Insights
The things we end up explaining on every call.
None of this is written to rank for “benefits of hiring veterans.” It is written for the person who already has the req open, has a résumé in front of them they cannot read, and has to decide something this week.
Every piece is signed by the person who wrote it, and they are the people who do this work. Where something is a judgment rather than a fact, it says so.
For the person doing the hiring
- September 19, 2026
Retained, contingent or outsourced: how to choose, and when to use none of them
Should I use retained or contingent search, and how do I tell which one my role needs?
What actually differs between the three models is exclusivity, when the fee is paid, and who carries the risk. A decision guide, including the searches you should not pay a firm for at all.
Sean Locke · Senior Advisor
- Defense technology September 19, 2026
Hiring people who used to be the customer
Should a defense technology company hire the people who used to be its end users?
A company selling into special operations benefits from people who carried the equipment. What that buys, what it does not, and the post-government employment rules to get right first.
Tal Bruno · Business Development
- Data centers September 19, 2026
Data center operations leadership: what breaks at two in the morning
Who should I hire to run data center operations, and does a military background actually help?
Role by role, what a critical facilities leader is accountable for during an incident, which parts of a Special Operations background map onto it, and where a career facilities hire wins.
Colin Brune · Special Advisor
- September 19, 2026
Twelve questions for interviewing a Special Operations veteran
What should I actually ask a Special Operations veteran in an interview, and how do I know whether the answer was good?
Each question with what a strong answer contains, what a weak one sounds like, and the specific way civilian interviewers misread this population. Written for a hiring manager with a req open.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
- Industrial services September 19, 2026
Industrial services field leadership: running crews you cannot see
Who can actually run a distributed field organization in industrial services?
Distributed crews, safety that has to hold unsupervised, and work done on a customer's site under their rules. Why those three constraints select for a particular background, and where they do not.
Robert Kirila · Co-Founder, Business Development and Veteran Relations
- September 19, 2026
How to hire a Special Operations veteran into an executive role, and five ways companies get it wrong
How do I hire a Special Operations veteran into a senior role without it going wrong?
The failure modes are predictable and not about the candidate: hiring for the story, a seat with no decision rights, compensation priced against the wrong reference, and onboarding that waits.
Colin Brune · Special Advisor
- September 19, 2026
The first ninety days: onboarding an operator so they are still there in year two
How do I onboard a senior military hire so they do not leave in the first year?
Retention is where these hires actually fail, and it fails quietly. What to do in week one, what to ask for at day thirty, and the four signals that mean somebody has already decided to leave.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
- September 19, 2026
Reading a Special Operations resume: what rank, unit and selection actually signal
How do I read a military resume and work out what this person actually did?
A decoder for hiring managers. What a rank tier implies about span of control, what passing selection proves and does not prove, and the four ways these resumes are routinely misread.
Robert Kirila · Co-Founder, Business Development and Veteran Relations
- Manufacturing September 19, 2026
What a Special Operations background actually does in a manufacturing plant
Does a Special Operations background actually help in a plant finance or operations role?
The plant controller job is mostly telling a plant manager something he does not want to hear and still being in the room next month. Why that tolerance transfers, and what does not.
Mark Whaling · Co-Founder, Business Development
- Manufacturing September 19, 2026
The multi-site controller search, and why the role stays open for seven months
Why is a multi-site plant controller role so hard to fill, and what should I flex?
The job asks for technical accounting, operational credibility on a shop floor, and the willingness to be unpopular. Most candidates have two. Which one you flex decides whether the search closes.
Mark Whaling · Co-Founder, Business Development
- Defense technology September 19, 2026
What a security clearance is actually worth to you as an employer
Is it worth paying more for a candidate who already holds a clearance, or should I sponsor one?
Sponsorship costs time before it costs money, and the time is the expensive part. How to value current, in-scope and reinstatable clearances, and why the difference decides your schedule.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
- September 19, 2026
What happens after you send us a role
What actually happens after I contact a search firm, and what am I committing to?
Same day we acknowledge and name anyone already in the pool. Within the week, an onboarding call with our COO and the lead recruiter. What that call covers, who is on it, and what you leave with.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
- September 19, 2026
A transition program is not a talent pipeline, and a search firm is not a transition program
What is the difference between a transition program and a search firm, and which one do I need?
Where transition organizations, SkillBridge and an executive search firm each fit, what each does that the others cannot, and why treating them as competitors gets operators the wrong help.
Robert Kirila · Co-Founder, Business Development and Veteran Relations
- September 19, 2026
Why our candidate profiles have no names on them
Why are the candidate profiles anonymous, and what do I actually get to see before I commit?
Every published profile is anonymous by construction, not by redaction. What an employer sees, what is released and when, and the consent mechanism that decides it.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
- September 19, 2026
Why we turn down veterans
Why would a firm that places veterans turn a veteran away?
We represent people with a documented commercial record after service. Most who contact us do not have one yet, and saying so is the only version of this business that works.
Robert Kirila · Co-Founder, Business Development and Veteran Relations
For operators
- September 19, 2026
How to document commercial results so a client actually believes them
How do I prove the business results I achieved after the military?
The standard of evidence is higher than most resumes meet. Attribution versus participation, what a reference needs to confirm, and how to present a number you are not allowed to disclose.
Tal Bruno · Business Development
- September 19, 2026
What a security clearance is actually worth to you as an employer
Is it worth paying more for a candidate who already holds a clearance, or should I sponsor one?
Sponsorship costs time before it costs money, and the time is the expensive part. How to value current, in-scope and reinstatable clearances, and why the difference decides your schedule.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
- September 19, 2026
A transition program is not a talent pipeline, and a search firm is not a transition program
What is the difference between a transition program and a search firm, and which one do I need?
Where transition organizations, SkillBridge and an executive search firm each fit, what each does that the others cannot, and why treating them as competitors gets operators the wrong help.
Robert Kirila · Co-Founder, Business Development and Veteran Relations
- September 19, 2026
What a search firm can and cannot do for you as a candidate
Should I work with a recruiter, and what will they actually do for me?
We work for the client, not for you. What that actually means in practice, what you should and should not expect, and how to work with several firms without damaging your reputation.
Sean Locke · Senior Advisor
- September 19, 2026
Why our candidate profiles have no names on them
Why are the candidate profiles anonymous, and what do I actually get to see before I commit?
Every published profile is anonymous by construction, not by redaction. What an employer sees, what is released and when, and the consent mechanism that decides it.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
- September 19, 2026
Why we turn down veterans
Why would a firm that places veterans turn a veteran away?
We represent people with a documented commercial record after service. Most who contact us do not have one yet, and saying so is the only version of this business that works.
Robert Kirila · Co-Founder, Business Development and Veteran Relations
- September 19, 2026
Your second civilian move: what changes when you stop being the transitioning guy
I left the military a few years ago. What changes about how I look for my next role?
Every resource is built for people at separation. Four years into a civilian career the rules are different, almost nobody writes about it, and the veteran-hiring programs no longer apply to you.
Erik Wisecup · Partner, COO
Also worth reading
Next step
Tell us the role. We will tell you who is already ready for it.
An onboarding call with our COO and the lead recruiter, and you will know within the week whether the person you need is already in our pool.