Post-military Careers for Veterans

[longknife]

by IsaacFDavis

IT technician is just one post military job thats considered a top option 308x225Post military Careers for Veterans

When servicemembers leave their military careers behind, they often either retire, continue their education or apply for civilian employment. As military spending decreases and American troops return home from locations like Iraq and Afghanistan, many former soldiers will apply for veterans benefits and continue to seek employment. According to Shaun So’s recent Forbes article, available defense industry jobs – from weapons manufacturing to post-military defense careers – are likely to become scarce as the country tightens its fiscal belt. What will be the most veteran-suited industries as the country moves forward?

Read more @ Post-military Careers for Veterans | veteranjournal.com

 

[Harry Dresden]

by IsaacFDavis

IT technician is just one post military job thats considered a top option 308x225Post military Careers for Veterans

When servicemembers leave their military careers behind, they often either retire, continue their education or apply for civilian employment. As military spending decreases and American troops return home from locations like Iraq and Afghanistan, many former soldiers will apply for veterans benefits and continue to seek employment. According to Shaun So’s recent Forbes article, available defense industry jobs – from weapons manufacturing to post-military defense careers – are likely to become scarce as the country tightens its fiscal belt. What will be the most veteran-suited industries as the country moves forward?

Read more @ Post-military Careers for Veterans | veteranjournal.com

funny how they did not mention the Post Office.....lots of them in there.....

 

[waltky]

Veterans need REAL jobs to support their families - not Walmart & McDonalds wages...

Auditors find low enrollment in vets jobs program
April 16, 2013 WASHINGTON -- A job-training program designed to help veterans re-enter the workforce has more than 60,000 empty slots, left unfilled despite efforts to reduce the jobless rate among veterans, federal auditors said in a new report.

The program is geared toward unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60. It covers up to one year of tuition for training at local community colleges in high-demand jobs such as nursing, construction and computer support. In all, Congress allowed for up to 99,000 participants, and the inspector general for the Department of Veterans Affairs found that only about a third of the slots were being used. Veterans have until Oct. 1 to apply for the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program.

The program is just one of a range of education benefits for veterans. Most of those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan quality for one of the others, so they're not eligible for this particular program. Ryan Gallucci, a deputy director at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said that veterans groups were not anticipating such low participation. He said that some veterans may be having trouble finding an eligible community college nearby. He also said that basic remediation classes weren't aid for through the program, which is setting up some veterans for failure and discouraging them from participating.

The monthly stipend for those participating in the program is $1,564. The inspector general said it was recommending that the VA begin contacting veterans who have been deemed eligible for the program but have yet to enroll to remind them that participation is limited. The VA said it agreed with the recommendation and had already made contact with 44,000 eligible veterans.

Curtis Coy, a deputy undersecretary at the VA, told lawmakers at a hearing last week that the department also supports legislation that would extend the program. He said that a three-month extension would give more veterans time to select and complete their degree or certificate program. The department also estimated that enrollment has increased some since the inspector general conducted the review, and it has so far issued $220 million in benefit payments to about 41,400 beneficiaries.

Auditors find low enrollment in vets jobs program - Veterans - Stripes

 

[waltky]

Returning veterans face an unfair fight for jobs...

An 'unfair fight' for job-seeking veterans
May 8, 2013 WASHINGTON — Home Depot wants to hire more veterans. But as its human resources staff sorts through stacks of resumes each day, they often can’t find a reason why they should.

“Veterans resumes are often too wordy and don’t explain really what their skills are,” said Eric Schelling, director of talent acquisition for the company. “We see things like overseas ribbons and military certification classes and we know it’s probably impressive. But on the civilian side, we don’t really know what any of that is.” Home Depot isn’t new to hiring former military personnel. The company is one of the largest private employers of veterans in the United States, with more than 34,000 associates spread out throughout the country and 1,500 guardsmen and reservists currently mobilized worldwide. Still, they struggle.

They face the same veteran-hiring problems that plague companies parsing through job candidates in an uneasy economy: figuring out how to bring returning war heroes into a civilian world that doesn’t really understand what working in the military means. “My approach to everything (veterans) put on the resume would be, ‘How would I explain this to someone who has never been in the military?’ ” Schelling said. “Because the person reading it probably hasn’t.” America has been at war for more than 11 years, but the impact of those deployments and wartime stress hasn’t been felt by most of the country.

