I have been doing a lot of research on this topic: These Veterans "Initiatives" are bogus...
Troops to Energy Initiative---
I recently (in last month or so) spoke with several of these companies about hiring veterans...One of them is downsizing, a few are only looking for the same "Specific Degrees" as every other employer (STEM degrees), and the other ones were offering salaries so insulting to veterans returning, it makes them think about staying in the military and dealing with deployments. I hate to sound like I am disgruntled, but this economy is terrible right now, and returning Veterans SHOULD be put in the front of the line to EARN our way, unfortunately, companies are looking for specific degrees rather than people who actually perform. I would love to hear about these opportunities (if there really are opportunities). I just feel all these "Veteran Initiatives" are just for show, and are actually not geared toward helping veterans get COMPETITIVE salary jobs
The fact is most of these initiatives are a bunch of hoopla to make veterans feel like we have a chance to land a job... The fact is, sadly, if you are not a Nurse, IT, or have a STEM degree... you most likely will not land a job that is comparable to what you make in the military. (for instance, if you look at the military to civilian salary calculator, you add 15% to compensate for our low cost of benefits)... Lets just say an 0-1E with over 8 years... they make about 65k a year, plus the 15% puts them at about 77k... If you do a basic job search for a salary that high... the require specific degrees, or absurd amounts of "industry experience" and wont even give the veteran a chance to explain why they can do the job. Its a catch 22... we can learn these skills quickly, have the leadership they need, but we cant get the experience because they wont hire us. Absolute joke. My 4 year degree is basically useless, because no one cares about what it is in... now they want Business, IT, Nurses, or Engineering degrees... thats about it.
I wish it was different and they would hire people that perform. Veterans are being pushed aside for recent college graduates that will take absurdly low wages. Veteran unemployment is 30% higher than Non Veteran unemployment... and we need to do something about it. We have served our country and should be bumped to the front of the line for jobs (at least the chance to interview). We deserve better than what we are getting.
Troops to Energy Initiative---
I recently (in last month or so) spoke with several of these companies about hiring veterans...One of them is downsizing, a few are only looking for the same "Specific Degrees" as every other employer (STEM degrees), and the other ones were offering salaries so insulting to veterans returning, it makes them think about staying in the military and dealing with deployments. I hate to sound like I am disgruntled, but this economy is terrible right now, and returning Veterans SHOULD be put in the front of the line to EARN our way, unfortunately, companies are looking for specific degrees rather than people who actually perform. I would love to hear about these opportunities (if there really are opportunities). I just feel all these "Veteran Initiatives" are just for show, and are actually not geared toward helping veterans get COMPETITIVE salary jobs
The fact is most of these initiatives are a bunch of hoopla to make veterans feel like we have a chance to land a job... The fact is, sadly, if you are not a Nurse, IT, or have a STEM degree... you most likely will not land a job that is comparable to what you make in the military. (for instance, if you look at the military to civilian salary calculator, you add 15% to compensate for our low cost of benefits)... Lets just say an 0-1E with over 8 years... they make about 65k a year, plus the 15% puts them at about 77k... If you do a basic job search for a salary that high... the require specific degrees, or absurd amounts of "industry experience" and wont even give the veteran a chance to explain why they can do the job. Its a catch 22... we can learn these skills quickly, have the leadership they need, but we cant get the experience because they wont hire us. Absolute joke. My 4 year degree is basically useless, because no one cares about what it is in... now they want Business, IT, Nurses, or Engineering degrees... thats about it.
I wish it was different and they would hire people that perform. Veterans are being pushed aside for recent college graduates that will take absurdly low wages. Veteran unemployment is 30% higher than Non Veteran unemployment... and we need to do something about it. We have served our country and should be bumped to the front of the line for jobs (at least the chance to interview). We deserve better than what we are getting.