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America’s Top Employers Launch Initiative to Help Match Jobs With the Unique Skills Veterans Bring to the Marketplace

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Indianapolis, IN – April 6, 2011 — DirectEmployers Association (www.directemployers.org), a non-profit consortium of over 600 leading U.S. employers, today announced an extensive online program to assist transitioning military personnel in all branches of our armed forces, their spouses, dependents, and caregivers in quickly and efficiently finding employment. The program will provide military personnel and their dependents access to more than 860,000 employment opportunities from over 90,000 employers nationwide.

The Association announced that over 5,800 dot-jobs (.jobs) domains have been added to the .Jobs Universe (www.universe.jobs) to create employment services for returning veterans (www.veterans.jobs) and their families. The domains use the Military Occupational Classification (MOC) Crosswalk to assist military personnel in transitioning from active duty to employment opportunities in the civilian workforce. Transitioning military personnel can enter their MOC plus .jobs into their browser to locate civilian occupations requiring the same or similar skills as their previous military job (e.g. www.42F.jobs, www.25B.jobs, www.2891.jobs).

The .Jobs Universe will also provide a Military Family (www.militaryfamily.jobs) feature. This is designed to help military spouses, dependents and caregivers quickly locate employment while their loved ones are serving our country. Military families can enter the name of their military installation plus the intuitive .jobs suffix into their browser and receive a list of employment opportunities on their assigned base or in surrounding cities (e.g. www.CampPendleton.jobs, www.NewportNewsShipyard.jobs, www.FtKnox.jobs).

Tom Embrescia, Chairman & CEO Employ Media (.jobs) said, “This new effort to assist our veterans and their families is further demonstration of the value and benefit of the .jobs platform. It is free for both the employer and the job seeker and it is organized to fit the way people use the Internet to search for jobs and the way companies go about attracting specific skills and experience with no artificial barriers in between. With the extra steps taken to ensure that only legitimate job listings from real companies are included, veterans and their families can have confidence in using this service to submit their background information over the Internet.”

“This is a great program for the entire human resource community as well as our transitioning military and their families. I am very proud to be a part of this exciting initiative in support of those who have unselfishly given so much for our nation,” states, Rhonda Stickley, a six-year U.S. Army veteran and current human resource executive at Seattle-based Providence Health & Services.

DirectEmployers’ new military .jobs initiative expands the potential of an already established and robust partnership with the public sector, the National Labor Exchange (NLX). Offered in partnership with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), the NLX is a free, job-search engine feeding job openings into 50 publicly-funded state job banks. This has substantially increased offerings to all jobseekers, and especially veterans. Since March 2007, the NLX has provided over 9 million, unduplicated, current jobs to state workforce agency staff dedicated to serving veterans.

The NLX uses no federal funds for operations, research, or development. Rather, this unique public-private partnership leverages private, non-profit-owned technology with existing state workforce agency resources to enhance offerings to veterans.

The NLX partners are looking forward to continuing their work with the Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) to offer comprehensive, coordinated services to returning service members and military families. DirectEmployers shares VETS’ vision and commitment to expand career opportunities for Veterans, transitioning service members, and their families.

Alicia Wallace, EEO Program Consultant for WellPoint and a military veteran whose husband is a retired infantry officer says, “I salute all companies supporting these outstanding military programs. As a nation, we should do all we can for the gallant men and women who serve in our armed forces. These individuals and their families have made great sacrifices for our country and deserve all the gratitude and support we can provide.”

About DirectEmployers Association

DirectEmployers Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, 600 plus member employer association. As provided in its corporate bylaws, the business and affairs of the Association are managed by a board of directors consisting of member company representatives. Daily operations are managed by an executive director and operations staff at the direction of the president and board of directors. Its mission is to provide employers an employment network that is cost-effective, improves labor market efficiency and reaches an ethnically diverse national workforce.