Army veteran Ray Watkins discusses flooring options with a customer at the Home Depot store in Bethesda, Md. Watkins was unemployed for eight months after leaving the military, despite an aggressive approach to finding a new job.

As the rest of the country strived for status quo at a time of war, veterans deployed. They developed a new language of FOBs and terps but missed the rise of “American Idol.” They learned basic Farsi while friends back home got marketable degrees. They saw the war, while much of the country did not. Pentagon leaders in their “support-the-troops” speeches remind listeners that less than 1 percent of the population has served during the last recent war, while the number of veterans from past conflicts has steadily dwindled. Slowly, the divide between those who served and those who didn’t has grown from a troublesome gap to a gaping chasm.

That’s particularly evident on the jobs front, where unemployment among the youngest generation has remained stubbornly above national averages for the last five years. Employers say they want to hire veterans, but rely more and more on computer systems that routinely filter out military job titles and skills in favor of familiar civilian phrases. It’s a language barrier between troops who have worn their resumes on their sleeves and a civilian hiring system that doesn’t know a captain from a colonel. “Over the last few years, the bigger companies and the ones who have already hired veterans, they sort of get it now,” said James Schmeling, co-founder of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University. “But the ones who have had no exposure to the military, they’re never going to get it.”

More An 'unfair fight' for job-seeking veterans - News - Stripes

See also:

US military has 10 kinds of camouflage uniforms: Government duplication at its finest
May 8, 2013 In 2002, the U.S. military had just two kinds of camouflage uniform. One was green, for the woods. The other was brown, for the desert. Then things got strange.

Today, there is one camouflage pattern just for Marines in the desert. There is another just for Navy personnel in the desert. The Army has its own “universal” camouflage pattern, which is designed to work anywhere. It also has another one just for Afghanistan, where the first one doesn’t work. Even the Air Force has its own unique camouflage, used in a new “Airman Battle Uniform.” But it has flaws. So in Afghanistan, airmen are told not to wear it in battle. In just 11 years, two kinds of camouflage have turned into 10. And a blessedly simple aspect of the U.S. government purchasing system has emerged as a complicated and expensive case study in federal duplication.

Duplication is one of Washington’s most expensive traditions: Multiple agencies do the same job at the same time, and taxpayers pay billions for government to repeat itself. Now, the habit remains stubbornly hard to break, even in an era of austerity. There are, for instance, 209 federal programs to improve science and math skills. There are 16 programs that all teach personal finance.

At the Pentagon, the odd saga of the multiplying uniforms has provided a step-by-step illustration of how duplication blooms in government — and why it’s usually not good. “If you have 10 patterns, some of them are going to be good. Some of them are going to be bad. Some of them are going to be in the middle,” said Timothy O’Neill, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who studied camouflage patterns as a West Point professor. “Who wants to have the second-best pattern?”

The duplication problem grows out of three qualities deep-rooted in the Washington soul. Good intentions. Short patience. And a lust for new turf. When a bureaucrat or congressman sees someone else doing a job badly, those qualities stir an itch to start doing the job oneself. “You don’t have empirical information on what’s working and what’s not working,” in the profusion of new programs , said Gene Dodaro, who heads the Government Accountability Office. He hopes that the country will now, finally, decide it can’t afford this. “The fiscal situation . . . will begin to force that kind of decision to be made.”

MORE

 

[waltky]

Soldiers comin' home to bleak job market...

Despite improvement in vets' jobless rate, Iraq, Afghanistan vets still lag
March 20, 2014 ~ The problem will get worse if the Pentagon cuts the Army by 80,000 and reduces the Marines by 20,000, says the executive director of a group that funds nonprofit programs to help veterans find jobs.

Military veterans are having better luck finding jobs, outpacing their civilian counterparts in many states, but younger former troops who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan still lag behind. Veterans in North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky are faring relatively well, while those in California, Idaho and Mississippi are having less success finding jobs. Nationwide, the average unemployment rate last year for all veterans was 6.6 percent vs. 7.3 percent for the country as a whole, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, 9 percent of military personnel who served since the Sept. 11, 2011, terror attacks were without jobs, and in that group the unemployment rate leaps to 21.4 percent among veterans 18-24 years old.

