Most companies wait for veteran applicants to show up. They post a job and hope the right people apply. That is slow, and it leaves good candidates on the table.

Hosting your own veteran hiring event flips that. You bring the candidates to you. You control the room, the timing, and the follow-up. Done right, you can meet 30 to 50 veterans in one afternoon and have offers out by the end of the week.

This guide walks through how to plan, run, and measure a veteran hiring event at your company. It is built for midsize employers who want a real hiring channel, not a one-time photo op. We will cover why hosting beats only attending fairs, who to invite, your format options, on-site logistics, and how to make the event actually convert into hires.

Why Host Your Own Event Instead of Only Attending Fairs?

Attending a big military job fair has its place. You get foot traffic and a wide pool. But you also share the room with 80 other companies. Your booth is one of many. The veteran walks past, grabs a pen, and moves on.

When you host your own event, you own the whole experience. There is no competition in the room. Every veteran who walks in is there for you. That changes the math on attention and conversion.

Both approaches work, and smart employers do both. We break down the fair side in our guide on how employers source veterans at military job fairs. This article is about the other lever: running your own.

The other big win is brand. A veteran who spends two hours in your building meets your team and sees your culture. That sticks. They tell other veterans. Word travels fast in this community, and it works in your favor.

What Is the Right Planning Timeline?

You cannot throw this together in a week. The veterans you want are busy, and the partners who help fill the room need lead time. Give yourself six to eight weeks.

Here is a clean timeline that works for a midsize company running its first event. Adjust the dates, but keep the order.

The partner outreach in week six is the part most companies underrate. Your event is only as good as the room you fill. Start that work early, and start it warm.

Who Should You Invite to Fill the Room?

A great event needs the right people in it. You will not get them by posting on one job board and waiting. You build the room through the channels that already touch veterans every day.

Start with the people who run transition pipelines. Base transition offices brief separating service members constantly. They want real employers to point those people toward. We cover how to work with them in our guide on recruiting veterans through base TAP offices.

Veteran service organizations are a strong second channel. They carry trust that a cold job post never will. Our guide on using veteran service organizations as a hiring channel shows how to build those relationships.

Do not forget Guard and Reserve members. Many are looking for civilian work that fits around their service. The military runs Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to help companies connect with them. A signed statement of support also signals you are serious about hiring from this group.

What Event Format Works Best?

There is no single right format. The best one matches your roles and your team's bandwidth. Here are four formats that work, from lightest to heaviest lift.

Open house

You open your doors for a set window. Veterans drop in, tour the space, and meet your team. Low pressure, good for brand. Best when you want volume and a first touch, not same-day offers.

Hiring day

This is the high-intent version. You pre-screen registrants, then run real interviews on site. Some leave with a verbal offer. Best when you have several open roles and want speed.

Info session

A shorter, focused talk about your company and your open jobs. Often paired with a Q and A. Good for hard-to-explain roles or when you are testing interest before a bigger event.

Virtual event

You run the whole thing online. Lower cost and wider reach, since location stops mattering. Best when your roles are remote or when your candidates are spread across the country.

How Do You Handle On-Site Logistics?

The event itself lives or dies on the small stuff. A veteran who shows up to a confused, slow check-in forms an opinion fast. Tight logistics show respect for their time.

Keep the room simple and the flow clear. Here is what to have ready before the doors open.

Staff the room with people who can answer real questions. Put a hiring manager at each role table, not just recruiters. Veterans want to talk to the person who actually runs the team they might join.

Plan the flow so nobody stands around lost. Give each registrant a simple schedule when they check in. Tell them where to go first, who to see, and how long each stop takes. A clear path keeps the energy up and stops people from drifting out early.

How Do You Make the Event Actually Convert?

This is where most events fall short. They draw a crowd, collect a stack of resumes, and then go quiet. The follow-up never happens, and the warm leads go cold. Conversion comes from three habits.

Pre-screen before the day. When people register, ask for their target role and a resume. Sort them before they arrive. That way your hiring managers spend the event talking to people who actually fit, not strangers.

Interview and offer on site when you can. The biggest edge a hosted event has is speed. A veteran in your building is already half sold. If they fit, move them into a real interview that hour. A verbal offer the same day beats a callback two weeks later, every time.

Follow up within 48 hours. Even strong candidates get other offers. The slower you move, the more you lose. Speed is the whole game here. We dig into it in our guide on reducing time-to-hire for veteran candidates.

Treat applications the right way once they come in. Veterans often describe their work in military terms, and a good resume already translates that into civilian language. Read for the skill, not the jargon. An applicant tracking system racks and stacks resumes by keyword match, so a strong fit who used different words can sink to the bottom. Have a human review the people you met in person.

How Do You Measure If It Worked?

An event you do not measure is a guess. Track a few simple numbers so you know whether to run it again and what to fix. You do not need a fancy system. A spreadsheet is fine.

Watch the gap between registered and showed up. A big drop means your reminders are weak or your partners oversold the room. Watch the gap between interviewed and hired. If it is wide, your roles may be unclear or your follow-up too slow.

Ask your hires what worked too. A quick chat with the veterans you bring on tells you which channel sent them and what made them say yes. That feedback sharpens your next event more than any report. Over a few rounds, you learn which partners deliver and which roles draw the strongest crowd.

Compare cost per hire against your other channels too. A hosted event has real costs in time and space. But if it lands four good hires in an afternoon, the math often beats months of job board spend. Where the event falls short on volume, pair it with steady sourcing from the channels in our guide on where to post jobs to reach veteran candidates.

One event is a start, not a strategy. The companies that win at veteran hiring run events on a rhythm and keep a warm list between them. That is the idea behind building a veteran talent pipeline before your reqs open.

Where Do You Find the Veterans to Fill the Room?

Every part of this plan depends on one thing: getting the right veterans in the door. That is the hard part for most midsize employers. You do not have a base next door or a dedicated veteran sourcing team.

That is where Best Military Resume comes in. BMR has a large, active pool of veteran and military spouse candidates who are looking for work right now. Over 1,000 new veteran profiles are added every month, and more than 60,000 resumes have been built on the platform. That is a steady, growing supply you can tap to fill your event.

Instead of hoping the right people see your invite, you can reach candidates who already fit your open roles. It turns a cold room into a warm one. To access BMR's veteran talent pool and fill your next hiring event, reach out through our hire page.

The U.S. Department of Labor also runs solid free resources. Their Hire a Veteran hub covers hiring support, regional coordinators, and employer guides. And if you build a strong veteran-hiring track record, the HIRE Vets Medallion Program recognizes employers who do it well. A hosted event is a great first step toward both.