Is Your Organization Benefiting From Veteran Talent?
Veterans aren’t fighting for jobs anymore — now employers compete for the privilege of hiring Veteran talent.
Word is out on the tremendous impact that Veteran employees have on their organizations, and the job market is tight. To leverage this exceptional talent pool, organizations need strong Veteran employment programs, as well as expert marketing.
Vetted Employers can help with both.
Earn and use our seal of approval, at no cost
The Vetted Employer Badge shows job candidates and customers that an organization is a top Veteran employer. Organizations earn it by meeting key standards for hiring Veterans, and those that do so can use it for free — digital or print, internal or external
Designed for employers of all types and sizes
We have balanced the survey to fairly evaluate all employers and industries, from small startups to the world’s largest corporations and everything in-between, whether companies, nonprofits, or government agencies/departments (including law enforcement)
Easy survey, fast results
You don’t have to answer hundred of questions or wait months for results — easily complete the Vetted Checkup Survey in one sitting, and our rapid evaluation process will turn around your results (and media kits) in 2 weeks or fewer
No fees or charges of any kind — really!
Most supposedly “free” Veteran employer awards programs have hidden charges: membership costs, application fees, sponsorships, licensing fees. Our program is actually free of charge, start to finish
Answer 10 Questions & Get a Vetted Employer Badge in Days *
*Not every organization that submits a survey will earn a badge; participants must meet key standards related to employing the Military-Connected community
Explore Our Program Management & Consulting Services
Get Expert Help Building A Military-Grade Workforce
Veterans make exceptional employees — and hiring Veterans has become very competitive, as more employers recognize the huge impact that their technical skills and professionalism make throughout an organization. Attracting and assimilating these highly sought professionals requires the right programs, policies, and training.
That’s where Vetted Employers comes in.
Our team has advised countless organizations through this process, from the world’s largest corporations to small and mid-size companies, as well as nonprofits, government agencies and departments (including law enforcement), and even universities. To get started working with us:
Recruit in-demand Veteran talent
Vetted Employers will set you up with powerful channels for hiring Veterans, including the DoW/DoD SkillBridge program, national Veteran hiring resources, local military bases, student Veterans groups, and more
Retain & promote your hires
Prevent your Veteran hiring pipeline from becoming a revolving door, through our new-hire on-boarding, mentorship programs, and automated employee check-in messages
Improve military-civilian culture & engagement
Keep your Military-Connected employees engaged — and your nonmilitary employees well-schooled on military culture — with staff training, events, and military Employee Resource Groups (ERGs/BRGs)
Get branded as a top military employer
Once you have established a standout Veteran program, Vetted Employers has a host of marketing tools to ensure your job candidates and customers know it, with custom news releases, logos, and branding expertise
Build A New Program From The Ground Up
Is your organization new to Veteran hiring? We will build a complete, first-rate Veteran program from scratch
Let Us Fine-Tune Your Existing Program
Do you already have a strong Veteran program but need to add particular services or training? We are here to help
The
Business Case For Hiring Veterans
Forget public relations — the real reason organizations are recruiting Veterans is that they’re simply better employees.
Veterans have led and founded many of the country’s most successful businesses, and their skills outclass those of their civilian counterparts in one area after another.
The bottom line is: Veteran employees make a difference that shows up in your bottom line. Here’s how:
- Cutting-edge technical training from the military, in critical fields
- Teamwork & Leadership
- Mission-Driven
- Problem Solving
- Responsibility
- Tenacity
Fractional Costs, Exponential Benefits
You don’t need a big internal team to build a top-notch Veteran employment program. We can do it for you!
Our experts at Vetted Employers consulting can connect you with resources for hiring Veterans, improve your on-boarding and retention of Veteran employees, launch and grow Veteran employee resource groups, train your staff, organize speaking and volunteer events, develop policies, help you receive tax credits for hiring Veterans, and more.
All through external consulting at a fraction of the cost of hiring additional HR personnel or recruiters.
Vetted Employers consulting services more than pay for themselves, creating net savings for your organization by:
Establishing more cost-effective recruiting
Reducing employee turnover
Increasing staff engagement & productivity
How Can We Help?
