Lone Star State Takes Lead on Hiring Vets…

Interesting item to note from last week’s news clips: One state, in particular, has stepped up the hiring rate of veterans.  Texas has helped more veterans get jobs that any other state! The Lone Star state has a veterans hiring rate that surpasses the hiring rate of the top 5 states with the largest amount of veterans, combined! The Texas Veterans Commission reported to have helped 47,556 veterans find employment over the last twelve months. That’s a lot of veterans getting jobs! The commission has representatives that assist veterans with job applications, resumes, and other employment related services in more than 75 cities across the state.  Texas is on a mission to hire veterans, and they’ve succeeded!

With more veterans entering the workforce, many states need to follow Texas in their efforts to hire veterans. The unemployment rate for our veterans has the potential to be significantly decreased as long as more people become aware of problem at hand and step up to hire more veterans. Congratulations to Texas for being a veteran friendly state!

Bobby Kotick Honored by PVA

Recently, the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) held their 64^th annual convention in Providence, Rhode Island. During the week-long event, PVA’s Board of Directors and members gathered to discuss their plans for the upcoming year, and the development of their programs to serve our proud veterans who are suffering from spinal cord injuries.

The last day of the conference was set aside to honor those men and women from the private and public sectors, who have helped PVA achieve their goals in the past year. One award recipient was CODE’s very own Bobby Kotick, President and CEO at Activision Blizzard.   Kotick was awarded with PVA’s Patriot Award for Individual Giving, because of the $125,000 he donated from his personal resources, in addition to the $125,000 grant that CODE provided to support PVA’s Vocational Rehabilitation Program.  This grant was awarded to PVA last November as CODE’s very first grant recipient, and the funding will go towards PVA’s new Vocational Rehab program which has been established at the VA Medical Center in Boston, MA.

Congratulations to Mr. Kotick and many thanks to PVA for their continuous support to help our nation’s veterans!

CODE Welcomes Two New Advisory Board Members

CODE would officially like to welcome COL Alan Baldwin (USMC-Ret.) and RADM James J. Carey (USN-Ret.) to our Advisory Board. Both men have served their country in the Marines and Navy, respectively, for over 30 years or more and have continued to be involved in helping veterans beyond their retirement from service.

RADM Carey served as a Navy Surface Warfare Officer and has dedicated much of his post military life to helping the nation’s youth pursue careers in public service and helping to promote military voting rights. He is currently Chairman of the National Defense Committee and National Chairman of The Flag and General Officers’ Network.  

COL Baldwin held command positions in the 1^st and 3^rd Marine Divisions and at the joint level. He is currently the Market and Strategy Leader for IBM’s Global Defense Industry along with IMB’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Global Industry, where he is responsible for the business development and strategy for these two global business areas.

CODE is extremely honored to have them join our team and we look forward to their contributions in the months ahead.

CODE Visits the Recruit Military Job Fair in Baltimore

On Thursday, CODE took a trip to Baltimore, Maryland to attend the Recruit Military job fair at M&T Bank Stadium. The four hour job expo brought in many veterans and had over 20 companies in attendance. Fortunately, the veterans that spoke with CODE were not unhinged or unraveled by their current situations. They realized it was difficult finding a job as a veteran, but the military training they have received has kicked into full gear. Veterans are dedicated and focused on every task they are given. Being out of the military has not stopped their motivation to accomplish a mission. The mission has just changed, not the soldier.

CODE was also able to sit down and talk with a few employers and veterans about why veterans make great employees!   Every employer that sat down with CODE expressed the stellar work performance the military has instilled in veterans, which makes them exceptional employees. They are able to work independently and with other group members to achieve their goals. Veterans who have experienced combat have had to make choices that can be potentially life of death decisions, and if an employee can make a good decision during war time, they can certainly make good decisions throughout their daily work challenges.

Other companies in attendance specializing in forms of defense, employ a large group of veterans because they are already used to the characteristics and job skills this line of work requires. TASC employs 70-80 percent military veterans. NIITEK builds landmine detection systems and employs a large number of veterans because they are more passionate about the job at hand.

When discussing the alarming unemployment rate our veterans are facing, every company was in agreement about one thing; the general public needs more education about veterans becoming employers! If companies do not already have a strong military hiring base, they are unaware of the skills veterans bring to the table.  Companies need to be educated on the leadership, loyalty, dedication, and core values veterans maintain as a result of their training in the armed forces.  These are the exact traits that companies are looking for and more employers need to realize the value our veterans bring to their business.

For more coverage of the job fair click here!

Bittersweet news from Iraq…

As news outlets across the country continue to report that the final U.S. combat brigade has left Iraq and officially ended Operation Iraqi Freedom, the country is breathing a sigh of relief that so many  of our troops will now be out of harms way.   As most readers know, there are still about 50,000 troops that remain in Iraq, and as they provide training and protection to the Iraqi forces, our prayers are with them and their families for their safe being.

With this milestone, comes a sense of urgency that even more needs to be done to ensure that our proud veterans have an opportunity to gain promising and successful  careers when they return home.  The number of servicemembers that cannot find work upon their exit from the military is still staggeringly high, and as more return home we hope that all Americans will be working to encourage our employers to seek out these men and women to help their business succeed.  There should be an urgency to provide more support and awareness for this grave issue of unemployment and the Call of Duty Endowment will continue to try and amplify the discussion about the issue and provide support to those organizations that are helping our vets.

