Resources for Military Veterans Seeking Civilian Employment and Training

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Tumblr
Telegram
resources for military veterans seeking civilian employment and training
Leaving military service and entering the civilian workforce is a major transition. Your skills are valuable, but you need to translate them into language civilian employers understand.

Leaving military service and entering the civilian workforce is a major transition. Your skills are valuable, but you need to translate them into language civilian employers understand.

Start with the free public resources. The U.S. Department of Labor funds a network of about 2,400 American Job Centers across the country. These centers offer job search help, career counseling, and training referrals, and veterans get priority of service. You can find your nearest center through the CareerOneStop website, which also has tools for matching military experience to civilian jobs. Sources: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/american-job-centers and https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/AmericanJobCenters/american-job-centers.aspx

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers education benefits, vocational rehabilitation, and employment support for eligible veterans. Check what you qualify for before you start paying for training yourself. Our article on veteran student support services and benefits has more detail.

Private organizations can help too. Hire Heroes USA provides free career coaching and job placement help to veterans and military spouses. Recruit Military runs job fairs and an online job board focused on veteran hiring. Helmets to Hardhats connects veterans with careers in the construction trades.

When you apply, rewrite your resume in civilian terms. A hiring manager will not know what your military job title means. Focus on what you did, the size of the teams or budgets you handled, and the results you produced.

Use your network. Other veterans who have already made the transition can tell you which employers actually hire veterans and which ones just say they do. Veteran service organizations and local chambers of commerce often host relevant events.

If you want more education, look into programs designed for veterans. Some schools offer credit for military training and flexible schedules for working adults. See educational opportunities for military and veterans and 8 keys to veterans’ success.

Related Posts
Academic Degrees

What Skills Can You Gain From Earning A Master’s Degree?

A master’s degree builds on what you learned as an undergraduate. You go deeper into one subject and learn how research is done in that field. The main gains are subject knowledge, research skill, and the habit of working through hard problems. Most programs end with a thesis, capstone, or applied project. That kind of work teaches you to plan a long task, find and judge sources, and present findings clearly. These are the skills employers mean when they ask for critical thinking. You also meet people. Classmates, professors, and guest speakers become a professional network. Surveys repeatedly find that a large share of workers got their current job through a personal or professional connection, so these relationships matter when you start job hunting. Reading best practices for networking and building professional relationships before you enroll can help you make the most of that time. A master’s can raise pay and open doors to senior roles, but that depends on the field. In some industries the degree is a hard requirement. In others, work experience counts for more. Examples include the Master of Science in Business Administration, which suits management and operations roles, and the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership, which suits people moving into leadership. Review career opportunities with a master’s in business administration and the benefits of a master’s in organizational leadership before deciding. Before enrolling, talk to people doing the job you want and ask what they recommend. Their answers are worth more than any brochure.

Read More
Distance Education

Are Online Master’s Degrees Credible Like Traditional Ones?

Online master’s degrees used to be treated with suspicion. That has changed. Surveys of employers show that acceptance has grown. A 2023 survey found 83 percent of business leaders rated online degrees from well-known universities as equally valuable as on-campus degrees. A Graduate Management Admission Council survey found 54 percent of US employers rated online and in-person management degrees as equally valuable. Most hiring managers now weigh accreditation and the school’s reputation more than how the classes were delivered. Accreditation is the thing to check. An accredited online program meets the same standards as an accredited campus program. If a school is not accredited, the degree will not carry weight no matter how it was delivered. Online study suits people who need flexible online learning. Working parents and full-time employees can study in the evenings instead of commuting to campus. The trade-offs are real too. You need discipline to study alone, and you will miss the casual conversations of campus life. These tips for succeeding in online learning can help if you go this route. Choose based on your life, not on prestige alone. Compare options such as online master’s programs in business administration and accredited low-cost programs in organizational leadership. A good program is one you can finish.

Read More