Design a SkillBridge Military-Transition Program for Employers

1. 1

   Learn how SkillBridge actually works

   SkillBridge places active-duty service members in civilian internships during their final 180 days of service while the Department of Defense continues their pay and benefits, so there is zero labor cost to the employer during the internship. It is distinct from veteran hiring: the person is still active military, which means a different authorization chain and compliance set. Learn the 2024 participation standards, including minimum hire-rate benchmarks.

2. 2

   Register employers as industry partners

   Guide the client through registering as a SkillBridge industry partner via the DoD portal, and manage the authorization paperwork: the individual transition plan, command approval, and the program agreement or MOU. Handling this complexity is the core of what you are paid for.

3. 3

   Build installation and coordinator relationships

   Develop consistent relationships with military installation transition offices and SkillBridge coordinators. That relationship equity is a recurring referral source and the pipeline advantage competitors without base relationships cannot copy.

4. 4

   Match and support the cohort

   Match eligible service members to employer roles using military skills translation and their career goals, coordinate the internship logistics (start date, schedule, training plan, evaluation), and support the transition with civilian-workplace orientation and mentoring.

5. 5

   Manage the conversion

   There is no placement fee during the internship because it is a pre-hire experience, but when the employer converts a participant to a permanent hire after discharge, that triggers a standard direct-hire fee. Track conversions and invoice them cleanly. Note WOTC honestly if you reference it, it expired at the end of 2025 and has not been renewed as of this writing.

6. 6

   Price program design plus conversion

   Charge a program-design fee (commonly $2,500 to $7,500 per employer) to set up SkillBridge participation, an optional monthly cohort-management retainer, and a conversion fee (roughly 18 to 25 percent of salary) when an intern becomes a permanent hire. High margin, because there is no payroll float during the internship.

Do not take our word for the money. Put your own numbers in and see what this idea has to earn before it works. Free, instant, no account needed.

Best for: Veterans, HR professionals, and transition specialists who can navigate DoD process and build base relationships

Not for: Not for anyone unwilling to learn the DoD authorization and MOU process precisely, getting the compliance wrong stalls the whole program. Not for a consultant who cannot invest in installation relationships before the revenue arrives, and not for someone who conflates SkillBridge with veteran hiring, because the active-duty status changes everything about how it works.