Comcast NBCUniversal Has a Concierge Service for National Guard and Reserve Members
Comcast NBCUniversal has a small, but mighty team conducting veteran and military spouse hiring efforts. Their team of eight are working to hire 21,000 military community members by 2021.
As a founding coalition member of the Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses campaign, Comcast has a storied history of supporting military families through their founder and Navy veteran, Ralph Roberts. It is evident in the unique programs they offer service members and their families.
Listen in as we talk to Ed Carr, director of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal, on this episode of the Hiring Our Heroes Sitrep podcast.
Top Takeaways from “Comcast NBCUniversal Has a Concierge Service for Guard and Reserve Members”
1. Comcast NBCUniversal defines a military community member as anyone who is a transitioning service member, National Guardsman or reservist, and any veteran on their second or third post-military job.
“When I mentioned military community, I’m referring to all of them. We don’t like to say just veterans because people have different definitions of what a veteran is.” – Ed Carr, Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal
2. Military spouses are also included in Comcast’s military community.
“For us, a military spouse is anyone who has ever been married to someone who has been in the military. You don’t lose your status as a military spouse. Once a military spouse, always a military spouse.” – Ed Carr, Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal
3. When a military spouse receives PCS orders, he or she may be able to move to a new position within the company.
“If they are moving to a place outside of our footprint, we reach out to our partners in the VEAC (Veteran Employment Advisory Council) and in the past we’ve gotten them streamlined interviews within those companies.” – Ed Carr, Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal
4. Through the Concierge Service, a human resources professional is assigned to each Comcast NBCUniversal employee that serves in the National Guard and Reserves.
“If someone from the Guard and Reserves is activated, it’s one phone call or one email to one person to say ‘I’ve been activated. I got to go,’ and that HR professional takes care of everything else.” – Ed Carr, Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal
5. Carr recommended that job recruiters take a slightly different approach at a Hiring Our Heroes hiring event compared with a civilian job fair.
“Understand that every time they say ‘we’ they mean ‘me.’ In the military, we are trained to say ‘my team did that’ but what they’re actually saying is ‘I did that.’ Ask the follow-up question, ‘what was your role?’ You’ll be amazed with the responsibility they had and tasks that they accomplished.” – Ed Carr, Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal
