Veteran employees bring unique skills sets to the workforce.

The holiday may be well over two months away, but really, is it ever too early to start preparing for it? I’m talking, of course, about Veterans Day.

Do you realize about one million military veterans today are unemployed? Hard to believe, considering the vast array of skills they possess, training they’ve gone through and discipline work ethic they demonstrate – all of which are valuable skills in any industry. So if you’re looking for suggestions on ways to acknowledge the upcoming holiday, you could start with focusing your recruiting efforts on this remarkable group of men and women.

But don’t take my word for it…

A 2009 CareerBuilder survey asked employers who have hired U.S. veterans or members of the National Guard to list the top attributes military personnel brought to their organization.

Survey participants cited the following valuable traits these employees possessed:

• Disciplined approach to work (cited by 68 percent of employers surveyed)
• Ability to work as part of a team (63 percent)
• Respect and integrity (57 percent)
• Leadership (50 percent)
• Problem-solving skills (46 percent)
• Ability to perform under pressure (44 percent)
• Communication skills (37 percent)

A few other things you might want to know about hiring veterans: With an honorable discharge, service members are basically certified drug-free. And many military personnel have achieved some level of security clearance, demonstrating that an individual is recognized as a trustworthy person. It’s also possible that you could qualify for government-paid relocation services if hiring a military person coming off active duty from another location.

And now that President Obama has proposed a new tax credit for employers who hire veterans, there’s even more incentive to hire military service men and women.

But perhaps Obama articulated the greatest reason to hire veterans when –during a speech last month in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard – he said:

“Just think about how many veterans have led their comrades on life-and-death missions by the time they were 25 years old. That’s the kind of responsibility and experience that any business in America should want to take advantage of.”

To further help companies find employees with these valuable skill sets, CareerBuilder recently launched Employvets.com, dedicated to helping match employers and military personnel. Veterans and National Guard members can identify employers who are sensitive to their employment needs, while employers can benefit from targeting these uniquely skilled workers for their positions.