented veterans and benefits they can gain from hiring veterans, based on the data collected.

"The results from our survey are eye-opening, and reinforces the need for employers to focus on nurturing their veteran employees and enhance their recruitment efforts to attract veteran job seekers," said Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer at iCIMS. "Although it is encouraging to see the unemployment rates for post-9/11 veterans on the decline, our survey reveals just how tough the transition continues to be for those who are trying to build a career in the civilian workforce and why some employers are missing the mark in attracting talented candidates with experience in the military."

Highlights from the report include:

Recruiting and Retaining Talented Veterans

• Veterans have the skills employers are looking for in new hires. Top skills include a strong work ethic, problem-solving skills, adaptability, and working well in a team environment.

• Veterans are natural leaders, and employers can tap into this if they have a strong mentorship program. In fact, 93 percent of veterans would be willing to serve as a mentor to a civilian employee.

• Employers should leverage general job boards, such as Indeed and CareerBuilder, and government websites, as these are the top sources veterans use when searching for a job.

Challenges Veterans Face Building Careers

• Eighty-six percent of post-9/11 veterans decided not to apply for or accept a job offer after leaving the military. Top reasons include disappointment with the salary and benefits offered, not believing they have enough education or training to do the job, and reading negative reviews about the company's culture or work environment.

• Forty-one percent believe hiring managers do not understand their military experience, and 37 percent believe hiring managers devalue their military experience.

• Forty-seven percent have understated or excluded their military service on their resume or online job application, and among those, 44 percent were concerned their military service would negatively impact the hiring decision.

"It is evident that there are a disconnect and a lack of understanding between veterans and employers," added Vitale. "Our servicemen and women, who have received some of the most sophisticated training and experience and have made extreme sacrifices for our country, are having trouble gaining job security, stability, and a sense of purpose as civilian workers. By gaining more awareness of the top skills veterans hold, employers will be more equipped to tap into this talent and create mutually beneficial relationships with candidates who have served."

The iCIMS survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among more than 700 U.S. post-9/11 veterans, and distributed by RecruitMilitary.

To learn more about other data available through iCIMS' Hiring Insights research practice, visit www.icims.com/hiring-insights.

About iCIMS, Inc.:

iCIMS is the leading provider of talent acquisition solutions that help businesses win the war for top talent. iCIMS empowers companies to manage their entire hiring process within the industry's most robust Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Built on the foundation of a best-to-market talent acquisition software suite, iCIMS' PaaS framework, UNIFi, allows employers to expand the capabilities of their core talent acquisition technology by integrating with the largest partner ecosystem in talent acquisition to help them attract, find, screen, and manage candidates. Offering scalable, easy-to-use solutions that are backed by award-winning customer service, iCIMS supports more than 3,200 contracted customers and is one of the largest and fastest-growing talent acquisition solution providers.

About RecruitMilitary

RecruitMilitary is the nation's leading veteran hiring company, offering a diverse array of branding, employment, and retention services to help employers connect with America's best talent-its veterans. We host the nation's largest single-source veteran database, publish one of the nation's largest veteran hiring magazines, and host hundreds of regional job fairs to connect private and public sector employers with veterans. As a veteran-owned company, we offer our services free of charge to veterans and their spouses to support them during their job search.