DOT Helps Vets Find Jobs

[longknife]

by VA Home Loans @ DOT Helps Vets Find Jobs | veteranjournal.com

DOT TS 144226113 299x225DOT Helps Vets Find JobsThe Veterans Jobs Bank will soon celebrate its one year anniversary of having more than 5,000 employers posting more than 1 million veteran-friendly jobs in a national database. The Department of Transportation recently joined the effort of offering jobs to U.S. military veterans with the Military Commercial Drivers License Act of 2012, which will help remove state-restricted barriers for military personnel.

In the past, veterans and service men and women were only able to obtain a commercial drivers license in the state where they permanently reside. With many individuals serving and training at duty stations far from home, it was difficult for them to receive a CDL before leaving for military service. The new legislation removes this obstacle, and allows individuals who are residents of other states to apply for commercial licenses in multiple states.

The Department of Transportation held a Veterans Transportation Career Opportunities Forum in conjunction with the Department of Labor to focus careers in the motorcoach, transit and trucking sectors. Topics discussed at the forum included the importance of working with these industries to recruit service men and women for critical transportation jobs that need to be filled. Due to their past training, veterans understand the importance of safety, so DOT officials believe they will make a great addition to the industry.

“At DOT we think that removing barriers that stand in the way of our veterans’ success and connecting them with job opportunities that they deserve is the least we can do to thank them for their service,” Ray LaHood, secretary of the Department of Transportation, wrote in a White House blog post. “So this meeting gave motor carriers and other stakeholders a chance to tell us how DOT can assist them in making the transition for veterans easier.”

LaHood explains that the DOT recruits veterans because have the on-the-ground training and experience that can really benefit the industry. Opening up job opportunities and making it easier for veterans to obtain CDLs will help veterans find jobs after active duty and, at the same time, strengthen the United States transportation system.

Additionally, the Department of Transportation and Veterans Affairs launched the Veterans Transportation Career Center, which is a website that will help veterans find jobs in the private transportation sector. The site includes information on certification and training required for civilian jobs and searches to help veterans determine what career or field fits best with their personal background.

DOT made a commitment to continue working with a range of partners to help veterans succeed in the transportation fields, LaHood said.

Something certainly vital to check out!!!

 

[waltky]

Thanks Walmart, I seriously doubt they went to war only to come home to a minimum wage job - something they could have done w/o serving...

Wal-Mart pledges to hire 100,000-plus veterans
15 Jan.`13 — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer and the nation's largest private employer, is making a pledge to hire every recently discharged veteran who wants a job.

The plan is set to be announced as part of an address delivered in New York on Tuesday at the annual retail industry convention by Bill Simon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart's namesake U.S. business. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., says it projects it will hire more than 100,000 veterans in the next five years. Honorably discharged veterans will have a "place to go", says Wal-Mart's Simon, according to prepared text supplied by the discounter. The hiring pledge, which will begin on Memorial Day, covers veterans within 12 months of leaving active duty. Most of the jobs will be in Wal-Mart's stores or its Sam's club locations. Some will be in the company's distribution centers.

"Let's be clear; hiring a veteran can be one of the best decisions any of us can make," Simon plans to say in his address to retailers gathered on the third day of the four-day National Retail Federation convention. "Veterans have a record of performance under pressure. They're quick learners, and they're team players. These are leaders with discipline, training, and a passion for service. There is a seriousness and sense of purpose that the military instills, and we need it today more than ever." Wal-Mart says it believes it is already the large private employer of veterans in the country.

The company says that it has spoken to the White House about its commitment, and said the First Lady Michelle Obama's team has already expressed an interest in working with Wal-Mart and with the rest of the business community. In the next several weeks, the White House will convene the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and major U.S. employers to encourage businesses to make significant commitments to train and employ American's returning veterans, according to Simon's prepared text.

First lady Michelle Obama, who's spearheaded a White House drive to encourage businesses to hire veterans, praised Wal-Mart's announcement, calling it "historic." "We all believe that no one who serves our country should have to fight for a job once they return home," Mrs. Obama said in the statement. "Wal-Mart is setting a groundbreaking example for the private sector to follow." Wal-Mart which also operates Sam's Clubs, employs more than 1.4 million workers in the U.S.

Source

 

[whitehall]

The federal Dept of Transportation removed a single federal regulation from the freaking ten foot stack of regulations. It might make it easier for Vets to find work or maybe not. It's incorrect to interpret it as "DOT helps Vets find jobs". Here's an idea, why doesn't another federal agency, the Dept of Energy, put their efforts to lowering the price of diesel fuel so the private sector can put more trucks on the road and hire more Vets?

 

[waltky]

Veterans' preference not helping some...

Younger vets still struggle as jobs scene improves
February 19, 2013 WASHINGTON -- Two months after completing his five-plus years as an Army medic, Dan Huber is still looking for a job. And while he's had some promising interviews, he has no assurances the search will end soon.