Jim Reed, who grew up poor on an Arizona cattle ranch and now lives in Pinehurst, N.C., served nine deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq as a military nurse anesthetist. Now 48, he retired from the Army in 2011. Despite his skills and background, Reed has been laid off from hospitals twice since leaving the military, most recently in December. He’s currently working about half-time pulling temporary shifts in his specialty. “I risked my life routinely over there (in the two wars),” Reed said Thursday. “I was a lieutenant colonel in the Army with tons of experience and boatloads of combat experience. I thought that might give me some advantage, but it hasn’t because people don’t understand the military.”

Rosalinda Maury, research director with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, said veterans who are women or belong to ethnic minorities also face more difficulties finding work. “Age is a big thing,” Maury said. “We know that younger veterans have a higher unemployment rate compared to their non-veteran counterparts. Gender and race are factors as well.” Dan Goldenberg is executive director of the Call of Duty Endowment, a Los Angeles-based group that funds nonprofit programs to help veterans find jobs. “There’s no question that vets make great employees, and over the long haul they do well,” he said. “The problem is with the post-9/11 vets. It’s these young vets who are suffering. They ostensibly have more skills than their civilian peers, yet their unemployment rate is higher.” The problem will get worse, Goldenberg said, if the Pentagon follows through on its plans to cut the Army by 80,000 and reduce the Marine Corps by 20,000.

Frederick Wellman, a former senior aide to retired Gen. David Petraeus, the former top military commander in Iraq, is now CEO of Scoutcomms, a Fredericksburg, Va., firm that works with businesses and nonprofit groups to develop employment programs for veterans and military families. “There has been progress, and companies are doing good things,” Wellman said. “But we still have a challenge with younger and new vets coming out of service finding employment. We need to keep our eyes on the ball and help these younger vets match their skills with jobs in their areas.” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley hailed the news that her state’s 2013 unemployment rate for veterans was 4.1 percent, the sixth-lowest in the nation and down from 6.9 percent in 2012. Its overall unemployment rate last year was 7.6 percent. “Taking care of our veterans is a major priority in South Carolina, and providing them opportunities to use their valuable skill sets in the workplace is a big part of meeting that responsibility,” Haley said in a statement. “This is about making sure South Carolina is the most military-friendly state in the country and letting our veterans and their families know we value their sacrifice.”

MORE

See also:

No longer needed? Troops survive combat, then lose their jobs
March 5, 2014 ~ For thousands of career-military troops who endured combat and family separations during a dozen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the end of hostilities brings a new directive from the government: your services are no longer needed.

Even as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Monday that future budget reductions cut "so deep, so quickly, that we cannot shrink the size of our military fast enough," pink slips were already on their way to soldiers. In its first effort to thin the ranks under budget pressure, the Army is letting 3,000 G.I.s go in order to thin ranks to 490,000 by the end of next year. Ten Army officers — colonels and lieutenant colonels — learned while serving in Afghanistan in January that they would be forced to retire later this year.

And those are just the first firings. Tens of thousands more must be cut in the years ahead, and the services readily admit those separations won't all be voluntary. "Everybody who's getting looked at right now ... has to really start thinking about, 'Well, what if?' " says Army Maj. Timothy Hyde, married and the father of two, who is among several hundred officers being reviewed for possible job loss. "I'll be disappointed if I get selected for early separation," says Hyde, a public affairs officer who served in Iraq. "But I have my faith and my family to fall back on."

Activists who support troops and their families worry that a lingering war strain on an all-volunteer force — evidenced by record behavioral and physical health issues, marital struggles and even suicide — is now compounded by worry over job security. "We're seeing the legacy of stress as part of the military way of life," says Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association. "People won't have time to find a break, because they will remain too worried about their future."

While the U.S. military downsized after previous wars, Iraq and Afghanistan were fought with a relatively small, all-volunteer force required to deploy again and again during more than a decade of conflict, says retired vice admiral Norbert Ryan, president and CEO of the Military Officers Association of America. "We're doing this (job reduction) on the very backs of the men and women and their families that have carried the other 99% of us for the last 12 years," Ryan says. "A lot of these people have borne the brunt of this war."

MORE

 

[Mr. H.]

There are 20,000 job openings in North Dakota.
Bless 'em all. I wish them well.

 

[Cassandro]

Are we talking about military retirees with lifetime pensions or short-timers? Big difference.

 

[Mushroom]

Soldiers comin' home to bleak job market...


No longer needed? Troops survive combat, then lose their jobs
March 5, 2014 ~ For thousands of career-military troops who endured combat and family separations during a dozen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the end of hostilities brings a new directive from the government: your services are no longer needed.