Vetted Employers provides services covering all aspects of Veteran hiring and employment programs — either item-by-item or as package deals. Click the categories below to learn more:
The Vetted Consulting Process
Start with Step 1 today, at no charge and with no commitment required:
1
Goal setting & initial assessment
Email or meet with us to discuss how we can help with your organization’s Veteran employment goals, and take our 10-question Vetted Checkup Survey to see how your current program measures up
2
Develop custom plans & processes
Based on your goals, budget, and our evaluation of your existing program, we will work together to develop a custom plan and timeline for optimizing your organization’s Veteran employment efforts
3
Service implementation & adjustment
We put the plan into action, setting up recruiting channels for hiring Veterans, organizing training sessions, producing documents and collateral materials — and tweaking everything as needed throughout
4
Ongoing management & maintenance
After we build your new-and-improved Veterans program, we can continue managing these program elements as needed — at a substantial discount!
Vetted Checkup Survey:
Why Participate?
We spent years working closely with employers and Veterans to identify the best practices that make the biggest impact for Military-Connected employees. Our team distilled this expertise into the 10-question Vetted Checkup Survey to give organizations an easy yet insightful evaluation showing where employers excel in their work with the Military-Connected community — and where there may be room for improvement.
Trustworthy & not for sale
Vetted Employer recognition can only be earned based on what organizations do for Veterans — it can never be bought
Custom-tailored branding
Recognized organizations receive custom media kits, including news releases featuring the organization name, the Vetted Employer Badge, and more. There is no cost; just link the badge logo back to this website when it is used online
Expert insights for your program
Get a better understanding of your Veteran program, through in-depth data analysis provided to all survey participants
Ironclad protection for your data
We keep data provided for our Veteran employer awards confidential, as well as the names of organizations that submit surveys but fall short of recognition
Easily complete the survey in one sitting
This 10-question survey asks for only the most important metrics and can be finished in minutes, not days or weeks
Get your results — and badge — right away
Our fast evaluation process analyzes survey responses as they come in and can turn around results, as well as badges and media kits for qualifying employers, in fewer than 2 weeks
Help improving Veteran policies & services
Beyond explaining what to improve, we can directly help you build a better program, through our management & consulting
How It Works
1
First request a 10-question Vetted Checkup Survey by registering at this link
2
Next fill out the survey with your organization’s information and press Submit
>
If Vetted Employer status is achieved: Receive a media kit with badge and custom news release
>
If Vetted Employer status is not achieved: Identify and fix shortcomings (see steps 3 and 4 below), and take survey again
3
Then review our tailored analysis of your survey results and find opportunities to improve
4
Leverage our program management & consulting for direct help making improvements
5
Organizations that achieve Vetted Employer status receive invitations for the Vetted Awards Program in Spring 2026
6
Submit Vetted Awards Survey by July 31; awardees announced shortly before Veterans Day
7
Continue to submit surveys annually to maintain Vetted Employer recognition and awards
Vetted Checkup Survey Overview
Forget the 100-question and 200-question Veteran employer awards surveys you may have seen elsewhere — our survey is just 10 questions, plus a few sub-questions and organization contact and profile information. Download the full survey here and review the 10 items covered below:
- Q1: What does your organization do related to hiring Veterans and the Military-Connected community?
- Q2: Do you have staff dedicated to recruiting or supporting Military-Connected employees?
- Q3: Can you provide data on your Military-Connected employees and new hires?
- Q4: Do you have a Veteran Employee Resource Group (ERG/BRG), and what does it do?
- Q5: Do you have mentorship programs, and to what extent do Military-Connected employees participate?
- Q6: Do you offer special on-boarding or advancement programs for Military-Connected employees, or training for staff who recruit or support them?
- Q7: How often does your organization promote Military-Connected employees, as compared to other employees?
- Q8: Have you signed agreements with — or received awards from — federal DoW/DoD or Labor Department programs?
- Q9: Do you offer pay to training or activated Guard/Reserve members?
- Q10: Do you provide flexible work allowances for Military Spouses dealing with PCS or deployment orders?
