As we celebrate those who have bravely served our nation, there is exciting news for veterans who are looking for new career opportunities. CareerBuilder and RallyPoint, the largest military-focused online network in the world, announced a new partnership that is designed to help veterans quickly connect with top employers who want to actively recruit them to work for their companies. The partnership brings together CareerBuilder's network of hundreds of thousands of employers with RallyPoint's 1.4 million military members.

This is good timing considering that a growing number of employers are increasing their commitment to hiring military veterans. According to CareerBuilder's annual Veterans Day hiring survey, two in five employers (40 percent) plan to actively recruit U.S. veterans for their organization over the next 12 months, up from 37 percent last year. More than half of employers (51 percent) say they have hired a U.S. veteran in the past year.

The survey was conducted by Harris Poll from August 16 to September 15, 2017 that included a representative sample of 2,461 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 3,907 full-time workers across industries and company's sizes in the U.S.

The top areas employers recruiting veterans will be recruiting for include:

• Customer service (35 percent)

• Information technology (32 percent)

• Production (28 percent)

• Sales (24 percent)

• Accounting/finance (21 percent)

• Distribution and logistics (19 percent)

• HR (18 percent)

• Business development (17 percent)

• Research & Development (15 percent)

• Marketing (14 percent)

• Public relations (14 percent)

• Clinical (13 percent)

• Legal (12 percent)

CareerBuilder and RallyPoint are teaming up to help veterans land in fulfilling careers faster and overcome some of the challenges faced when transitioning to the civilian world.

"The technical skills learned in the military are often a good fit for our country's in demand, hard to fill positions, but there can be a disconnect between civilian employers and those with a military background," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder and author of The Talent Equation. "Forty-one percent of veterans feel underemployed or are in a low-paying job. Working with RallyPoint, CareerBuilder wants to change the narrative for these veterans so they find jobs where they can fully leverage their unique skill sets and earn a good living."

"RallyPoint helps companies hire veterans analytically, not philanthropically," said Dave Gowel, army veteran and CEO of RallyPoint. "The leadership, maturity and discipline that veterans gain during their time serving their country are valuable for any company that knows how to unlock this experience within their organizations. We are excited to partner with CareerBuilder to help more companies expertly infuse this veteran talent into their workforce at a greater scale than ever before. This Veterans Day, companies of all sizes should take a hard look at their veteran hiring strategy to ensure it is a fit for the company's and veterans' long-term goals. Hiring a vet who isn't a fit or feels underemployed is frustrating for everyone involved."

Veterans – employers' secret weapons?

Forty-eight percent of employers say they pay more attention to applications submitted by U.S. veterans. Sixty-eight percent said that if they had two equally qualified candidates and one was a veteran, they would hire the veteran. Employers selected the most important qualities members of the armed forces bring to organizations after leaving active duty:

• Ability to work as a team (63 percent)

• Disciplined approach to work (60 percent)

• Respect and integrity (59 percent)

• Ability to perform under pressure (52 percent)

• Leadership skills (52 percent)

• Problem-solving skills (52 percent)

• Ability to adapt quickly (47 percent)

• Attitude of perseverance (46 percent)

• Communication skills (44 percent)

• Strong technical skills (34 percent)