Nothing new here, this seems to happen under every Democratic Administration. I was told I was "excess" by both President Clinton, then again by President Obama.

For some reason, when people hear "over 100,000 troops cut", it does not occur to them that what it is is a layoff. And the exact same people applaud and cheer when individuals like me are let go with over 15 years in, without any benefits or retirement. Then they scream when some corporation lays off 1,000 people

And trust me, it is a nightmare when we do get out and have to look for work again. I am an IT professional with over 30 years experience. Yet it still took me over a year to find a new job, because most employers treated me like I had been in a coma for the past 5 years.

Them: Are you experienced in networking?
Me: I have been doing networking since 1990. I have certifications in Novell Netware, NT 4 and Win2K.
Them: Do you know anything recent?
Me: I have worked with Active Directory since 2002.
Them: That is to outdated.
Me: (screaming in my mind "Active Directory has not changed significantly in over 10 years") Yes sir.
Them: Are you familiar with hardware?
Me: Yes, I have specialized in hardware since 1991.
Them: When was your last hardware job?
Me: I have been building and repairing computers for myself and others for the last 5 years while I was in the Army, my last hardware job was in 2007.
Them: So you have no recent hardware experience then.
Me: (screaming in my mind again "computer hardware has not changed significantly since 1995 when ATX came out") No sir.
Them: Sorry, you have no skills that we can use, you have been out of the industry to long.

And many companies when they learned I was just leaving the military flat-out told me I "would not fit in their company culture". One even told me they were "LGBT friendly", and that I would make the others uncomfortable.

And most of those "hire a vet" websites are pure garbage. I looked at a few, and unless I wanted to try selling insurance, had extensive experience in avionics or engine repair, or wanted to wash trucks, they are of no real help.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - corporate America needs to man up an' hire a vet...

Veterans’ unemployment defies simple answers
April 9, 2014 ~ A two-tour Army veteran of the Afghanistan war pulled on a pair of old combat boots and headed off to his $8-an-hour job washing cars at a Ford dealership in Wichita Falls, Texas. "My military background don't mean nothing," he said. "I am just another guy with a GED."

An unemployed Iraq veteran in San Antonio woke up late, as he always did these days, and searched the online job boards for new listings. "Same garbage as usual," he said. A 46-year-old former soldier, out of work for seven months, was so nervous that he was shaking as he waited in line at a veterans job fair in Louisville, Ky. "It seems like I second-guess myself whenever I talk," he said. Also at the fair was a man who ran one of the biggest veterans employment programs in the country, with thousands of jobs to fill. "Okay, let's do it," he said, wading into the crowd and looking for someone to help. The four are part of a postwar economy that is unlike any in American history for veterans seeking work. Unemployment among veterans has been called a "black eye on our society" by the head of a major veterans group. "A moral obligation" is how President Barack Obama has referred to it. "A national disgrace," a prominent Republican senator has said.

The truth, though, is more complicated. Veterans who served in the post-Sept. 11 era have a higher overall unemployment rate than their civilian peers — but it was only about 2 percentage points higher in 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They are more likely to be employed in full-time jobs and on average earn more than peers who didn't serve. They report about the same levels of financial stress as Americans overall, according to a new survey by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation. And yet what is steering the national push to hire Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans isn't just statistics. It's also an emotional need on the part of many Americans to connect with the 1 percent of the population that volunteered to serve during the longest stretch of war in American history.

Tek Systems recruiter Robert O'Hare, left, speaks with Pennsylvania National Guard Army Spec. Michael Fettenberger as Kristina Thomson listens March 20, 2014 in Cambridge Springs, Pa. at a job fair organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring our Heroes program.

This impulse has led corporate America to make some massive promises. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes program has collected pledges from businesses to hire 409,000 veterans on its way to a goal of 500,000. Wal-Mart has said it plans to hire 100,000 vets. Home Depot wants to take on 55,000; McDonald's 100,000; Starbucks, 10,000 more. "These young men and women who are coming home from multiple deployments are not coming home to a parade," Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, said in a recent television interview. "They're coming home to an American public that really doesn't understand, and never embraced, what these people have done."

