Noteboom The Law Firm

The Challenge of Adapting from the Military to Civilian Employment

Some members of the military may be overestimating the appeal of their Military Occupation Specialty to employers in the civilian world. For example, those military members with training in medical response and related fields may have more trouble marketing those skills than in years past.

Though it flies in the face of what many young people are told during the recruitment phase, veterans are not necessarily sought out for employment simply because they are veterans. The reality is for many veterans, specially trained or not, without the proper private sector certifications, employment may be difficult to find.

It is true that many employers may have high respect for veterans and their well-known traits (dependability, work ethic, and so on), but in a tight economy, are more likely to opt for the candidate with higher education or more focused training.

Additionally, many soldiers joined the military shortly after high school and when they re-enter the civilian world, they are doing so without a college education at an age where the people they are competing with for jobs have been to college. The recession has hit everyone hard. For Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, more than 20% were unemployed in 2010, which is a higher unemployment rate than non-veterans.

Programs to combat unemployment for veterans would be a worthwhile investment, and may include an educational component for both potential employers and military members.