BMR’s Military Hiring Platform challenges conventional thinking

How does a former Navy petty officer with no manufacturing experience land a manufacturing team lead position at one of the country’s most admired employers? Well, that’s exactly what happened to Luis Acosta, a member of Bridge My Return (BMR), a tech-enabled hiring platform exclusively for the military community—Veterans, transitioning service members, guard/reserve members, military spouses, Veteran spouses and caregivers. He just launched an exciting private sector career with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global leader in science with over 100,000 employees.

Luis Acosta

Acosta, who was released in 2020 after spending 16 years in the Navy, feels like the military prepared him well for a position like this. After leaving the military, he pursued an associate degree and received certifications while trying to launch a private sector career.

“We are trained to handle different environments and learn leadership principles and are capable and flexible to adjust to changes in the workplace,” he said. “I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity.”

Key is what employee brings to the table

Jim Evenson is a Marine Corps Veteran who leads the recruiting effort within Thermo Fisher’s Veteran Resource Group. His day job is head of Operations, Transplant Diagnostics Division.

“We appreciate the efforts of BMR to connect us with Veterans like Luis,” Evenson said. “My team was especially impressed with his leadership and team focus from day one. A fellow Navy Vet, Luis showed behavior that was not at all surprising for someone of his rank and experience in the Navy. We’re grateful he’s on-board with us at Thermo Fisher Scientific.” In the eyes of Thermo Fisher, Acosta’s leadership and team orientation were more important than his experience in the role. They are willing to invest in people like Luis who have the right behaviors.

BMR believes that forward-thinking employers are increasingly embracing skills and competency-based hiring versus functional experienced-based hiring. Said differently, that means caring more about what the person brings to the table rather than how long they sat in the chair. It’s one of the reasons we only invite military-ready employers onto our platform, and it’s exactly the way our software was designed.

It was fantastic

Here’s a football analogy. For both the jobseeker and talent seeker, BMR’s software (MOS translator, skills-to-skills matching algorithm) can get you immediately into the red zone. To matriculate the ball from the red zone to the end zone requires additional execution—someone on the employer side to champion the process, a serious jobseeker and an advocate from BMR who adds a little TLC to the mix. With that game plan, we score touchdowns. Everybody wins.

When asked about his experience with Bridge My Return, Acosta said, “It was fantastic. Just the ease of the software was a huge help. Being able to have my MOS skills interpreted into soft skills that translate to the civilian side of things was helpful. It is so hard to put yourself out there, but this made it a lot easier.”

His advice to other jobseekers: “Ask for help if you need it. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Don’t underestimate your skills that you learned in the military. A lot of us struggle trying to convert our skills to a resume. This makes it so much easier.”

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To join BMR’s community and position yourself for the success like Luis Acosta has experienced, BMR invites you to register and complete your BMR profile here.

If you are an employer or a military support organization interesting in partnering with BMR, please contact us. Thank you.