It is Military Appreciation Month at Home Depot Year Round!
I am excited! I heard two veterans talk about the company they work for and
what it was doing for the military community with employment opportunities, veteran housing grants and military discounts at their stores! This is not a small program! $30 Million over the next 3 years to help the military community housing!! Plus a 10% military discount for purchases at their stores! *See below for specifics on eligibility!
Recently the MilitaryAvenue team was able to attend the Military Blogger’s Conference in the DC area! What a great group of folks and the sponsors of the event are great military supporters. I wanted to keep our military community informed about some great opportunities that they offer! I was able to conduct a follow on interview with one of the speakers and it was great to hear her enthusiasm.
Sherre Maclin is the Baltimore District Manager for Home Depot and an Air Force veteran. Ms. Maclin served eight years on active duty in the logistics career field, then went to the reserves for six more years. When we talked yesterday she explained that the corporate culture; values; similarities to military attitudes and commitment to their community (both local and national) drew her to seek employment with the HD orange! I asked for advise on how to find an opportunity with Home Depot and she advised you to start at http://careers.homedepot.com/ with an application! They have hourly and management positions available. When HD needs to hire, they look for a match from these applicants! She said they highly value military experience and leadership skills and with great training programs available you can grow quickly! Bring your enthusiasm, focus on customer needs and smile during the interview! You do not have to be a home improvement guru to be hired.
One of the challenges of military life is relocation. Sherre added the Home Depot Team recognize the need for spouses, reservists and others who must move to find jobs in a new store! Employment continuity is a critical factor for growth and Home Depot has over 2200 locations. More than likely there is a store outside your installation gate! Ms. Maclin could not think of one example where Home Depot could not help an employee who relocated from her district to find a job in another store or location. Right now, she had an employee who was PCSing from Aberdeen Proving Ground to Ft Carson and a job awaits the spouse after the family is settled in! What a benefit!
From a Home Depot press release: “The Home Depot has been recognized as one of the top ten military employers by The Department of Defense, GI Jobs Magazine and Military Spouse Magazine. The Company routinely participates in hiring fairs designed specifically to recruit military veterans. For a current list of military hiring fairs, please visit http://careers.homedepot.com.edgesuite.net/event-calendar/event-calendar.html.” I went to the link and found fair events listed specifically for veterans!
Who else gets hired? Joe McFarland, an enlisted Marine during Desert Storm, was hired as an hourly employee and is now President of the Western Division of Home Depot! Currently responsible for leading the sales and operations of more than 440 stores staffed by 78,800 associates throughout 13 Western states, Joe began his career as an electrical sales associate in southern California. One of approximately 35,000 veteran employees in this company with 1,500 on active duty at any given time! Speaking of active duty for reservists and guard folks; Home Depot continues benefit packages (no disruption in health benefits is great) and equalizes pay if there is a difference!
Sherre said when she heads home at night, she thinks of the frazzled customer 
with a leaking water heater or sink or the dream of new landscaping who came into their stores that day and walked out with their concerns met or vision complete! (On a personal note, I just had the opportunity to do this very thing with a broken water heater and the help I received during the replacement process was exceptional!) She also commented that she receives satisfaction from watching her associates develop! With 1200-1500 associates in her district she wants to be involved in their career development. Their loyalty, passion and willingness to learn and develop their careers is an inspiration for her!
We also talked about the Home Depot Foundation and their commitment to assisting military housing needs with their grant program and I will post a separate blog about their efforts to 
assist Fisher Houses, Volunteers for America and the Mission Continues both with national and local efforts to assist veteran housing issues.
Thank you so much Home Depot for recognizing the many sacrifices made by the American military community!! A big salute!
* The Home Depot Military Discount: “Every day of the week, active military service members and their spouses with I.D. receive a 10 percent discount in our stores, as well as National Guard and reserve, retiree and disabled service members, and their spouses also receive an everyday discount. We do ask that you present one of the following IDs: Common Access Card (CAC); Veteran’s Identification Card (VIC) (Must state “Service Connected for the everyday discount); Uniformed Services ID Card (Tan – Dependent of active duty member or retiree / Red – Retired reservist and reservist dependent / Blue – Retiree. In addition, we offer a 10% discount to all military personnel and veterans during patriotic national holidays such as July 4th, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Veteran’s Day.” From Home Depot
Photo Credits: Used with permission from Home Depot Communications
Home Depot Logo
Associate assisting customer
Home Depot Foundation Logo byColonel KonTuesday, May 10, 2011
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