Connecting Veterans & Employers

Hiring our Heroes• Hiring Our Heroes, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, was

launched in March 2011 as a nationwide initiative to help veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses find meaningful employment opportunities. Working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s vast network of state and local chambers and strategic partners from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, our goal is to create a movement across America in hundreds of communities where veterans and military families return every day.

Services• Resume building• Job fairs more than 700• Jobs Portal• Mentorships• And more

Successes• 23k vets and spouses have obtained jobs through HOH job fairs!• Over 1500 businesses have pledged to hire over 411k heroes• Of the 411k over 255k already hired

Why Military/Veterans• Remember when we say Military this includes; Army, Air force, Navy

Marines, Coast Guard, Reserves, and National Guard.• About 200,000 service members leave the military each year.• There are about 24 million veterans, over 11 million under age 60.• Government sponsored education benefits, allowing a military/veteran to

get additional education/training. http://gibill.va.gov/ and http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/

• Work Opportunity Tax credit.– Employers get $2400 for hiring an unemployed vet– Employer gets $4800 for hiring a disabled Vethttp://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfm

Making the Case to Hire Veterans1. Proven Learner, with great skills and training2. Leadership, strategic and planning foresight3. Proven ability to work as a team and independently4. Diversity and strong interpersonal skills5. Ability to work diligently under pressure6. Strong sense of responsibility, procedure, and accountability7. Loyalty and integrity with the ability to see a task through to

completion8. Positively enhances the image of a company9. High degree of professionalism, respect, health, and safety10.Adaptability, quick thinking, with the ability to triumph over

adversity

USSERA- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

• Protects Veterans• Applies to ALL employers• Part of U.S. Department of Labor• Different from EEOC and OFCCP• Protects civilian job rights and benefits for veterans and

members of Reserve components• Provides protection for disabled veterans, requiring

employers to make reasonable efforts to accommodate the disability

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htmhttp://www.dol.gov/compliance/topics/hiring-vets.htm

Military Ranks VS Pay Grade

Pay Grade, Abbreviation, Title• Terms Pay grade and rank are sometimes used

interchangeably.• Pay Grade – E=Enlisted, W= Warrant Officer, O = Officer• Enlisted think of as hands on workers or day to day

operations• Warrant Officers think of as highly technical and

specialized a bridge between enlisted and Officer• Officer the guys in charge, the high level managers

http://www.military-quotes.com/military-rank.htm

Understanding Military/Vets

MOCS to Civilian

• All branches of the Armed services have a Military Occupational Classification Structure (MOCS). Basically their job. Between them there are over 7,000 job positions and more than 100 functional areas. Over 81% have a civilian equivalent.

• The Army has MOS stands for Military Occupational Specialty. • The Air force has Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSC).• Navy has Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC)• All military personnel will have had an MOC, the issue is equating it to its civilian

counter part. Below are links that can help.http://www.careerinfonet.org/moc/default.aspx?audience=WP• For occupations associated with Federal jobs use Mil2Fedjobs.com• Documents that will further outline their skills: DD214, PQR (PERSONNEL

QUALIFICATION RECORD), ACE transcript• Also keep in mind most veterans will have had more than one MOC, at the very

least they will have a primary and secondary as well as a lot of other training.• You still need to take into account, education, skill set, experience.

Understanding Military/Vets

MOCS translator

Framework Checklist for creating a veteran/military staffing program!!!Links to most of this information was given in this presentation

• Research all laws, policies and procedures related to hiring veterans. Distinguish between absence for vacation and an absence for service, include in Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Come up with a viable complete process, that will identify Vets as they come and ensure all vets are considered, and all vets are communicated with.

• Create a dedicated budget for VET hiring.• Decide what things you are willing to do above and beyond what the laws say, for

example are you willing to pay an employee who is also a reservist their salary if the get called up for some reason?

• Support employees who are VETS that are mobilized• Establish apprenticeship and training programs.• Decide what MOCs correspond to positions you have within your company.• Contact the local transition office and work with them.• Identify sites, and events worth participating in based on location, and likely population

of veterans that fit your openings.• Brand your company as veteran friendly company, Apply for formal recognition as an

employer that is supportive of the military, career fairs, ensure your jobs are on vet boards, etc.

Framework Checklist for creating a veteran/military staffing program 2!!!

Links to most of this information was given in this presentation• Get Social with regards to your Vet program, this includes talent communities,

outreach programs, blogging etc.• Ensure your career site is vet friendly, and have a vet specific page, things to be on it;

career fairs, outreach opportunities, ability to send txt messages as reminders of company vet programs, fairs, outreach, add VIDEO Day in the Life (DIAL) of vet working at company, newsletter, partnerships with vet service run orgs, quote positive vet hiring stats and data, highlight special vet programs, vet awards, info to help Vets such as resume writing, job boards, etc, links to other websites of interest, highlight accomadating of disabled vets, etc.

• Have your website reviewed for Section 508 compliance. Section 508 refers to a requirement for the Federal government to make its electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Veterans who are visually or aurally impaired are using special readers and devices to assist them in reviewing content on the web, including job postings and company information.