That's given him some insight that he shares with some of his buddies back at Fort Polk in Louisiana: Don't wait until you've left the military to determine how you'll make ends meet as a civilian. "I've told them: `Hey, man, you guys have really got to start planning months and months in advance. It's not just planning for interviews. It's planning to make sure you'll be afloat in this time period, which you don't know how long will take,'" said Huber, 26, of Waukesha, Wis. Although veterans as a whole have a lower unemployment rate than the nation at large, younger veterans who served in the years following the Sept. 11 attacks are having a much harder time finding work.

The unemployment rate for veterans between 18 and 24 exceeded 20 percent last year. It was also in double digits for those 25-34. The unemployment rate for both age groups was higher than for their nonveteran peers and much higher than the national average. The job problems for younger vets have continued despite a wide range of private and public efforts. Congress approved tax credits for companies that hire veterans. Federal agencies stepped up their preferential hiring of vets. Many thousands are taking advantage of a generous package of educational benefits instead of entering the job market. Companies such as Wal-Mart, General Electric and many others announced programs designed to hire more veterans. And organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have helped put on hundreds of job fairs around the company.

Kevin Schmiegel, a retired lieutenant colonel who spent years trying to get young Marines to re-enlist, says the youngest vets are making a couple of critical mistakes when it comes to searching for a job. With little job experience outside the military, many can't explain how the skills they learned in the military translate to the private sector, said Schmiegel, now executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes program. The program has helped more than 14,000 veterans land jobs and will be fine-tuning its focus over the coming to year to help younger vets, as well as military spouses.

Trooper Deon Cockrell, military liaison for the Texas Department of Public Safety, had a similar take at a recent job fair in Oklahoma City. He said the discipline and skills acquired during military service translate well to a career in law enforcement. "A lot of them don't know that they're eligible," Cockrell said. "They can walk from uniform to uniform."

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[waltky]

Veterans quitting gov't jobs...

Record numbers of vets getting jobs in government, but many quit
August 28, 2015 - The share of federal jobs going to veterans is at its highest level in five years, new data shows, with former servicemembers comprising almost half of full-time hires in the last fiscal year.

One in three people in government is now a veteran, proof that the White House's six-year push to give those who served in the military a leg up in the long hiring queue for federal jobs is working. The bad news is that once veterans get into government, they don't stay long. They're more likely to leave their jobs within two years than non-veterans, the Office of Personnel Management reports, even if they've transferred from other federal agencies. The Small Business Administration had the most trouble keeping veterans in fiscal 2014, with just 62 percent staying two years or more, compared to 88 percent of non-veterans. Former service members left the Commerce Department at similar rates, with 68 percent staying two years or more compared to 82 percent for non-veterans.

Even the Department of Veterans Affairs, traditionally a draw for former troops, lost a little more than a quarter of its veterans within two years, compared to 20 percent of its non-veterans. The only agencies that kept more veterans than non-veterans on board were the Defense and State Departments, the report released last month shows. The growing presence in government of men and women with military backgrounds is the most visible federal effort to reward military service since the draft ended in the 1970s. President Barack Obama pushed agencies to increase hiring of veterans starting in 2009, in response to the bleak employment prospects many service members faced after coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq.

The initiative has fueled tensions in federal offices, though, as longtime civil servants and former troops on the other side of the cubicle question each other's competence and qualifications. Last year, 47.4 percent of new hires to full-time jobs were veterans, an increase of 1.3 percent over fiscal 2013. This is the first time the administration has measured how well agencies are keeping veterans, and senior leaders will be rated at the end of this fiscal year on how well they closed the gap between veterans and non-veterans who leave. "Federal agencies hire them, but where they're placed and into what job is not always the best fit," said Joseph Sharpe, director of veterans employment and education for the American Legion. "These retention rates are huge issues for us." He noted that many veterans drop out of college and quit jobs in the private sector too. At a Legion conference on veterans employment in Baltimore this weekend, hiring managers from the Energy, Transportation, Labor, Defense, Treasury and Personnel departments are scheduled to address the issue, Sharpe said.

Hakeem Basheerud-Deen, OPM's director of veterans services, said in an email that "New hire retention rates vary between agencies. Each agency has its own culture and mission, so it's difficult to explain the differences in their new hire retention rates." The employment data offers a detailed profile of former troops who went to work for the government. Men made up 81 percent of the veterans hired, but just 45 percent of non-veterans. Forty percent of the veterans had college degrees or higher education, compared to 54.7 percent of non-veterans. Just 10 percent of the veterans were hired to agencies in the Washington region, while 17.5 percent of non-veterans ended up in the capital city. Pay and the types of jobs also differed. Almost twice as many veterans as non-veterans were hired into blue-collar jobs. Veterans hold the edge on administrative jobs, while non-veterans were hired into more professional posts.

Record numbers of vets getting jobs in government, but many quit