Veteran Employment??

November 25, 2013 by Jay Erwin 2 Comments

Often times reverting back to your military training to push through obstacles is necessary. Sometimes I feel like guys get stuck with trying to get as far away from military customs as possible. Over time and through many of my experiences I still lean on my military training to push through obstacles. Something that I find is very helpful in working through important tasks. I have learned that priorities of work and staying healthy keep me on top of things.

As I start to work with more and more veterans, I keep reminding them not to lose sight of where they came from. Showing men and women that what they learned throughout their military experiences can actually put them ahead. But on the other hand it can be a struggle to persuade civilians that military service has its pay off.

I am getting ready to graduate in May and right now I have been stuck with finding a job. Marketing myself to civilian employers is something I find very frustrating. Making myself look appealing using civilian verbiage and translating my military jobs into civilian skills is also a daunting task. I have found a few resources helpful but the most frustrating about all of this is what the VA has not done.

I have visited the job board at my local VA multiple times. There are anywhere from 2-5 postings a month. I found out that the most government entities have the authority to hire veterans on the spot if they meet certain qualifications. Most of which I meet unless its at a higher GS level position. After I spent numerous hours of researching how to fill out a government job application online I figured out that some of the jobs the VA posts are not necessarily available. Most of the jobs they showcase are just jobs that can only be accessed if you are already employed by them. This to me is very frustrating. I went to the HR department to discuss this issue and they basically talked in circles to get me out the door. The lady told me that the VA was on a hiring freeze. Fair enough by why do they say they are hiring veterans? I have also talked to the Army Wounded Warrior representative here in my home state about the same issue. He confirmed that the VA only posts the positions to cover their back. Basically saying that the jobs are there to check a box so the VA can say they are veteran friendly. This is only my experience, maybe someone has had better luck?

So if America is saying that veterans have an opportunity to integrate back into the work place I want to know how that all works. The VA is not the only place that has talked in circles about hiring veterans. Its going on in many places and the veteran unemployment numbers reflect my frustration. I am tired of hearing that veterans have a way to get jobs and are wanted but in reality nothing is happening. I don’t want to work at McDonald’s and I did not use my Post 9/11 school benefit to flip burgers. Enlighten me, America!

Comments

Tom Cal says

November 25, 2013 at 8:08 pm

Jay,
What are your career goals?

Are there any roles, titles, industries or firms that particularly interest you?

What are your skills and interests?

Do you have any geographic preferences or requirements?

One idea: browse a job-aggregation site such as indeed.com, and identify a few jobs you'd like to have, both upon graduation, and also 5 years from now. Then share those with advisors and mentors.

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Tom Cal says

November 25, 2013 at 8:15 pm

Here are complementary Veteran mentoring, career-coaching and networking resources Veterans can consider utilizing.

* Your college. Utilize your college's career planning resources, including its career planning center, career counselors, alumni network, local alumni clubs, professors, staff and other resources. Utilize these extensively, they really do owe it to you. Let us know which colleges are helpful, and if any need encouragement.

* Veterans Career Transition Program" (VCTP) at Syracuse University. (For post 9/11 Veterans. 100% free, no GI Bill required, remote assistance, learning and certifications, with phone-based professional guidance counseling.) http://vets.syr.edu/education/employment-programs/

Many-to-one, many-to-many, and one-on-one-mentoring, career-coaching and networking:
* The "Veteran Mentor Network" group on LinkedIn. (15, 600 members and growing, the world's largest group dedicated to Veteran mentoring and Veteran career-coaching). http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Veteran-Mentor-Network-4466143

* MC4 – The "Military Civilian Career Coaching Connection" (MC4) group on LinkedIn. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/MilitaryCivilian-Career-Coaching-Connection-MC4-3722272/about

* ACP-AdvisorNet Advisor+ Directory. (Advisor+ is a directory of advisors to Veterans.) https://acp-advisornet.org/directory

* ACP-AdvisorNet Q&A Forum. (An online forum for veterans and business professionals where veterans can ask questions about their job search and career development.) https://acp-advisornet.org/

######################################################################## Mostly "one-on-one" mentoring programs:

* ACP's assigned, "one-on-one" mentor program. (The more you can tell ACP about your goals, the more relevant a mentor ACP can provide. Perhaps the most highly funded and highly staffed mentoring program around in terms of budget and staff numbers. ) http://acp-usa.org/Mentoring_Program

* GallantFew's "Veteran-to-Veteran" mentoring program. https://gallantfew.org/

* eMentorProgram: A nationwide self-service "browse and select" "assigned" Veteran mentoring program. http://ementorprogram.org/about

* Medical Technology Veterans mentoring portal and program for Veterans. (The deadline you may see applies to only one program. The online mentoring portal is always up and running) http://www.mvp.mentoringportal.org/register

* Professional Groups: many professional groups and associations offer mentoring programs and networking opportunities (e.g. pmi.org, isc2.org, shrm.org, apics.org, asisonline.org, ism.ws, etc.). [see also http://www.job-hunt.org/associations.shtml%5D

######################################################################## Other Veteran Mentoring Programs for Military Spouses and women Veterans:
* For Military spouses: http://ementorprogram.org/p/milspouse/membership_requests/new

* For all military spouses and women Veterans: http://www.joiningforcesmentoringplus.org/

* For women officer Veterans http://ementorprogram.org/p/cadetmidn-ementor-leadership-program/membership_requests/new

* For women officer Veterans http://ementorprogram.org/p/main/membership_requests/new

########################################################################
These are all potentially constructive mentoring and career-coaching resources for Veterans. Some have extensive budgets, others are 100% volunteer. (All except the "Veteran Mentor Network" are for U.S. Veterans and /or spouses of U.S. Veterans. Many of these groups are also open to non-Veterans who want to constructively advise, coach and mentor Veterans.)
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