It seems like there have been veterans in every generation of my family for as far back as anyone can remember. They all had to face the issue of returning to regular employment as civilians. I can still recall the stories my grandfather told of what it was like to return from fighting in World War I. Then there were dads talking about coming home from Korea. Cousins spoke of reentering society after Vietnam. Next was my brother’s take on rejoining the private sector after serving during a time of peace. Most recently, for my sons and nephews, it’s what to expect when they return from the post 9-11 wars.
In my younger days, I was surprised when I first heard how difficult it was for those who served in the military to return to work once they came home. I had this idealistic image of our service people as true heroes, accompanied by visions of their homecoming parades. I assumed they were welcomed back into society and given places of honor in the workforce! The real eye-opener for me was with the veterans from Vietnam. I was old enough to understand that something was different and that many in our country no longer appreciated the service people as returning heroes. This mindset caused many employers to hesitate or flat deny employment to veterans. In my opinion, hiring our returning veterans should return to high priority status for employers. Doing so can only strengthen our work force, and our country.
As with other veterans, post 9-11 veterans today face real issues. These include the general challenge of our high rate of unemployment, the sheer number of returning veterans, the wounded warriors on partial disability, spouses of veterans and female veterans. While we cannot change the fact that the unemployment rate is high and there are challenges to all who are looking for gainful employment, there are some great programs available for returning veterans to tap into when rejoining the workforce. One of those programs caught my attention and I want to share it with our readers.
Earlier this year the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) launched a program to help veterans and their spouses find meaningful employment. The program is called Hiring our Heroes and, according to their website, their goal is to “to improve public-private sector coordination in local communities, where veterans and their families are returning every day.” The program focuses attention on hiring fairs, transition attention for wounded soldiers, the post 9-11 program for veterans, and support for spouses of veterans and female veterans. All of these areas are pertinent to those returning heroes. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Specialized Hiring Fairs for Veterans and Spouses
The goal of specialized hiring fairs is to really focus employer attention on the qualified veterans available in their very own communities. This is top-notch in my opinion. This feature of the USCC program also appealed to IAVA, the veterans’ organization dedicated to standing with the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. IAVA announced a partnership with the USCC this past June, making the commitment to host “Smart Job Fairs.”
Transition Assistance for Wounded Warriors
According to the Department of Defense (DOD) website, the “Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy ensures recovering wounded, ill, injured, and transitioning members of the Armed Forces receive equitable, consistent, and high-quality support and services. [They] help our wounded warriors and their families through effective collaboration efforts, pro-active communication, responsive policy, and program oversight.” The USCC, in partnership with the DOD, USO, and Hire Heroes USA, has developed this portion of their program for those veterans to attend workshops on resume writing, interviewing, goal setting, and basic financial planning.
Specialized Post 9-11 Veterans Programs
These specialized programs provide a great deal of focus on the needs of younger service men and women, especially students who have volunteered to serve. One of the great partnerships in this area is with Student Veterans of America, which is a coalition of student veterans groups on college campuses. Their mission: “To provide military veterans with the resources, support, and advocacy needed to succeed in higher education and following graduation.” The goals of this partnership are to create a nationwide internship program, conduct tailored hiring fairs to connect student veterans with jobs, and to build recruitment programs aimed at student veterans right on the college campuses.
Women Veteran and Military Spouse Employment Program
The fourth area of the Hiring our Heroes program is related to women veterans and spouses. Again, the USCC has developed an outstanding partnership to meet very specific needs of veterans. This time it is with the Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Foundation and the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP). The program goals are to connect women veterans and military spouses with careers, continue collaboration with the White House’s Joining Forces initiative, and to encourage business women to mentor returning female veterans.
There is great attention on our country right now, not only from the world in general but from the majority of the population of our own country. People are watching and wondering how we will handle our returning veterans, those we call heroes. Let us stand unified, as a country and as individuals, to do our part in making certain we welcome them back with honor!
Have you hired a returning hero? I would love to hear your experiences!
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