Add up all the pledges, and they total more than 1 million jobs for a population of unemployed post-Sept. 11-era veterans that is estimated most months by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 210,000. The math is overwhelming: There are now about five pledged jobs for every unemployed service member who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. It also raises some questions: If there really are more than 1 million jobs out there, why isn't every Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran employed? Is there a problem with what the companies are doing? Might it have something to do with the veterans themselves?

'This is all I know'

 

[Sallow]

Soldiers comin' home to bleak job market...


No longer needed? Troops survive combat, then lose their jobs
March 5, 2014 ~ For thousands of career-military troops who endured combat and family separations during a dozen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the end of hostilities brings a new directive from the government: your services are no longer needed.

Nothing new here, this seems to happen under every Democratic Administration. I was told I was "excess" by both President Clinton, then again by President Obama.

For some reason, when people hear "over 100,000 troops cut", it does not occur to them that what it is is a layoff. And the exact same people applaud and cheer when individuals like me are let go with over 15 years in, without any benefits or retirement. Then they scream when some corporation lays off 1,000 people

And trust me, it is a nightmare when we do get out and have to look for work again. I am an IT professional with over 30 years experience. Yet it still took me over a year to find a new job, because most employers treated me like I had been in a coma for the past 5 years.

Them: Are you experienced in networking?
Me: I have been doing networking since 1990. I have certifications in Novell Netware, NT 4 and Win2K.
Them: Do you know anything recent?
Me: I have worked with Active Directory since 2002.
Them: That is to outdated.
Me: (screaming in my mind "Active Directory has not changed significantly in over 10 years") Yes sir.
Them: Are you familiar with hardware?
Me: Yes, I have specialized in hardware since 1991.
Them: When was your last hardware job?
Me: I have been building and repairing computers for myself and others for the last 5 years while I was in the Army, my last hardware job was in 2007.
Them: So you have no recent hardware experience then.
Me: (screaming in my mind again "computer hardware has not changed significantly since 1995 when ATX came out") No sir.
Them: Sorry, you have no skills that we can use, you have been out of the industry to long.

And many companies when they learned I was just leaving the military flat-out told me I "would not fit in their company culture". One even told me they were "LGBT friendly", and that I would make the others uncomfortable.

And most of those "hire a vet" websites are pure garbage. I looked at a few, and unless I wanted to try selling insurance, had extensive experience in avionics or engine repair, or wanted to wash trucks, they are of no real help.

I'm not surprised by this..

Many IT companies are doing the "But your skills don't match the job" bullshit.

When I was looking for a job with my UNIX background I got the "But do you know Microsoft server? Or Active Directory"? I was like, "No, but I have lots of experience in IT and could pick that up pretty easily". ::click::

Keep plugging.

 

[Mushroom]

I'm not surprised by this..

Many IT companies are doing the "But your skills don't match the job" bullshit.

When I was looking for a job with my UNIX background I got the "But do you know Microsoft server? Or Active Directory"? I was like, "No, but I have lots of experience in IT and could pick that up pretty easily". ::click::

Keep plugging.

Thanks, I have actually been back to work for a year next week. And this company is "veteran friendly", even paying me differential pay when I have to go on my 2 week summer drills (basically they make up the difference between what the military pays me and my usual salary).

But this company is also unique, providing telephone services for prisons. So security (I still have an active Secret clearance) and reliability are key. But it is still far different from most IT companies around Baghdad by the Bay.

And yes, I am still bitter about my experience 2 years ago when I had just gotten out and was looking for work. And in talking with other veterans, it is almost the same. A very hostile environment for us, many employers seem to see us as "damaged goods".

And yes, those "Hire a Vet" sites are a complete joke and waste of time. Just now, I decided to see what they had available in my area, this is what I got:

Claims Coder, must be experienced in processing medical insurance paperwork
Dialysis Technician, must be experienced
Charge Nurse, Current California RN, must know Spanish
Sr. Business Specialist, MBA or equivalent, 3-5 years recent manufacturing experience

Yep, that is it, just 4 of them. Now tell me, looking at that list how many veterans do you think would qualify for any of those jobs?

Then you can look down at the "Partnership Jobs" that are offered, Police Officer, Security Guard, CDL, the usual crap you find in the classified ads that nobody wants because they pay crap wages.

I see the entire "Hire a Vet" thing as complete bullshit, this way companies can put up and ad and claim they are "reaching out to veterans". Now never mind that these jobs are not ones that we can use and either have insane requirements, or are no better then any other minimum wage jobs available to anybody, veteran or not.