We are grateful that Operation Iraqi Freedom has come to a close, and we pray for those who remain in the region, but we also hope that those who are coming home can find gainful and promising 21st Century careers to help them succeed in their next phase of life.  They are some of our nation’s smartest and hardest working leaders, who will make any business that hires them even stronger.

Running For Our Vets!

This past weekend as many of us were enjoying the lazy days of summer, our good friend and an employee at Activision Blizzard, Laird Malamed raced around Adelaide, Australia for the town’s 32nd annual marathon.  Laird finished the race in 3 hours and 30 minutes, and the race marked his 10th marathon.  It also helped to fulfill his quest of running a marathon on each of the seven continents.  (Austrailia was the 4th continent, and he hopes to complete the final three by the end of 2011!)

More importanly, Laird was able to raise approximately $14,000 dollars for three special organizations as part of his efforts to complete the marathon.  In addition to the Alliance for Children’s Rights and Children International, the Call of Duty Endowment was among the three charities Laird and his wife Rebecca chose to honor with their fundraising.  We should also note that Laird and his wife Rebecca donated an additional $10 for each donor who participated, which included more than 120 different individuals and families.   

On behalf of the entire CODE Community – we congratulate Laird on a terrific race - and we thank Rebecca and him for supporting CODE in our efforts to help veterans find worthy 21st century jobs.  And to all those who participated in this effort, we thank you for answering your own call of duty to honor our vets!

Helping Vets through a Virtual Job Fair

Here’s a great website available for veterans that will help them tackle the enormous task of finding a job after the military. The website, milicruit.com offers a wide range of jobs for veterans through their multiple career fairs.  However, the career fair is not are not what you would typically expect. Milicruit.com offers veterans and employers the ability to attend career fairs without even leaving their home or office. All participants attend the event virtually.

The virtual expo looks similar to a real life career fair with several employer booths and representatives on hand to explain their companies and assist with any questions. At each “booth” veterans can submit a resume, learn about the company, view available job listings, and even talk with a company representative. The use of technology allows this virtual career fair to be everything a regular expo would be at your city convention center, except this career fair is much easier to access and has the possibility to connect you with more people and employers. Their last event in July had over 10,000 veterans registered and 30 industry employers in attendance.

Military Times EDGE releases 50 top places for vets to work

Military Times EDGE recently published their “Best for Vets: Employers 2010” list on their website. Military Times EDGE is a special section of the Military Times devoted to providing military members with advice for professional and educational success. The list, which is compiled of 50 top companies, gives rankings for military recruitment and policies.

The website encouraged companies on the Fortune 1,000, the Defense News 100, and the Federal Times’ General Services Administration 250 lists to complete a survey about their military recruitment practices. Military Times EDGE evaluated the responses in four areas; Recruiting, Training and Mentoring, Reserve policies, and corporate culture.

General Electric won the top seat on the list. The company has 300,000 US employers and earned high marks in all four of the ranking criteria. Another company that earned high marks coming in at number 23, is General Motors. Based out of Detroit, Michigan, this company has worked to employ veterans even after many difficult economic woes.  Other recognizable companies such as Travelers insurance,Waste Management, and Bank of America also favored well on the list.

This recently published list shows many similarities to the top GI Jobs list, which CODE featured a few weeks ago. Congratulations to all the companies on both lists for working hard to be great places for veterans to work!

Hire Heroes USA Debuts Transition Assistance Workshops at Ft. Gordon

Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) visited Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia this weekend. The base is home to the largest Warrior Transition Battalion in the Army. HHUSA was at the base to complete their very first Transition Assistance Workshops.  During the weekend workshops, the HHUSA team was able to present 19 Army soldiers with necessary tips such as, writing a resume, mock interviews, and set up plans for career goals. The event was so successful that representatives from HHUSA and Fort Gordon, are hoping the program will be held on a monthly basis in the near future.

Each veteran, or soon to be veteran, that attends HHUSA’s workshops are put into a data base and assigned a staff member who will continue to mentor them throughout their job search. Brian Stann of HHUSA said that being able to help service members before they leave the military more than doubles their success rate of helping new veterans find meaningful employment.

CODE would like to celebrate the tremendous success made by Brian Stann and the HHUSA team. Their next stop is Marine Base Kaneohe in sunny Hawaii next month. The Maine Corps has already asked HHUSA to visit each of their Wounded Warrior Barracks across the nation bi-annually.  Keep up all the great work for our veterans!

Combat Veterans Face Even Greater Unemployment Challenges

A new study by the American Sociological Review found that that veterans who were in combat face higher unemployment rates along with many other socioeconomic challenges.  Combat veterans already start the difficult process of finding a job at a severe disadvantage from veterans who did not see combat.  The higher unemployment rate is also more likely to follow combat veterans throughout their working life. The data shows that seeing battle can severely scar those who experience it and affect many aspects of their life upon their return.

This new research draws attention to the current crisis facing our nation’s veterans. Every veteran has the chance to suffer challenges of finding good employment and transitioning to life after the military. Combat veterans, however, are now being shown to experience an even harder life after the military. While these statistics are discouraging and alarming, it is helpful to have a better understanding of the reasons veterans face higher unemployment rates. With more knowledge, more practices and techniques can be created to better serve our veterans.