From military to civilian

From military to civilian
By Aïssatou Sidimé

When Adam Gomez  left the Air Force in late 2002 after serving as a security officer on bases in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, he expected to shift into a similar job in the civilian world.

Instead, Gomez found himself unemployed. The best job he was offered and accepted was loading stock in an auto parts warehouse.

Then his girlfriend came across www.helmetstohardhats.org, the Web site of a new program that helps military personnel find civilian work. Helmets to Hardhats got Gomez into an apprenticeship program doing something he’d always enjoyed: welding.

“I’d had a tough time,” the 28-year-old says today, five months into the program that has him working at M&M Metals in San Antonio. “Helmets to Hardhats made it easier. I’ve referred it to a couple of other people who got out of the military recently.”

Although they are often exemplary, disciplined workers, military personnel face special obstacles when entering the private work force. They struggle most when making the transition after spending decades in a military career or if the military was their first and only job after high school, according to military personnel.

When Adam Gomez left the Air Force in late 2002 after serving as a security officer on bases in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, he expected to shift into a similar job in the civilian world.

Instead, Gomez found himself unemployed. The best job he was offered and accepted was loading stock in an auto parts warehouse.

Then his girlfriend came across www.helmetstohardhats.org, the Web site of a new program that helps military personnel find civilian work. Helmets to Hardhats got Gomez into an apprenticeship program doing something he’d always enjoyed: welding.

“I’d had a tough time,” the 28-year-old says today, five months into the program that has him working at M&M Metals in San Antonio. “Helmets to Hardhats made it easier. I’ve referred it to a couple of other people who got out of the military recently.”

Although they are often exemplary, disciplined workers, military personnel face special obstacles when entering the private work force. They struggle most when making the transition after spending decades in a military career or if the military was their first and only job after high school, according to military personnel.

In an attempt to smooth the transition, the departments of Labor, Defense and Veterans Affairs have launched new initiatives, such as Marine For Life, a pilot program designed to help Marines find jobs, , in the last three years. Veterans are partnering with several industries to help brethren find work. Private companies, such as Home Depot, are joining the initiatives and in some cases giving them hiring preferences because they offer a low-cost way to find and retain former military personnel and their families.

Veterans’ advocates boast the extra hands are merely a way to level the playing field between military personnel and civilian employees. Young soldiers and airmen may be drug-free, in good physical condition and have had leadership training that make them ideal for supervisory positions, they say, but often don’t know the basics of getting invited to interview.

“A lot of young troops coming out of active duty don’t know where to start,” said Lt. Col. John Tansill, spokesman for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. “Often they finished high school and went straight off to boot camp. Then after a three- to five-year tour, they are out but have never had a taste of the business world.”

Many have never written a résumé.

Sometimes, they struggle to present their skills in a way that a lay person can match to real-world employment needs, said Jeffrey Bright, who retired as an Air Force master sergeant in 2002.

Bright, now 43, joined the service after his 19th birthday. He had worked part-time for H.E. Butt Grocery Co. during his last five years of military service to get reacquainted with the civilian work force, but says he’s still unsure about his own résumé.

“One of the biggest differences is language,” said Bright, who now is a freight team supervisor at the Home Depot on Highway 151. “You use a lot of terms and vocabulary in the military that do not translate into civilian terms.”

The biggest obstacle for veterans often is that the standard military life of moving from one base to another doesn’t lend itself to building contacts that can help in a job search.

“Networking is probably how you get your most exposure in a job search,” said T.P. O’Mahoney, chairman of President Bush’s National Hire Veterans Committee and a former commissioner on the Texas Workforce Commission. “If you’ve been out of the country or your local work force for years, you’ve been out of the job network.”

Before, veterans relied on the military’s in-house transition coaches. They offered classes in résumé writing, proper work attire and similar issues on the bases. In 2001, the Marine Corps began funding Marine For Life as a pilot program to help its service personnel with networking and job searches in their hometowns. Last year, 19,000 Marines logged on to the www.m4l.usmc.mil Web site to review Marine-friendly jobs and other aid in 80 communities.

Now, veterans also are taking the lead in helping one another change careers. Through independent programs like Helmets to Hardhats, which was set up by veterans, service personnel can go online to post a résumé, educational background, military experience, and career goals and can apply for jobs in 15 construction trades. Employers and several unions then go online to see who matches their needs.

In its first two years, 55,000 veterans signed up and 13,000 found jobs through Helmets to Hardhats, according to retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Matthew Caulfield, who heads the organization.

It’s simplifying the search for both sides, employers say.

Tim McGrath, business manager of Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 67, which referred Adam Gomez for work, used to drive to Killeen periodically and set up a booth at the base promoting the union’s members in hopes of snagging an interested veteran. Most trips were fruitless.

“Now Helmets to Hardhats tells us when there’s someone from an engineering group or construction unit looking for employment and we meet with them,” McGrath said. “We go to Killeen now only when we have people who are really interested.”

Unlike the post-Vietnam era when veterans often struggled to find employment, employers also seem to be embracing the government initiatives. Home Depot, General Motors, Hartford Financial and Sun Truck International launched special employment drives targeted at the military.

Home Depot created a special Web site for veterans and their family members to apply for openings. The retail giant pledges to give them preference for jobs anywhere in its company when they are transferred or are reassigned or retire.

“Folks who come to us from the military have been exceptional employees,” explained Bob Ravener, vice president of human resources for Home Depot. “They have already been through very rigorous screening and development processes and have had plenty of situations where they had to work in teams.”

The company has boosted its employment of veterans by 50 percent since it launched the site last year.

www.hireveterans.com
www.hireveterans.com