Remembering Our Veterans and Active Duty Personnel

With heartfelt gratitude for their outstanding service, bravery, and sacrifice, we dedicate today’s Daily Leap post to our nation's veterans and active duty personnel who now look to transition from the armed services to the civilian workforce.

• G.I. Jobs released its annual list of top 100 military-friendly employers (annual revenue exceeding $500 million) on Military Friendly.com. The web site also lists top military-friendly schools, military spouse friendly employers, and military spouse friendly schools.


• Looking to career transition to the civilian building and construction trades? Go to Helmets to Hardhats for current opportunities.


• Hope for Warriors announced its first Above & Beyond Seminar specifically for women veterans to be held in Washington, DC, in January 2014.


• Are you a post-9/11 disabled veteran with a passion for entrepreneurship and small business management? EBV may just be the resource to kick-off your civilian career!

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Veterans Day Edition

With heartfelt gratitude for their outstanding service, bravery, and sacrifice, we dedicate this weekly roundup to our nation's veterans and active duty personnel who now look to transition from the armed services to the civilian workforce.

• CMF re-aired a November 2011 podcast in recognition of Veterans Day in Florida’s Seminole County and to raise public awareness to the "issue of women veterans and the propensity of many of us to overlook women veterans”.

• Teach for America announced its first veterans recruitment initiative, You Served For America, Now Teach For America.


• Operation Workforce, which serves as an online one-stop for veteran resources and services in Georgia, was announced at the Georgia Jobs for Veterans Employer Breakfast.


• Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared November as Hire a Veteran Month and announced a series of upcoming career fairs for veterans titled Operation Vet Connection 2012.


• U.S. News & World Report highlighted scholarship opportunities for veterans transitioning to civilian life, including the GI Bill and Post-9/11 GI Bill, the American Legion's Nontraditional Student Scholarship and the Veterans United Foundation Scholarship Program.

High Five Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

Memorial Day Weekend Edition

With heartfelt gratitude for their outstanding service, bravery, and sacrifice, we dedicate this weekly roundup to our nation's veterans and active duty personnel who now look to transition from the armed services to the civilian workforce.

1. The Value of a Veteran in a Competitive Business Environment

This recent article on the Corporate Gray Blog cites a study of academic research by Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families titled The Business Case for Hiring a Veteran: Beyond the Clichés, which "supports a robust, specific, and compelling business case for hiring individuals with military background and experience."



2. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

IAVA is the country's first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among its many programs for vets and their families, IAVA's Combat to Careers initiative:

• provides free business suits to veterans
• helps hundreds of them navigate the job market at Smart Job Fairs
• offers critical training to vets through Google Resume Workshops
• advocates in government and business arenas on behalf of unemployed veterans
.
3. From Camo to Corporate: Transitioning from the Military to Corporate America

The blog Camo to Corporate serves as a forum of inspiring success stories, tips and advice, book reviews, as well as a collection of web links to military organizations, recruiting firms, and online resources to help veterans and active duty personnel transition successfully to careers in the civilian world.



4. Marine Executive Association (MEA)

MEA is a national, volunteer, non-profit organization of former and current active duty marines who provide transition assistance to fellow marines, such as:

• resume review
• job hunting and interview tips and techniques
• job posting by employers to the MEA web site
• resume posting by marines for employer download
• resume and interview coaching
.
5. Disney Kicks Off Career Expos for Returning Vets

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Walt Disney Co. announced the kickoff of a series of career expo events aimed at helping returning veterans make the transition to civilian life. The career expos are part of Disney's 2012 Heroes Work Here initiative to:

• provide at least 1,000 jobs and career opportunities for returning U.S. veterans over the next three years
• support military families and veterans during their transition into civilian life
• launch a national public awareness campaign to encourage all employers across the U.S. to hire veterans
.

Veterans Hiring Initiatives and Resources

A recent report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the veteran unemployment rate for those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan to be 12.1%. The number of overall unemployed veterans is close to the 8.3% unemployment rate for the rest of the population. The jobless rate for young veterans – age 18 to 24 – is a staggering 30%. In 2011, there were more than 250,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans jobless.

Veterans face some unique challenges in their job search. It is my opinion that we, as a society owe the military service members every effort we can give to assist them in transitioning out of the military or returning from an extended deployment. Here are some veteran’s hiring program highlights.

Feds Hire Vets – www.fedshirevets.gov

This is based on an Executive Order that was signed by President Obama in 2009 that established the Veteran’s Hiring Initiative. This initiative is designed to help the men and women who have served our country in the military find employment in the federal government. Resources include links to hiring managers and officials, tips and advice on the federal employment process and a government agency directory.

Hiring Our Heroes – http://www.uschamber.com/hiringourheroes

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and RecruitMilitary.com are partnering to present 50 hiring fairs for veterans and military spouses throughout 2012. Check their website to find a list of the upcoming career fairs dedicated to hiring military veterans.

The Veteran’s 100,000 Jobs Mission – http://www.100000jobsmission.com

A number of leading U.S. companies such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Delta Airlines, Verizon and AT&T, to name a few, launched the 100,000 Jobs Mission in 2011. Its goal is to hire 100,000 transitioning service members and military veterans by 2020. Participating companies offer job listings by Military Occupation Code or keywords and geographic location on the site.

Heroes Work Here – Website Link

This is the Walt Disney Company’s veteran’s initiative that was launched in 2012 and aims to hire 1,000 veterans over the next 3 years. This encompasses all of the Disney Corporation’s companies such as the theme parks, movie studios, ESPN and ABC.

I would just like to personally say thank you for your service to our country. I hope one of these resources will point you in the right direction as you navigate the military to private sector conversion.