A significant number of former Service members struggle to adapt to ‘normal’ life due to their experiences in the military. For instance, an individual might have a permanent scar or amputation. Photographic memories of mass killings can also be equally as distressing. This makes it difficult to adjusting to life back at home from a psychological perspective.
Due to the growing concerns about the wellbeing of former military officers, several veteran support groups have emerged. While most of the programs offer support regarding employment, some are made for sentimental value, such as ChallengeCoins4Less.
The following are some of the resources that can be helpful to retired Service members.
Veteran Employment Center
The US Department of Veteran Affairs oversees the Veteran Employment Center. Its role is to assist former military officers in transitioning into the private workspace. This process is aided by the army job translator, a tool that assesses the skills of a former officer and recommends the civilian job that the subject is best-suited for. Moreover, the center assists veterans to create both an online profile and a hard copy resume to help them in job-seeking. A site like silentprofessionals.org can support; it is about the private security job market. It is a source for vetted defense and private security jobs & personnel. So those are the keywords I am looking for.Once a veteran publishes their profile, it immediately becomes accessible to several potential employers. Also, the veteran can browse through millions of job postings, including ones specially reserved for former Service members.
Job Opportunities for Disabled American Veterans (JOFDAV)
This organization provides a nonprofit job board to help retired physically disabled military officers. It works in partnership with other veteran groups such as DVOPs, LVERs, and the Wounded Warrior Transition Command Centers to assist retired Service members in their work-seeking efforts. Registration is free to all veterans. The job board has thousands of employment openings.Veterati
This is a unique digital mentorship platform intended for veterans and their partners. Mostly, this platform helps former Servicemembers and their families to transition from a military lifestyle into a civilian one. During this process, the subjects get career guidance, job opportunities and in due course, obtain employment.US Department of Defense – Veterans
Of all the federal departments, the DOD Veterans division is the biggest employer of former military officers. Most of the veterans are enlisted to work as civil servants of the DOD. The job postings are published on the DOD recruitment website.Hire Heroes USA
This nonprofit organization assists retired military officers in adapting to the civilian world by providing personal training sessions. The veterans are equipped with skills on how to identify job opportunities, how to apply for openings, conduct during interviews and how to write resumes. Amazingly, these services are offered for free.LinkedIn for Vets
LinkedIn is a leading social media platform for professional networking. It has an inbuilt jobs board where potential employers post job openings within their respective organizations.For veterans, LinkedIn offers a year-long Premium subscription which also comes with unlimited access to courses on Lynda.com for only $360. Lynda.com is an online education portal that provides a great variety of learning programs across multiple disciplines.
Helmets to Hardhats
This is a nonprofit initiative that connects businesses and employers to skilled veterans to facilitate employment. It is focused on the building and construction industry. Also, Helmets and Hardhats provide vocational training to willing members of the armed forces. The program also works with the Wounded Warrior initiative from the Disabled American Veterans organization.Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)
This is also referred to as the Warriors to Work Program. The program is intended for former officers who suffered injuries in the line of duty as from 9/11 onwards. It also caters for victims of physical and mental illnesses arising from such injuries.The WWP initiative provides higher education coaching and employment internship services with the aim of empowering wounded servicemen and women to attain financial freedom.
Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF)
The role of the IVMF is helping veterans and their families in seeking and applying for job openings. The former officers are encouraged to indicate both their military and civilian employment skills during the application process. Furthermore, the IVMF formulates recruitment strategies for employers to ease the onboarding of veterans. These strategies also denote the specifics of the job as well as the path to promotion.Fastport
This is a job hunting solution that was specifically designed for veterans. It allows former officers of the military to easily find trucking jobs without searching through a vast catalogue.The platform features a map, called the Fastport Jobs Map, which indicates the location of the jobs for which a veteran is best-suited. The system is designed to evaluate the search patterns of a particular user and deliver more accurate results in subsequent searches. Fundamentally, the results get more accurate and relevant depending on the frequency of searching.
Rally Point
The primary reason for the establishment of Rally Point is to empower veterans financially and alleviate their standards of living. Rally Point works by providing a platform on which retired soldiers can build professional networks with their former colleagues. Such networks can then be used to seek job vacancies in both the private and public sectors.Rally Point was created at the Harvard Business School by a group of military veterans. To join this service, veterans create an online profile that details their accomplishments in the military. Once this is done, they can freely interact with their peers on the network.
Hire Our Heroes
Hire Our Heroes is a program aimed at helping veterans to gain employment in the civilian workspace. It offers all services free of charge. These include personal training, group training, and networking and mentorship events in the North America region.Besides coaching, Hire Our Heroes offers help in other aspects to increase the probability of veterans to land employment opportunities. Such include assistance with resume writing and conduct during interviews. Lastly, this program also links veterans to potential employers.