Vetted Awards Program Preview
While the Vetted Checkup Survey determines whether organizations meet the basic standards required for Vetted Employer status, the Vetted Awards Survey goes deeper, evaluating organizations competitively and considering additional metrics to determine whether to further honor them as Distinguished, Advanced, Superior, or Elite Vetted Employers. Here are the details on our higher-level Veteran awards program:
Builds on Vetted Checkup Survey
This program builds on the Vetted Checkup Survey detailed above. Organizations must submit that survey and achieve Vetted Employer status to be considered for the higher-level Vetted Awards Program
Also Completely Cost-Free
Like the Vetted Checkup Program, the Vetted Awards Program is entirely free-of-charge, from start to finish. There are no fees or costs associated with any part of the survey or recognition, including rights to use the award badges and media kits with no licensing fees
Competitive & More Detailed Evaluation
The Vetted Awards Survey will ask for more data related to employing Veterans and the Military-Connected Community than the 10-question Vetted Checkup Survey. It will be evaluated competitively, making relative comparisons among organizations to determine award levels
Launches Spring 2026 | July 31 Deadline
Our team is finalizing the Vetted Awards Survey now. We are planning to launch it in the Spring, with a July 31 response deadline and the awards results announcement scheduled shortly before Veterans Day 2026
To participate in the Vetted Awards Program, first request and submit the Vetted Checkup Survey:
Guidelines & Key Dates
Integrity & Objectivity
The only way to earn the Vetted Employer Badge is by meeting the key, objective standards that make a difference for hiring Veterans and the Military-Connected community.
Unfortunately, shady, pay-to-play Veteran employer awards programs have proliferated in recent years. We designed our programs to stand in sharp contrast, based on meaningful measures of how employers support the Military-Connected community — and not on whether they pay us money.
We ask only that Vetted Employer Badge and awards logos link back to www.vettedemployers.com wherever recognized organizations display them online. There are absolutely no costs associated with any part of our survey & recognition programs: no charges to register for or submit a survey, no fees to be evaluated for recognition, no membership or sponsorship costs, and no licensing fees to use our badge logos for organizations that earn recognition.
While we offer paid Veteran program consulting and management services for organizations that need assistance, these are completely independent of our Veteran employer awards. Organizations can earn any level of award with or without our consulting services, and consulting clients only receive recognition if it is merited by the data in their surveys.
Confidentiality
Our Veteran employer awards programs balance the needs of organizations to protect their proprietary data and public reputations with the needs of our evaluations to measure organizations based on meaningful, sometimes internal, data.
We do not publish any information specific to an organization that is provided in survey responses, except for the organization’s name and logo, as well as the recognition level earned based on their surveys, for those that are recognized.
If an organization submits a survey but the data provided does not meet the standards required for Vetted Employer recognition, we make no mention of their participation in the survey, so from a public perspective, there is no way to tell whether an organization that is not named on our website submitted a survey or not. This means there is no reputational risk for organizations to submit a survey response.
We can sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) establishing our confidentiality policies in a legal document if that would help your organization participate; just reach out to request this.
Timeframes & Deadlines
Vetted Checkup Survey
- Survey Opens: Jan. 28, 2026
- Response Deadline: No deadline — we will accept responses throughout 2026 — but we recommend submitting your survey as soon as possible, both so your organization has more time to use the Vetted Employer Badge and media kit, if recognition is earned, and to enable participation in the Vetted Awards Survey, which does have a set deadline
- Results Announced: As surveys are submitted. We will start the evaluation process immediately after the “Submit” button is pressed and circle back with evaluation results, as well as the badge and media kit (if earned), within 2 weeks of survey submission
Vetted Awards Survey
- Survey Opens: Spring 2026
- Response Deadline: July 31, 2026
- Results Shared Privately: October 2026 — Organizations that submitted a survey will receive advance notice of their award levels, as well as badges and media kits (if earned), so they can include this recognition in Veterans Day communications plans
- Results Announced Publicly: Nov. 2, 2026 — We will publish all awardees from the 2026-2027 awards program online
Frequently Asked Questions
See below for additional important information on how our Veteran employer awards programs work. For full details, please visit our FAQ webpage.
How can my organization participate?
To participate, you must submit your survey through our online platform: First, register for the survey, and then use the custom survey link sent to the registered email address to access and fill out the survey
Can I share my custom survey link?
You are welcome to share your survey link internally, with colleagues at your organization helping fill out the survey, but to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of your survey responses, you should not share this link with external organizations
Which web browser should I use to fill out the survey?
Our surveys work best on the Google Chrome web browser, so we recommend using that browser to fill them out online
Is there a penalty for skipping survey questions?
