More information on veterans benefits at the Veteran's Administration web site:

http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/

Heros at Work - Veterans Hiring Toolkit

Interested in developing or enhancing a Veterans hiring initiative for your company but don't know where to begin?

This Toolkit can help. It is designed to assist and educate employers who have made the proactive decision to include transitioning Service Members, Veterans and wounded warriors in their recruitment and hiring initiatives.

The U.S. Department of Labor recognizes that employers can sometimes find it difficult to navigate the plethora of Veterans hiring resources available to them. So, this Toolkit was developed to simplify the process and put valuable resources at your fingertips. It serves to pinpoint helpful tools and outline some important steps to take when designing a Veterans hiring initiative that works for your particular business.

Recognizing that each employer is unique, this guide allows you to select from promising practices and other resources that employers are using to successfully welcome talented and skilled Veterans into their companies.

Whether you are looking to create a plan from scratch or retool existing efforts, we encourage you to reference this guide and design an initiative that works for you.

• Step 1 — Design a Strategy for Your Veterans Hiring Program
• Step 2 — Create a Welcoming and Educated Workplace for Veterans
• Step 3 — Actively Recruit Veterans, Wounded Warriors and Military Spouses
• Step 4 — Hire Qualified Veterans and Learn how to Accommodate Wounded Warriors
• Step 5 — Promote an Inclusive Workplace to Retain Your Veteran Employees
• Step 6 — Keep Helpful Tools and Resources at Your Fingertips
  
  

Adapting Military Skills in the Civilian Workplace

The following Workforce System Strategies (WSS) resources provide information about eligibility, use of scholarships, and the application of military skills to the civilian workplace for service members transitioning to civilian life, military spouses, and future civilian employers of veterans.

1.  Advancing the Careers of Military Spouses: An Assessment of Education and Employment Goals and Barriers Facing Military Spouses Eligible for MyCAA. This report examines a financial assistance program that aims to help military spouses obtain specified career credentials and subsequent employment. The My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) is a Department of Defense (DoD) financial assistance program designed to help eligible military spouses pursue associate’s degrees, occupational certificates, or licenses in portable career fields.

Read Report (link under "related content" on left-side of page)

2.  What Veterans Bring to Civilian Workplaces: A Prototype Toolkit for Helping Private-Sector Employers Understand the Nontechnical Skills Taught in the Military. Released by the National Defense Research Institute, this prototype toolkit is available for civilian employers to use to review veterans’ resumes and to conduct interviews with veterans. The toolkit describes technical and nontechnical skills, basic and advanced career courses taught in the Army and Marines, and the core competencies developed in each course. In addition to addressing questions about veterans’ skills and courses, this toolkit includes background information about military terms and organization to highlight veterans’ training and experience related to leadership, teamwork, team-building, critical thinking, and handling stress.

Read Report (link under "related content" on left-side of page)

3.  Pilot Study: Translating Military Skills to Civilian Employment. This pilot study serves as a guide “to improve the ability of Service members and Veterans to translate their military training and experience to relevant civilian jobs through and improved military to civilian crosswalk” of occupational skills. In addition to creating a list of civilian careers that match with these military positions, the crosswalk also provides additional information, such as the “typical minimum pay grade” (p.iii) and “military attainability level” (p.iv) that would be required for the civilian occupations. 

Read Report (link under "related content" on left-side of page)

New Employment Initiatives for Veterans

The Gold Card provides unemployed post-9/11 era veterans with the intensive and follow-up services they need to succeed in today's job market. The Gold Card initiative is a joint effort of the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS).

An eligible veteran can present the Gold Card at his/her local One-Stop Career Center to receive enhanced intensive services including up to six months
of follow-up.

The enhanced in-person services available for Gold Card holders
at local One-Stop Career Centers may include:

• Job readiness assessment, including interviews and testing;
• Development of an Individual Development Plan (IDP);
• Career guidance through group or individual counseling that helps veterans
  in making training and career decisions;
• Provision of labor market, occupational, and skills transferability information that inform educational, training, and occupational decisions;
• Referral to job banks, job portals, and job openings;
• Referral to employers and registered apprenticeship sponsors;
• Referral to training by WIA-funded or third party service providers; and
• Monthly follow-up by an assigned case manager for up to six months.

Eligible veterans can print a Gold Card here.

Hiring Our Heros Corporate Fellowship Program

The Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program is a unique opportunity for employers to connect with experienced active duty service members interested in transitioning into management opportunities in the civilian sector. Companies and fellows are matched for the 12-week program, which includes both on-the-job training and classroom corporate education.
This program is currently available at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Fort Hood, and Fort Campbell and will be expanding in 2016 to include additional installations such as Fort Bliss, Fort Carson, Fort Huachuca, Phoenix, and installations in Washington, D.C.
If your company is interested in participating or wants to learn more about this unique opportunity, contact/email the Hiring Our Heroes Fellowship Team here.

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