How Hiring Veterans Benefits Company Culture

With approximately 180,000 people transitioning from the military to civilian life each year, according to the Department of Labor, there are ample opportunities for companies to add veteran talent on their teams. At Key, we value the unique perspective that veterans bring to the workplace and the contributions former service members make to our company culture.

The Many Benefits of Hiring Veterans

Here are just a few sample traits we frequently find among our former military team members as they transition to a career in the financial services industry. We encourage applicants to highlight these transferrable skills on their resume.

• Servant Leadership: Veterans put the team first. They collaborate, mentor, and give of themselves for the betterment of the organization. This approach works well in banking. At Key, we believe if you take care of people and create an environment where they are empowered to be successful, they will do great things in their community.
• Strong Work Ethic: Veterans operate under tight schedules and limited resources. They understand the value of persevering on a task until it is done right.
• Technological Understanding: The military is a high-tech organization; for decades, it was the primary source of technological innovation. Many veterans know how to use technology and quickly adapt to new tools, and, depending on their role while in the military, can effectively track data, trends, and critical insights.
• Navigating Diversity: People come from all over the country to serve, and they are placed side by side with individuals of diverse race, gender, ethnic, religious, and economic status as well as various mental and physical abilities. Adaptation and cooperation are mission-critical.

Thriving at Key

Katherine Coleman, an application systems team manager with Key, has been with the organization for over 14 years. Before joining Key, Coleman spent four years active duty during Operation Desert Storm and re-enlisted for six years in the Navy Reserves after 9/11. She was recalled to active duty in 2007 to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq and Kuwait. In the Navy, she designed and deployed wireless radio systems.

Coleman joined Key because she was looking for a stable, growing company that could offer her job security. Having a Military Telecommunications background, she gravitated to the IT industry. Her military skills translated to phone systems support in the corporate world. At Key, she started as a Voice Support Analyst and has grown with the company into a management position supporting the various telephony, collaboration, and audiovisual equipment, software, and tools within Key's environment. She feels the military has taught her many vital skills from pushing beyond her comfort zone to knowing when to lead and when to follow, all of which she has brought with her to the corporate world.

Key's Commitment to Hiring Veterans

At Key, we want to make it easy for veterans to find jobs that match their unique skills and training. That's why we've designed our Careers page to let you search for positions by job title or skills.

We're dedicated to accommodating the individual needs of our team members, and we encourage disabled veterans to apply to join the Key team.

A sense of close community and comradery can feel lost when separating from the military. With over 200 members and nine chapters, our Key Military Network (KeyMN) provides support, resources, and networking opportunities for Key employees who are Veterans, active duty servicemen and women, or spouses, family, and friends of members of the Armed Forces. The Key employee resource group is very active with panel discussions, donation drives, participation in veteran support events, and team-building events.

Key has built a strong record in supporting military servicemen, servicewomen, and their families. Key has more than 400 active service military/veterans employed throughout its footprint. We've earned the distinct honor the past five years as a Military Friendly Employer by GI Jobs and by Military Friendly, the standard for measuring a company's commitment to the military community. Also, we've been recognized four times as a Military Spouse Friendly Employer. At Key, we provide meaningful work opportunities for veterans to apply their unique strengths and training to make a difference for others.