And if somebody thinks I am joking, feel free to check out Hire Veterans - Jobs for Veterans - Job Board Hiring U.S. Military Veterans Employment Careers: Home. I have had a resume in with them for over 2 years now, not a single e-mail or call. And I still look on occasion to see if anything has improved, it has not.

And yea, been to "Veteran Job Fairs" over the years. I can not even begin to recall how many over the past 20 years. Also worthless, they are generally looking for the handful like me that have some skills outside of the usual, and the only offer I ever had from one was about 12 years ago. But there was no way for the salary they offered was I going to be a roving computer troubleshooter servicing 15 INS (now ICE) facilities across 7 western states in my own vehicle.

And no, the offer was not for a Government position, I would have taken that because of all my previous military seniority would have counted. This was a contractor, and I know how that industry works all to well. 6 months later a new contractor is used and you are back on the street again.

Companies really do not want to hire vets, they just want people to think that they do for PR purposes.

Or they just want to scam us! I just found this interesting "New Hot Job" listed...

The Retail Ready Career Center Inc. works with local and national heating and air conditioning contractors across North America to help fill the 25,000 open positions within their companies.

I am looking for entry-level residential HVAC service technicians to begin work immediately.

There is no experience required to be considered for this position and the average starting income is between 45,000.00 and 65,000.00 in the first year

Job Requirements

There is a 6-week training class to get you certified on all required certifications to start your new career. Your GI Bill can be used to cover the cost of tuition, plus we have complete room and board packages for $250.00 that includes your travel.

Most schools take a minimum of a year to complete and don’t teach the exact skills you will need to be successful. We have combined all the training you will need in an intensive 6-week course so you can start making money faster with all the required certifications.

https://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp_ssl/login.asp This is the link to click on to begin your process of checking your GI Bill eligibility.

I am available to walk you through the process and answer any other questions about proceeding to be trained to enter the work force throughout the United States as a trained professional in one of the most sought after hiring positions in America.

Yea, a company that offers training and not jobs trying to scam veterans out of taking their training program so they can get their hands on VA money. And does anybody really believe that crap about "complete room and board packages for $250.00 that includes your travel"? Really, room and board and travel for 6 weeks for only $250?

 

[asterism]

I'm not surprised by this..

Many IT companies are doing the "But your skills don't match the job" bullshit.

When I was looking for a job with my UNIX background I got the "But do you know Microsoft server? Or Active Directory"? I was like, "No, but I have lots of experience in IT and could pick that up pretty easily". ::click::

Keep plugging.

Thanks, I have actually been back to work for a year next week. And this company is "veteran friendly", even paying me differential pay when I have to go on my 2 week summer drills (basically they make up the difference between what the military pays me and my usual salary).

But this company is also unique, providing telephone services for prisons. So security (I still have an active Secret clearance) and reliability are key. But it is still far different from most IT companies around Baghdad by the Bay.

And yes, I am still bitter about my experience 2 years ago when I had just gotten out and was looking for work. And in talking with other veterans, it is almost the same. A very hostile environment for us, many employers seem to see us as "damaged goods".

And yes, those "Hire a Vet" sites are a complete joke and waste of time. Just now, I decided to see what they had available in my area, this is what I got:

Claims Coder, must be experienced in processing medical insurance paperwork
Dialysis Technician, must be experienced
Charge Nurse, Current California RN, must know Spanish
Sr. Business Specialist, MBA or equivalent, 3-5 years recent manufacturing experience

Yep, that is it, just 4 of them. Now tell me, looking at that list how many veterans do you think would qualify for any of those jobs?

Then you can look down at the "Partnership Jobs" that are offered, Police Officer, Security Guard, CDL, the usual crap you find in the classified ads that nobody wants because they pay crap wages.

I see the entire "Hire a Vet" thing as complete bullshit, this way companies can put up and ad and claim they are "reaching out to veterans". Now never mind that these jobs are not ones that we can use and either have insane requirements, or are no better then any other minimum wage jobs available to anybody, veteran or not.

And if somebody thinks I am joking, feel free to check out Hire Veterans - Jobs for Veterans - Job Board Hiring U.S. Military Veterans Employment Careers: Home. I have had a resume in with them for over 2 years now, not a single e-mail or call. And I still look on occasion to see if anything has improved, it has not.

