Fox Business: “Why Veterans Make Good Project Managers”

We blog often on the skills and experience that make veterans true assets for any industry.  We also know about the need for veterans to “translate” military skills and military language into the skills and terminology that the civilian world understands.

Undoubtedly, there are some industries especially suited to leverage and understand the skill sets of veterans.  In a recent piece, Fox Business highlights industries like aerospace and defense, infrastructure/construction, and management consulting.  What do all of these sectors have in common?  They rely heavily on project managers.

Project managers work across departments in an organization to manage resources and complete objectives.  Project managers need a variety of skills like time-management, dealing with multiple groups with different backgrounds and agendas, the ability to motivate, and the ability to complete a project on time and in-line with the goals of the larger group.

Sound familiar?  That’s because soldiers are often called to utilize the same skills needed for project management during their military service.  The author of the Fox article, Michael “Dr. Woody” Woodward, PhD, a CEC certified executive coach trained in organizational psychology, offers several tips for pursuing project management in the piece that are very much worth a read.

The Endowment Applauds Other Veteran NonProfits for Their Tireless Efforts

The Huffington Post recently published an editorial by Eli Williamson, the co-found and president of Leave No Veteran Behind. In it he says that “Whether it is education, employment, benefits, health care, and housing the VA has been tasked with a difficult mission and when they fall short, nonprofits help to cover the gaps.” Williamson’s message is poignant– without nonprofits like the Call of Duty Endowment, many veterans would fall through the cracks, undeservingly so.

Williamson goes on to say that these nonprofits do not do it for charity, but instead do it out a sense of want to support and honor our veterans and their families. The August Chronicle similarly quotes Rep. John Barrow as saying “There’s no better way to show respect to our warriors than to make sure they can transition from the military to full-time, good paying jobs in their civilian lives.”

The Endowment applauds all other nonprofits working to help our veterans and their families transition back to civilian life. It’s not always easy, but its work that we all can be proud of.

The Endowment Partners with US Chamber to Offer 25 Career Fairs Around the Country

Last year, the Call of Duty Endowment provided a $250,000 grant to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for their Hiring Our Heroes career fair program. As such, over the next year, the Endowment will be sponsoring 25 fairs across the county.

Since March of 2011, the Hiring our Heroes program has connected 80,000 veterans and veteran spouses with 4,000 employers. From that, 6,000 have found jobs. Check out this Call of Duty Endowment YouTube video with Kevin Schmiegel, the Vice President of the US Chamber’s Veteran Employment Program:

In aligning with our priorities and mission, the Endowment is excited to be partnering with such a dedicated organization as the US Chamber, and are especially proud to be able to offer our veterans and veteran spouses such a great opportunity for success in finding employment.

Over the Past 4 Years, Female Veterans’ Homelessness Rate Doubles

Although many veterans are struggling with unemployment and homelessness as they come home from overseas, it seems that female veterans, many between the ages of 40-59 years old and with children, are seeing the toughest times.

The Huffington Post explains that in the past four years, the number of female homeless veterans doubled from 1,380 to 3,328. On top of this increase, the Department of Veteran Affairs reportedly isn’t prepared to handle this situation.

“That’s an especially large problem, seeing as 60 percent of the VA’s Grant and Per Diem Programs that serve homeless women — an effort that gives community agencies funding to provide veterans with services — don’t house children.”

Often times when reporting on veteran unemployment or homelessness, distinct veteran subsets are all lumped in together. However, it is important that we recognize the different difficulties and needs of each individual person.

American Women Veterans is an organization that provides employment, housing, education and child care resources. Check out their website for more information (http://americanwomenveterans.org/home/).

Avoiding the ‘Lost in Translation’ Moment

For veterans returning to the civilian workplace it is important to translate military-specific skill sets into language that translates to the civilian world.  The civilian market for ‘fire direction control’ is limited to say the least.  But, the market for experienced candidates accustomed to working under deadlines in high-pressure environments is enormous.

Several pieces out this week  (here and here) emphasize the importance of avoiding lost in translation moments when veterans are putting their resumes together.  As one vet puts it, “When it came time to put together a resume, I had to learn to pull out the things that didn’t pertain. You know, like blowing things up.”

For veterans working on resumes now, explore services available to you.  A blog with some helpful tips is posted here. Several organization hosting job fairs for veterans also provide resume writing and interview prep services.  For example, Hire Heroes USA provides a comprehensive set of tools here.

CNN’s John King Asks Veteran Unemployment Question at Republican Debate

At Thursday night’s South Carolina GOP debate, candidates were asked how they would help veterans find jobs. This conversation highlights the importance of the issue for our nation. We not only owe our support to the men and women who fought for us, but we also need to get our economy back in good health, and getting thousands of skilled and deserving veterans back to work is one great way. As transcribed by the Chicago Sun-Times, see below for comments made by each candidate regarding veteran unemployment.

Congressman Ron Paul: When asked whether or not the federal government should specifically target Iraq and Afghanistan veterans between the ages of 18 t0 24 for support, Paul responded by saying “Well, to some degree, but you really want to make the environment — the economy healthy for everybody, and not designate special places. But to help them out to come back is probably necessary on some occasions now…I think where the real problem is, is we can create a healthy economic environment if we did the right things. But where the veterans really deserve help, both as a physician and as a congressman, is the people who’ve come back and aren’t doing well health-wise. They need a lot more help.”

Senator Rick Santorum: When asked “Should the question be stepping in and saying we need to help this subgroup in the economy that’s hurting the veterans?” Santorum responded by saying “Well, obviously we have and should continue to have veterans’ preferences. People who went out and served this country should have — should have preferences when it comes to job positions when they come back to work in this economy…And they came back very damaged, not just with physical wounds but a lot of psychological wounds. And that’s, I’m sure, a very big part of the high unemployment rate that we’re dealing with.