Please provide as much information as possible to increase your organization’s chances for Vetted Employer recognition and awards. The more you tell us, the better we can credit your organization for its efforts to employ the Military-Connected community
Are my answers saved if I start — but don’t finish — a survey response?
Yes, our survey saves your answers automatically when you advance from one page to another. So you can complete your survey in multiple sessions — simply click on the same custom survey link used to fill out the survey previously, and you’ll be returned to where you left off, with all previous answers appearing, whether your last time working on the survey was hours, days, weeks, or months ago
How many surveys should my organization submit?
Please provide only one Vetted Checkup Survey response and one Vetted Awards Survey response per organization. These evaluations analyze information on organization-wide policies, practices, and outcomes, as provided by the organization leadership/HR — not the personal testimonials or ratings of individual Military-Connected employees — so there is no need for multiple responses to the same survey from the same organization
When should I submit the Vetted Checkup Survey?
There is no deadline — we will accept responses throughout 2026 — but we recommend submitting your survey as soon as possible, so your organization has more time to leverage the Vetted Employer Badge and media kit (if recognized), and to enable participation in the Vetted Awards Survey, which does have a set deadline
If I submit a Vetted Checkup Survey but do not earn recognition, can I try again?
Yes, if you submit a survey but fall short of Vetted Employer recognition, you are welcome to take the Vetted Checkup Survey again, if new data becomes available or revised policies related to hiring Veterans or supporting Military-Connected employees are established
Can I double-check my responses before submitting the survey?
Yes, and we encourage it! Every page of the survey has a “Next” button on the bottom right that advances to the following page, except for the final page of the survey, which has a “Submit” button instead. The last survey page, which has that “Submit” button, will show all of your survey responses in a non-editable, read-only format. Please review these responses carefully — and if you find anything that needs to be edited, press the “Previous” button to go back to the survey page containing the response in question and update it there — before pressing the “Submit” button
Meet Our Team
Vetted Employers is led by two co-founders who have years of experience advising organizations of all types on hiring Veterans and the Military-Connected community, as well as building comprehensive employment programs for them
George Altman, Co-Founder
George has led prominent Veteran employment initiatives at three different organizations, and through his work, he helped countless employers improve their recruiting, retention, and support of Veterans and the Military-Connected community. George developed and led Veteran employment evaluations that were published in national and international news publications and that also formed the basis for financial investment funds and products. Through this work, George refined and ultimately revolutionized methods for measuring and evaluating employers’ Veterans programs, while also providing advice and support directly to organizations working to improve their Veteran employment efforts.
See full bio
Bruce Townshend, Co-Founder
Bruce Townshend has nearly 45 years of combined military and government service and is passionate about helping Veterans succeed and in helping employers hire and retain Veterans in their workforce. He served a total of 28 years in the Army and Army Reserve, both enlisted and as a commissioned officer. He recently retired from the Dept. of Defense/Dept. of War, where he last served as Chief of Engagement for the department’s Employer Support of the Guard & Reserves program (ESGR), specializing in programs supporting Veterans transitioning from the military and employers of Service members serving in the Guard and Reserve. He has traveled extensively both domestically and abroad in support of those programs, working with corporate executives, small business owners and trade associations.
See full bio
Next Steps
Virtual Meeting
Survey Links & Resources
To start your survey response, click the button below, then register with your name and email address and you will immediately receive a survey
The appearance of U.S. Department of War/Department of Defense (DoW/DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW/DoD endorsement.
Webpage image credits (from top left): DVIDS VIRIN 171206-A-NU445-006, iStock 1325698773, DVIDS VIRIN 250131-A-WU705-5246, DVIDS VIRIN 220803-M-KB995-1006, DVIDS VIRIN 250310-N-KL617-1006, DVIDS VIRIN 170711-A-NK138-978, DVIDS VIRIN 250610-N-FB730-1007, DVIDS VIRIN 210909-M-EH070-1101, Pexels 7691722, Pexels 7181178, DVIDS VIRIN 250413-N-CK885-1016, DVIDS VIRIN 240518-A-QD713-1108, DVIDS VIRIN 250609-N-JS660-1312, DVIDS VIRIN 230315-F-ZB805-0581, DVIDS VIRIN 250522-F-AM292-1088, Pexels 7841423, DVIDS VIRIN 171114-F-BZ793-004. Please see blog page for blog image credit information.