Each week on “Buzzworthy Veterans,” our host Ant Stroud talks to veterans who have been doing Buzzworthy things around the community. This week, Ant sits down with Benjamin Mathews from Skillstorm Commercial Services.
SkillStorm is an IT solutions company. By hiring, upskilling, and deploying software engineering professionals to work on advanced technologies and platforms, SkillStorm equips companies with ready-made, customizable, domestic tech teams.
To learn more, visit https://skillstorm.com.
Short company description: SkillStorm is an IT solutions company. By hiring, upskilling, and deploying software engineering professionals to work on advanced technologies and platforms, SkillStorm equips companies with ready-made, customizable, domestic tech teams.
What Branch of Service are you or were you in and for how long?:
Active Army – 9 years
Air Force Reserve – 9 years
What is or was your job in the military?:
Army – Medic
Air Force – Judge Advocate General
Why do you feel it’s important for people to know
your business is a Veteran Owned business?: SkillStorm is not a veteran-owned business, but we are making a concerted effort to hire transitioning service members and veterans into technology positions. Our goal for 2021 is to hire 250 transitioning servicemembers and veterans into high-paying software engineering positions whether they had prior technology experience or not. We train transitioning service members and veterans as software engineers. In addition, we’ve developed a registered apprenticeship program for transitioning service members without degrees to work and train to be software engineers over the course of a 3-year apprenticeship.
When leaving the service what was your biggest struggle?: Despite leaving my active duty service with a degree and active clearance, I found it very difficult for employers to value the experience I gained from my military service. There is not a great appreciation for the level of responsibility a young person receives in the military by civilian employers.
What resources for veterans did you find that helped you overcome that struggle?: The number of resources available to transitioning service members now were not available when I separated from active duty. Service members and employers need to understand what is available to help service members transition and take advantage of those resources.
