The desire to recruit military service members into law enforcement is well established. Many of the agencies we work with are making an effort, but they are trying to recruit them with the same tactics applied to non-military applicants. This is why most fail to achieve their hiring goals. The military is a different talent pool and fishing in it requires a different kind of bait. In growing numbers, law enforcement agencies are pursuing partnerships like SkillBridge to recruit. Interest in this program specifically has grown from a handful of authorized agencies to well over 150 today. SkillBridge can be a powerful program, which contains a virtually untapped talent pool and has been successful in other industries, but it has a very high failure rate in Law Enforcement.
The problem isn’t the program. The problem is you. You are not ready for Skillbridge.
We have witnessed organizations who claim they want to implement the program, completely unprepared for the complexities due to a confluence of factors, often stemming from a lack of recruiting knowledge and the necessary commitment. While leadership may publicly endorse the concept, a lack of dedicated resources, insufficient interdepartmental coordination, and a reluctance to prioritize Skillbridge participants within existing workflows reveal a lack of true support. This deficiency in determination translates directly into a weakened chance for success. Without sustained commitment, the program struggles to gain traction, facing bureaucratic hurdles, and competing priorities. Consequently, even well-intentioned organizations may find themselves ill-equipped to handle the administrative burden, and integration challenges inherent in a successful Skillbridge program.
When SkillBridge is implemented officers assigned to recruiting are putting together programs that can get approved instead of approaching it from a Talent Acquisition mindset. They needed to create a program from the ground up that would maximize the hiring of qualified applicants. Since this did not happen at the design phase, these attempts often result in unsuccessful programs.
Skillbridge Frequently Asked Questions
What is it? SkillBridge is a joint training program funded by the Department of Defense. SkillBridge is a program that presents you with a virtually untapped talent pool of potentially qualified candidates.
Can any service member participate? Yes. All transitioning service members are eligible to apply, but not every service member is approved.
Can any organization participate? Yes, but employers need to be vetted and authorized. Once approved they are placed on the DoD website listing authorized partners.
How long does it take to create a program? Building a SkillBridge program is a three part process. Planning the program (scope and expectations), application and vetting by DoD (2-3 months), and creating processes and training internal stakeholders (in parallel with application and vetting). The 2025 SkillBridge application window will close on Apr 1, 2025 and will reopen October 1st, 2025.
How does my organization hire someone from Skillbridge? Interested service members are vetted just like current ones. You evaluate and you select who you decide to accept just like every other applicant.
Why are these candidates potentially qualified for my agency? Service members present a caliber of candidates who have demonstrated: physical fitness, critical thinking, and decision making under pressure. They are drug free, have clean backgrounds and an extraordinary sense of teamwork and service.
What does it cost? SkillBridge is free for employers to join the program, and DoD pays the candidates while they are in the program. Employers are prohibited from providing any additional compensation prior to leaving the military.
Recruiting programs are not a field of dreams where if you build it they will come. It requires planning and design of every step in the application process that works for candidate time frames. Let’s compare how two agencies leverage their SkillBridge programs and the results of their efforts.
A Tale of Two Cities:
City A, is a large city with several hundred vacancies, a slightly higher cost of living vs officer salary, and has no substantial military presence within 100 Miles. City A, spent substantial time designing a program that included exposing candidates to all aspects of their department. Creating an application process that allowed them to complete the initial steps of the hiring process, enter the program, and complete the remaining vetting steps. Then training participating service members not just on what to expect but also fostering a program where they got to really know their fellow officers, the up close and personal look at what policing really is and look at long term views of their careers at the agency could look like and what actually interested them.
City B, is a mid-sized city, experiencing exponential Year over Year growth, several hundred officer vacancies and relatively higher salary vs cost of living. City B, has a major military base within its city limits. They learned of the existence of SkillBridge and tasked one of the officers assigned to recruiting to ‘set it up’. Applicants apply, are vetted and once accepted into the program then sent directly to the state academy for the duration of their program and transferred to the city payroll once they are separated from the military.
What happened:
City A, hired over 100 officers within the first year of the program approval. They designed their program with intentionality. They understood they did not have large military communities nearby so they planned regular events and offered to complete the initial application steps where the talent resided. Which reduced the candidate’s burden and created a great experience. They included a ride-along very early in the application process to cement the interest of applicants and give them a real-world look at the job and department up close. By showing candidates a variety of policing functions (training) they remained compliant with DoD requirements, strengthened candidate commitment and built a greater degree of loyalty to the agency. Additionally, this gave candidates a foundation to build on during formal training to help them excel.
City B, only attempted to hire 1 candidate. The candidate quit shortly after starting the academy, and the agency shelved the program. It highlighted the lack of success in attracting candidates to the role, and the agency didn’t provide the candidate with a compelling reason to stay.
How Police Hiring Solutions can help:
SkillBridge can be a challenge to set up, not impossible. Our team has created award-winning programs because our approach is different. We create programs that start with understanding what makes your agency different, focusing on candidate experience while remaining compliant with DoD requirements. Then we create a program that meets your needs but works for the applicants as well.
We build SkillBridge programs from the ground up, but can also redevelop approved programs that struggle to attract the quantity and quality of candidates. We work with all of your recruiting stakeholders, leadership, and training departments to create a program that complies with local policy, can get approved by DoD, and will work for all candidates. Then we teach your team how to run it and provide on-demand support as needed. Unlike many other consulting groups, we are not here to replace your recruiting teams, we are here to help them elevate their skills and provide your recruitment effort with new and untapped talent.