How Barrett Distribution Centers Found Talent that Grows with the Company

At RecruitMilitary, we are passionate about connecting employers with the incredible talent coming from America’s military community.

One of our clients, HR Director Liz Toledo from Barrett Distribution Centers, sat down to discuss how the RecruitMilitary Service Solution (RMS²) has helped Barrett enhance their access and exposure to job seekers in the military community.

See her story:


Background:

Barrett Distribution Centers, a warehousing and third-party logistics company, has 20 buildings spanning nine different states and is “very actively recruiting as we continue to grow,” said Toledo. Though Toledo knew candidates from the military community were a good fit for logistics and management roles at the organization, it was challenging to connect with the niche group. Even after an impactful military hire, interpreting military ranks and experience into the equal civilian terms was time-consuming and confusing.

RecruitMilitary Service Solution stepped in to provide hands-on help – from setting up their job portal to training their teams on military hiring.

“We came to RecruitMilitary Service Solution to really dive in deeper into that military hiring space and have a one-stop shop. We wanted to find veterans that would meet our needs with the type of industry that we’re in, as well as their spouses that might have experience in the fields that we need.” – Elizabeth Toledo

Read Toledo’s testimonial on how RMS² is supporting Barrett Distribution Centers in their exponential growth:

Military Veterans & Spouses have Transferable Skills:

One of the biggest appeals of working with RecruitMilitary Service Solution is there are a lot of transferable skills from that military into the day-to-day world of warehousing and logistics, especially on the logistics side.

When you think about logistics, it’s very process-driven and you have to do step one to do step two. A lot of that same skillset comes within that military.

We see a lot of candidates that are a good fit for our industry. Especially on the management and the supervisory side, being able to lead a team is important. Sometimes that’s half the battle when you’re looking for a candidate – you can always train them on the specific industry, but having those solid management skills and the ability to build a team, manage a team, and have that team be successful are some of the best qualities that we found in working with veterans.

Adjusting Recruiting Strategies to Reach the Right Candidates:

Barrett is continually growing and we’ve changed our recruitment strategy a little bit. Before we had more of a temp-to-permanent type recruitment strategy. Some management positions would reach out into the community to find candidates.

RecruitMilitary has helped us get our name out there. Through the RecruitMilitary platform, we can post our positions and candidates from the military community can go directly to our jobs. We get their candidate profile and information and can make that really quick connection with their experience and what they’ve done in the past and what we might be looking for.

RecruitMilitary has definitely helped in getting our name out there as we dive deeper into the world of direct hiring and doing more robust employer branding.

Benefits of Partnering with RecruitMilitary:

Some of the benefits that we have gained from RecruitMilitary Service Solution include the direct line into that little niche of the veteran world and transitioning service members.

It is such a robust program with many different candidates that have access to the online database system, receive the emails, or read the Search & Employ magazine. RecruitMilitary has helped us cast a larger net into the veteran world and to the military family members who are also looking for employment.

We are utilizing the RecruitMilitary Service Solution program to its fullest. From the client strategist to the marketing team, it’s been a fantastic partnership. The client support is absolutely phenomenal. Turnaround time for questions is right on point – within a day. Two days is sometimes unheard of.

Impressive Candidates:

A veteran hire at Barrett was recently featured in RecruitMilitary’s Search & Employ magazine. In that feature, Don Sullivan spoke about transitioning into the civilian world, as well as becoming a supervisor and building his career within our company. He is now on his second or third title at Barrett Distributions and he’s been with us for less than a year, I believe.

Impressive Products:

We’ve also utilized RecruitMilitary’s career fairs. As of late, more on the virtual side, but RecruitMilitary Service Solution allows us to set those up and get our name out there and find candidates in a quick fashion. We like being able to interview multiple folks on the spot.

From a job posting portal to the marketing and the magazine to working with them on job fairs, RecruitMilitary is an all-encompassing package when you think of the world of recruitment.

Impressive Service:

Some of the aspects of RecruitMilitary Service Solution that are absolutely superb include the client strategist and the support that they have supplied to my recruitment team along the way. From day-to-day questions about utilizing the platform, to taking the time for a robust training with my recruitment team on the veteran world, RecruitMilitary Service Solution has provided hands-on guidance.

For example, when we get a resume and it has different military classifications and acronyms, it’s brand new for some of us. RecruitMilitary spent the time to do a training with my team and me, to explain what each classification means and how that correlates to the civilian world. It really helped us correlate what’s on the resume and how that would work with our needs and our facilities and how that could potentially be one of our best fit candidates.

Access to the client strategist is top-notch. Our client strategist is always there to provide suggestions and recommendations on how to increase or enhance our utilization with RecruitMilitary’s platform and make sure that we are spotlighting the jobs that we need and being creative on tweaking the job titles. They’ve been extremely resourceful in helping us make that match between both worlds.

Finding the Best Fit for Both Sides:

RecruitMilitary is phenomenal to work with. I have a long career in human resources, and this company’s been one of the best partners.

RecruitMilitary has a fantastic mission and purpose. They’re reaching out to a group that is very successful in a lot of different industries, with the experience that they have from the military.

I absolutely appreciate all that RecruitMilitary has done for my company – bringing on successful leaders, helping us better understand the veterans or military that are transitioning back into the workspace, and making sure that we have the best fits for both sides.

I can’t say enough about RecruitMilitary: great to work with, great cause, and great product.


Interested in becoming a RecruitMilitary Service Solutions partner? Learn more here.