Edelman Intelligence's study of 1,000 employers found that 76% want to hire more veterans — but only 38% said veterans obtain skills in the military that "are easily transferable to the private or public sector."
Phil Gilreath, who served as a Marine officer for nearly 10 years, said this is a potential "stigma" veterans face in the business world.
"In reality over 95% of what we do is kind of planning and operations and logistics," he told Business Insider. "That absolutely translates to the corporate world, not to mention the things that aren't necessarily quantitative, such as your leadership experience, your ability to operate in a dynamic, stressful environment that's ever-changing."
Gilreath is now director of operations at storage space startup Clutter and was previously a fellow at the Honor Foundation, a group that specifically helps Navy SEALs transition to civilian life.
He said veterans must enter the civilian world prepared to explain and demonstrate how exactly their skills cross over.
Evan Roth, an HBX CORe alum and former US Air Force captain who now works for GE Aviation, agrees.
"Not only does this involve creating a résumé that has readable — no strange acronyms — skill sets and experience, but also learning how to talk to companies in a way that demonstrates value," Roth said. "Many members never practice how to give a 15-second 'elevator pitch' about how they can be valuable to a company, or in an interview they'll tell a three minute 'war story' without tying it back to how this could be useful in the civilian world."