At the Chamber our focus is to put more Coloradans to work, including our veterans. Veterans bring transferable knowledge, leadership skills and a work ethic that makes them incredibly valuable employees.
With more than 400,000 vets in Colorado and 30,000 vets in Denver, there’s a huge opportunity for businesses to take advantage of this great pipeline of workers. As business leaders, we know that we can make an immediate impact by playing a role in connecting our veterans with new opportunities, from mentoring and internships to new careers through Boots to Suits, partnership between the Chamber and the University of Colorado Denver.
In the fall we also joined the Department of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to kick off a hiring effort for veterans. And, we’re a partner and supporter of Hiring our Heroes, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, as well as Veterans Passport to Hope.
Taking Care of Business connected with a mentor and mentee of Boots to Suits. (To learn more about becoming a mentor please contact Jennifer Jones or click here.)
Mentor Benjamin Lyng is a vice president at the J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Denver. Lyng was a captain in the U.S. Army and commanded the 764th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company at Fort Carson and in Afghanistan. His military awards include the Bronze Star Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
Mike Toney is a service delivery lead at The TriZetto Corporation and a Boots to Suits mentee. He holds a bachelor of arts in international relations and an MBA from the University of Colorado Denver. Toney was a staff sergeant in the Army and, as part of the XVIII Airborne Corps, led paratroopers through four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His military awards include the Army Commendation Medal (with Valor device), Combat Action badge and his coveted Airborne wings.
Taking Care of Business: Benjamin, talk to me about your experience with your mentee thus far.
Benjamin Lyng: My mentee (David) and I have had a great experience thus far. When we first met, David knew that he wanted a career in finance, but he was unsure about what part of the industry would be the best fit. We evaluated his skill set and interests, and then he set out to meet people in several specific disciplines to learn about what their jobs were like.
Requesting these meetings was a little out of his comfort zone, but we discussed some ways to make the ask, both in person, over the phone, and by email, and that formula made the process a little less intimidating.
Our next step was to focus on meetings with business leaders exclusively in the area of finance that he intended to pursue, with the objective of building relationships to attain an internship or job opportunity. It was during this process David discovered a finance opportunity within a Fortune 500 company, and he just finished his final round of interviews for a full time position.
TCB: Mike, why did you sign up to be a mentee in the Boots to Suits Program?
Toney: I knew that I had transferable skills serving in the military that could cross over to a different profession. It is one thing to explain what you did in combat to a civilian, but getting in front of that business professional and mentor to discuss and work through how your skills translate to the professional world is what I found helpful with the Boots to Suits program. … Speaking with mentors is a way to get passed the LinkedIn profile or electronic job application and speak to someone that is a decision maker. Talking with a mentor helped demystified the process.
TCB: Mike, tell us about your transition from military to civilian life.
Toney: I knew I wanted to work in a corporate environment, but didn’t know where to start. I had the dream that I wanted to put on a suit and go to work but didn’t know how to move into the corporate world.
It is hard for vets to ask for help. … So many veterans don’t know where to start. We need to find a battle buddy and figure out what that next step is, whether is it getting help at the VA hospital or getting enrolled in higher education. Once we have that we can take it to the next step and get involved with business and a business mentor.
TCB: Benjamin, why did you decide to become a mentor?
Lyng: I decided to become a mentor after getting to know Izzy Abbass, a successful businessman, entrepreneur and veteran who served as the executive director of Boots to Suits. My conversations with Izzy reminded me of some people who helped my transition from the military to the private sector, and I recognized that Boots to Suits could provide me with the opportunity to pay it forward.
TCB: Benjamin, what are some of the most difficult challenges for a veteran entering the workforce?
Lyng: The current cohort of student-veterans face a number of headwinds in navigating today’s job market. The military emphasizes a team approach to problem solving, and self-promotion is frowned upon. These students need to learn how to market themselves in an appropriate way in order to be well positioned for limited seats in competitive industries. Many veterans find this aspect of the transition challenging, and this is a key area of focus for mentors in the Boots to Suits program.
Another challenge that veterans face has to do with setting individual professional expectations. An infantry sergeant with a combat deployment under his belt has experienced a considerable amount of professional responsibility at an early point in his career. After graduation, veterans are going to be starting over in a new industry, and that may involve a position of less responsibility. That can be hard for some people to accept, but often times the veteran is able to obtain promotions quickly in his new role because of the work ethic and leadership skills that he or she developed in the service.
Finally, the unforgiving forces of profit and loss are new things to many returning veterans. In the military there is no bottom line that needs to be met at the end of the day, but the only reason that a private sector company will hire someone is with the expectation that the new employee will earn the company more money than it pays him, either right away or sometime in the foreseeable future.
TCB: Mike, what advice would you give to those thinking of getting involved in as a mentee in the Boots to Suits program?
Toney: The hardest thing for a vet to do is to be a self-promoter. … Our veteran community has so much to offer but doesn’t want to step outside of its comfort zone again to lead, to become a business suited executive, but that is what we desperately need in the business world. It’s about translating the experience, creating a great résumé where you can translate your skills for an employer.
If I had one thing to say to every veteran out there it would be that the investment in education is absolutely worth it!
TCB: Benjamin, what have you learned as a mentor?
Lyng: The best thing that I have learned during my experience as a mentor is that there are a lot of people out there who want to see veterans succeed, and willingly go out of their way to help make that happen. Business leaders recognize value in the military experience, and want to find ways to get these outstanding young people into their companies. For that I am very grateful.
Jennifer Jones is the director of public affairs for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. Email Jennifer to learn more about the Boots to Suits program.
[Photo by David]