”Governor Mitt Romney: When asked what specifically Romney does to help veterans, he answered by saying “In our state we found a way to help our veterans by saying, look, if you’re going to come back, particularly if you’re in the National Guard, we’ll pay for your education, college degree, both the fees and tuition — we’d give you a full ride. And we also had a plan that said, if you come back and you’ve been out of work for a year or more, we’re going to put a — like a bonus on your back, which, if anyone hires you, that bonus goes to them to pay for your training. So we can encourage that to occur… But let’s do it at the state level.”

Speaker Newt Gingrich: When asked about veterans who need jobs, Gingrich responded by saying “I would say we ought to both have a transition process for veterans to enable them to have a real advantage in getting a job when they come home, and we ought to have a very aggressive economic program of regulatory cuts and tax cuts in American energy, so that the entire population is absorbed by getting back to about 4 percent unemployment, in which case virtually every veteran would have a very good job at the end of the transition period.”

Disabled Veterans’ Organization Helps Translate the VOW Act to Daily Life

To help our disabled and unemployed veterans translate what the VOW To Hire Heroes Act really means to them and their daily lives, the Disabled Veterans National Foundation (DVNF) recently announced that they will be connecting veterans with these newly instated career resources.

The Huffington Post highlights the importance of what the DVNF is offering by explaining that “When Obama signed the ‘VOW To Hire Heroes Act’ in November, to be implemented by the VA, he promised tax credits for those who hire unemployed and disabled veterans. But, many of those veterans looking for work say that they feel left in the dark when it comes to learning about the benefits they are entitled to for their job search.”

For instance, some veterans do not realize that with the VOW Act, disabled veterans are afforded up to one year of additional vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits. It will also become easier for veterans to convert their military occupational specialties to civilian job qualifications.

To truly support and make a positive change for our unemployed veterans, everyone from public to the private sector, must work together. In this way, the Call of Duty Endowment applauds the work of organizations like the Disabled Veterans National Foundation.

Upcoming Job Fairs and Help for Vet-Owned Businesses

In the coming weeks, several organizations will be hosting job fairs for veterans and military spouses.  One of the leading organizations sponsoring hiring fairs across the county is RecruitMilitary.  So far, the organization has scheduled over 50 free hiring fairs across the country, including two events on January 26th (Las Vegas, NV & Nashville, TN).

The US Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring our Heroes Job Fairs also continue in 2012, with three events remaining in January (Knoxville, TN on 1/24 and Alexandria, LA and Longmont, CO on 1/26). Click here for a full list of scheduled events.

In addition to Veterans and their families looking for work, there may be positive news for Veteran owned businesses as well.  The Wall Street Journal reports that more states are implementing processes to allocate state and local contracts to veteran owned businesses.  23 states currently offer some type of preferential contracting process for veteran-owned businesses and legislation is moving in many more.

If veteran-businesses are able to secure even a small portion of state and local contracts, it can mean bug business.  For example, the WSJ piece reports that, “Between July 2009 and July 2010, California spent $213 million on businesses owned by disabled veterans, or around 3.7% of the state’s $5.8 billion procurement budget.”

In a difficult economy, many veterans are opening their own businesses.  State and local governments will be well served in forging partnerships with these leaders and entrepreneurs.

2012 – The Year of the Veteran?

In a recent blog on The Huffington Post, Kevin O’Brien of Milicruit challenged readers to make 2012 the year of the Veteran and Military Spouse.  Taking a step further, O’Brien asked businesses in the Fortune 1,000 to hire just 10 veterans each this year. For those of us doing the math at home that’s a million jobs for veterans and military spouses. 

Mr. O’Brien’s challenge could not be timelier.  Despite some positive news for the economy overall, USA Today points out that the jobless rates for young and female vets climbed in late 2011.  At the end of the year, one in every three veterans between 18 and 24 and 22% of female veterans could not find a job.  The jobless rate for veterans as whole is still double the national average.

Our nation cannot afford to leave veterans out of the economic recovery.  The men and women returning from battlefields overseas deserve our support and have valuable skills to contribute in the civilian workforce.  When they were called to serve, veterans and their families answered and did their duty.   Now we must answer the call to help our veterans transition back to civilian life.

Organizations like Milicruit, The Call of Duty Endowment and others serving veterans have an important role to play. But, the challenge to make 2012 the year of the veteran goes beyond the non-profit or even the fortune 1000 world.  As Mr. O’Brien states in the close of his blog, “As a society, we owe it to those who volunteered to protect our freedoms and way of life the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labor and sacrifice once they leave active service, and with just a little more focus and dedication, this is one initiative we can all get behind.”

AMVETS’ Officers Meet in Santa Maria Next Week to Discuss Possibilities for Veteran Training

AMVETS, a Call of Duty Endowment partner, is opening up career centers around the country to help veterans transition to civilian life and find employment.  In Santa Maria, California next week, about 150 AMVETS’ state officers are gathering for a mini conference to discuss not only administrative matters but also the possibility of setting up a post there.

The Santa Maria Times recognizes the Endowment’s support for California AMVETS career centers by explaining that “a grant from video game maker Activision, known for “Call of Duty,” helped fund trial career centers in the Bay Area and Tulare for veterans, many of whom return with job skills that don’t easily translate to civilian sector.”

Both AMVETS and the Endowment recognize the immense need for veteran support in California and are excited to hear about the possibility for another AMVETS post in Santa Maria.