And yea, been to "Veteran Job Fairs" over the years. I can not even begin to recall how many over the past 20 years. Also worthless, they are generally looking for the handful like me that have some skills outside of the usual, and the only offer I ever had from one was about 12 years ago. But there was no way for the salary they offered was I going to be a roving computer troubleshooter servicing 15 INS (now ICE) facilities across 7 western states in my own vehicle.

And no, the offer was not for a Government position, I would have taken that because of all my previous military seniority would have counted. This was a contractor, and I know how that industry works all to well. 6 months later a new contractor is used and you are back on the street again.

Companies really do not want to hire vets, they just want people to think that they do for PR purposes.

Or they just want to scam us! I just found this interesting "New Hot Job" listed...

The Retail Ready Career Center Inc. works with local and national heating and air conditioning contractors across North America to help fill the 25,000 open positions within their companies.

I am looking for entry-level residential HVAC service technicians to begin work immediately.

There is no experience required to be considered for this position and the average starting income is between 45,000.00 and 65,000.00 in the first year

Job Requirements

There is a 6-week training class to get you certified on all required certifications to start your new career. Your GI Bill can be used to cover the cost of tuition, plus we have complete room and board packages for $250.00 that includes your travel.

Most schools take a minimum of a year to complete and don’t teach the exact skills you will need to be successful. We have combined all the training you will need in an intensive 6-week course so you can start making money faster with all the required certifications.

https://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp_ssl/login.asp This is the link to click on to begin your process of checking your GI Bill eligibility.

I am available to walk you through the process and answer any other questions about proceeding to be trained to enter the work force throughout the United States as a trained professional in one of the most sought after hiring positions in America.

Yea, a company that offers training and not jobs trying to scam veterans out of taking their training program so they can get their hands on VA money. And does anybody really believe that crap about "complete room and board packages for $250.00 that includes your travel"? Really, room and board and travel for 6 weeks for only $250?

I know someone that is an HVAC Contractor now that used that program it he says it was legit, but that it was primarily a mechanism for the training company to get the VA money. They were long on promises that got less rosy as he was finishing the course but he did get a certification and experience which counted towards getting his Contractor License.

Don't knock the insurance sales jobs, it's a very good option for people that don't have "traditional" civilian skill sets. As always people need to look out for scams and make sure they are comfortable that the plans they are asked to sell are legitimate, but it's a good option for someone that isn't in a position to attend college full time for 3 years after EAS.

 

[Mushroom]

Are we talking about military retirees with lifetime pensions or short-timers? Big difference.

Either one, largely does not matter.

And why would having a pension matter if somebody can get a job or not?

 

[Mushroom]

I know someone that is an HVAC Contractor now that used that program it he says it was legit, but that it was primarily a mechanism for the training company to get the VA money. They were long on promises that got less rosy as he was finishing the course but he did get a certification and experience which counted towards getting his Contractor License.

I did not say the training was a scam. However, it is not a job, and does not really belong on a job board.

 

[NLT]

Our field service department (They travel world wide to power plants) is 95% Ex-Military, they get priority because they served, they can handle stress, the travel does not bother them, they are highly skilled and because they are not freakin cry babies that ***** about every little thing they have to do.

 

[High_Gravity]

It is brutal getting a job right now, especially for Veterans. The Military does not have really have any programs to transition Veterans into civilian life before they get out, I sat through like a 1 hour long briefing before I got out but that was it. I got out in 2007 and moved from California to Virginia, once I got to Virginia it took me about 6 weeks to find a job but the guy that hired me was prior US Army. That company I worked for closed its doors about a year and a half later and I was unemployed again, than about 6 months later I got a Federal job, Veterans get preferance there and alot of Veterans hold Federal position so it is more friendly towards us.

 

[Mushroom]

It is brutal getting a job right now, especially for Veterans. The Military does not have really have any programs to transition Veterans into civilian life before they get out, I sat through like a 1 hour long briefing before I got out but that was it. I got out in 2007 and moved from California to Virginia, once I got to Virginia it took me about 6 weeks to find a job but the guy that hired me was prior US Army. That company I worked for closed its doors about a year and a half later and I was unemployed again, than about 6 months later I got a Federal job, Veterans get preferance there and alot of Veterans hold Federal position so it is more friendly towards us.

Oh, it is far different from that now.

I think I had 3 weeks of mandated classes before I separated. The amount of classes and workshops and seminars you have to do before you get out nowadays is absolutely insane.