• Educate you recruiters and sourcers• MOST IMPORTANTLY HIRE THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO CREATE, WORK, AND MANAGE THE

PROGRAM AS WELL AS GET BUY IN, BACKING, AND CHAMPIONING OF THE PROGRAM FROM SENIOR EXECUTIVES. SHOULD BE VETs!!!!

Companies Helping Vets• Mentorship programs• Giving more for those still serving• Forums, and Support groups• Designate a POC for Vets• Vet days at work• Allowing vets to take off on vet holidays• Paying for Va visits• Extra Training• Recognition• Vet parking places

Additional Considerations• Keep in mind it is not just about hiring a veteran it is about helping a

veteran. We are a small community that talks and takes care of our own. Helping a veteran now, can lead to hires in the future.

• Also remember when hiring a veteran that some of them may have additional commitments to the Armed Forces. There are guideline for these commitments and what responsibilities a company may have. See USERRA for more info.

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htm********************

I am constantly searching for info on finding, hiring and helping vets. The link below is to my website and specifically to the vet part so check it out for updates.http://thesearchauthority.weebly.com/vets.html

• Every base or installation should have a transition office that helps military find jobs, and would be a good place to connect with and start*******

http://www.careeronestop.org/militarytransition/findTransitionCenters.asp

Resources for employershttp://www.americasheroesatwork.gov/forEmployershttp://nod.org/research_publications/americas_best/http://www.thevalueofaveteran.com/https://www.armypays.com/INDEX.html

Job Fairshttp://www.heroeshiringheroes.com/http://www.uschamber.com/hiringourheroes/http://sacc-jobfair.com/

Additional Resources

Additional ResourcesJob Boards

http://100000jobsmission.com/http://www.showyourstripes.org/https://h2h.jobs/https://monster.com/military.com has a great military presencehttp://www.hireheroesusa.org/https://www.jofdav.com/http://recruitmilitary.com/http://www.helmetstohardhats.org/https://vetjobs.com/http://www.patriotjobs.net/http://www.fedshirevets.gov/http://www.militaryhire.com/

Additional ResourcesJob Boards Continued

http://corporategray.com/http://home.intelligencecareers.com/http://us.jobs/ has a vet sectionhttp://board.jobcentral.com/usacares has loads of info toohttp://www.clearancejobs.com/ http://saveourveterans.org/ has a lot of info, and a jobs sectionhttp://msccn.org/http://www.veteranjobs.com/http://www.militaryconnection.com/ lots of info toohttp://www.hireveterans.com/http://www.postmilitaryemployment.com/# lots of infohttps://msepjobs.militaryonesource.mil/ Board and more

Additional ResourcesInformation for use by Vets and Employers

http://www.hiremilitary.com/http://www.onlinecollege.org/2013/02/21/the-war-home-the-struggle-veterans-find-jobs/

http://gibill.va.gov/http://www.servicelocator.org/http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/https://www.acap.army.mil/default.aspxhttp://www.military.com/veterans-day/hire-veterans.htmlhttp://www.military.com/ has job board, a lot of info and morehttp://www.taonline.com/TAPOffice/http://info.helmetstohardhats.org/content/wounded-warriors/indexhttp://www.wtc.army.mil/about_us/eei_for_employers.htmlhttp://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htm

Additional Resources ContinuedInformation for use by Vets and Employers

http://www.dol.gov/compliance/topics/hiring-vets.htmhttp://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/eligible.cfmhttp://www.va.gov/jobs/hiring_programs.asphttp://www.military-quotes.com/military-rank.htm for looking up rankshttp://www.workworld.org/wwwebhelp/veterans_service_organizations_overview.htm List of vet/military orgnizationshttp://www.fas.org/news/reference/lexicon/acronym.htm http://securityclearancejobs.blogspot.com/2007/10/most-complete-list-available-for.html List of Clearances and morehttp://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/index.shtml Agencieshttp://washingtontechnology.com/toplists/top-100-lists/2012.aspx Support companieshttp://www.careeronestop.org/militarytransition/findTransitionCenters.aspx list of transition officeswww.servicelocator.org List service locatorshttp://www.wtc.army.mil/soldier/education_training.html Lost of info and job boardshttp://www.justiceforvets.org/ ways to help and get involved with helping Vets and more

Additional Resources ContinuedVETS

https://www.rallypoint.com/ http://www.postmilitaryemployment.com/ can also post jobs herehttp://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ Organization helping vetshttp://www.vetsuccess.gov/ you can also post jobs herehttp://www.wtc.army.mil/http://www.operationveteranspromise.org/http://veteransenterprise.com/ you can also post jobs herehttp://www.acp-usa.org/http://missioncontinues.org/http://www.dhs.gov/operation-warfighterhttp://superreunion.org/schedule.htm has job boards and job fairshttp://www.pva.org/

My Contact InformationDean Da Costa, SP, TSIS, STLThe Search Authorityhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/deandacostahttp://thesearchauthority.weebly.com/searchauthority@comcast.net206-214-5337 Mobile253-520-3305 Office“Helping people connect with their destiny” Top 25 Must Read Blogs for Recruiters #12http://hr.sparkhire.com/human-resources-news/spark-hires-top-25-must-read-blogs-for-recruiters/2012 HRE #1 most influential Recruiterhttp://www.hrexaminer.com/lists/online-influence-recruiting-2012-v5

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