And does almost no good for the most part. They are generally taught by some vet who worked for the local state EDD and does the class as part of that job. And I found the information almost laughable.

Of the "outsiders" that came in to address the class, all but 2 were trying to pitch their tech school or on-line college to get our GI Bill money. The only 2 that were offering jobs were a local trucking company that wanted long-haul drivers, and an engineering company that wanted heavy equipment operators in the Dakotas to work the oil fields.

And since none of us had our CDLs or heavy equipment experience, they did not get any resumes.

 

[Mushroom]

Our field service department (They travel world wide to power plants) is 95% Ex-Military, they get priority because they served, they can handle stress, the travel does not bother them, they are highly skilled and because they are not freakin cry babies that ***** about every little thing they have to do.

Just curious, do you hire veterans and train them for the position, or hire veterans that already have the experience and training through the military?

I know that for example at nuclear power plants, Navy veterans are heavily predominant because that is where so many get the training needed for the job.

 

[High_Gravity]

It is brutal getting a job right now, especially for Veterans. The Military does not have really have any programs to transition Veterans into civilian life before they get out, I sat through like a 1 hour long briefing before I got out but that was it. I got out in 2007 and moved from California to Virginia, once I got to Virginia it took me about 6 weeks to find a job but the guy that hired me was prior US Army. That company I worked for closed its doors about a year and a half later and I was unemployed again, than about 6 months later I got a Federal job, Veterans get preferance there and alot of Veterans hold Federal position so it is more friendly towards us.

Oh, it is far different from that now.

I think I had 3 weeks of mandated classes before I separated. The amount of classes and workshops and seminars you have to do before you get out nowadays is absolutely insane.

And does almost no good for the most part. They are generally taught by some vet who worked for the local state EDD and does the class as part of that job. And I found the information almost laughable.

Of the "outsiders" that came in to address the class, all but 2 were trying to pitch their tech school or on-line college to get our GI Bill money. The only 2 that were offering jobs were a local trucking company that wanted long-haul drivers, and an engineering company that wanted heavy equipment operators in the Dakotas to work the oil fields.

And since none of us had our CDLs or heavy equipment experience, they did not get any resumes.

I see, the biggest problem I think is the disconnest between Military/Veterans/Retirees and the civilian sector is widening, back before when we had a draft and almost everyone had served and had a stake in the game it wasn't like this, now hardly anyone has served or knows anything about the Military, so its becoming more difficult to connect the 2 sectors.

 

[Mushroom]

I see, the biggest problem I think is the disconnest between Military/Veterans/Retirees and the civilian sector is widening, back before when we had a draft and almost everyone had served and had a stake in the game it wasn't like this, now hardly anyone has served or knows anything about the Military, so its becoming more difficult to connect the 2 sectors.

And the pure coprolite coming from some does not help much either.

That we are all morons who entered the military because we could not get jobs otherwise, that we are drug addled criminals and alcoholics, we have PTSD and take psychotropic drugs to keep us from going on killing sprees, and all that kind of crap.

Heck, we had a thread on that in here recently!

http://www.usmessageboard.com/military/348299-70-of-us-combat-vets-on-anti-psychiatric-drugs.html

An American Marine says as many as 40 percent of those who serve in the US military are under psychiatric care, adding that up to 70 percent of war veterans have been on anti-psychiatric drugs.

Gordon Duff, a senior editor at Veterans Today, made the remarks in a telephone interview with Press TV on Thursday, commenting on a Wednesday shooting rampage at a US military base in Texas.

Specialist Ivan Lopez, an Iraq war veteran, shot dead three people and injured at least sixteen others before turning his gun on himself at Fort Hood, the sprawling Army post in Texas. According to an initial investigation into the incident, the shooter was a mentally unstable person.

“The shooting at Fort Hood yesterday shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone. Nor should it have been a surprise that the individual that has been accused was under psychiatric care. Frankly, as many as 40 percent of those who serve America’s military are under psychiatric care. More than that, a much larger percentage of combat veterans, up to 70 percent, have been on anti-psychiatric drugs,” Duff said.

70% of US Combat Vets on Anti-Psychiatric Drugs: Gordon Duff | Veterans Today

With even a self-proclaimed "Veteran's Advocate" spreading crap like that around, what sane individual would hire us at all? If you listen to the news we are all basket cases walking around a heartbeat away from snapping and going on a shooting rampage.

And a lot of civilians actually believe that, that is what is most frightening to me.