About National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA)

The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) is a private, non-profit organization, representing 52 state and territorial workforce agencies in general and the publicly-funded veterans’ employment programs in particular. The mission of NASWA is to serve as an advocate for state workforce programs and policies, a liaison to federal workforce system partners, and a forum for the exchange of information among states.

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Press Contact:

Nancy Holland
DirectEmployers Association
nancy@directemployers.com
317-874-9022

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Veterans are Talent STRONG!

Friday, January 15th, 2010

SEARCH & EMPLOY JAN/FEB 2010

LAST JANUARY, before demobilizing from the Army back into civilian life, I was honored to speak to a group of over 200 Wounded Warriors at Fort Benning, Georgia.

I talked about their transition to civilian life and what they should convey to prospective employers when trying to separate themselves from the mainly civilian pack during their job searches.

Luckily, the week before, I had been asked to give a presentation to the Continental Airlines recruiting group about the advantage of hiring prior military. John Whalin, Continental’s Senior Analyst, Employment Compliance, is ahead of most when it comes to understanding just what former military bring to the table. But unfortunately, most employers cannot relate to military experience unless they were former military themselves.

So I started my time on the floor, in front of the Wounded Warriors, with the Continental presentation and spoke to why they are great candidates. I covered the following points:

LEADERSHIP

In the military, as you propel through the ranks, you are required to attend several leadership schools. If you fail to attend classes or pass the courses, you are stripped of rank—demoted. Thus, leadership is not an option in the military. Everyone is trained for leadership and expected to become a leader at an early age.

UNDERSTANDING THE RULES

Military personnel are held to a much higher standard than civilians, and are even governed by a more strict set of rules—the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

DIVERSITY

The United States Armed Forces, considered as a single entity, are the largest employer in the nation, and one of the most diverse. In combat, the color, gender, or religion of the individual to your left or right does not matter. What truly matters is the person’s proficiency in his or her job. Are there cases of discrimination in the military? Yes, but they are dealt with swiftly under the UCMJ.

TEAM PLAYERS

A single soldier cannot watch his/ her own back—meaning the solitary soldier cannot efficiently complete the mission. That is why on day one of basic training in the Army, every trainee is issued a battle buddy before being issued anything else. Soldiers are trained to travel and work in teams, and if individualism is spotted—well, let’s just say it’s frowned upon.

EDUCATION AND TECH SAVVY

Military personnel can attend college, when not deployed, and have Uncle Sam pick up a big portion of the cost. So when personnel leave the military, they commonly have degrees or are working toward them. And after they leave, they have ample opportunity to further their education via the GI Bill and other readily available funding programs.

The military also invests in and utilizes state-of-the-art technology, and has close to a hundred technical positions. The Air Force and Navy are extremely technical. Their personnel are extremely well trained in anti-cyber-terrorism and are responsible for protecting America’s cyber borders, so to speak.

PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE

Imagine doing your job every day knowing there are lives at stake—and knowing that the preservation of those lives depends on your performance. The pressure of performing in what could quickly develop into a grave situation is merely a part of everyday military life.

DRUG-FREE AND HEALTHY

Military personnel regularly receive drug tests and physical examinations. The military thereby keeps its personnel drug-free and physically ready, to ensure combat effectiveness and their ability to fight and win on any battlefield.

Military personnel are accustomed to urinalysis once a quarter, daily fitness training, and physical fitness testing—which includes upper body, core, and endurance events at least once a quarter. Imagine what our health insurance rates would be if every company implemented such programs.

SECURITY CLEARANCES

The military conducts in-depth background checks and provides security clearances to personnel who come in contact with certain levels of information. Those personnel are cleared and vetted well before hitting the civilian market.

QUICK LEARNERS

One of the words best describing military personnel is adaptability. To train for the War on Terror, soldiers are taught to be adaptable and think on their feet—unlike 20 years ago, when soldiers were taught not to think. The battlefield has changed, and so has the training of U.S. soldiers. The new kind of training blends well into the civilian market.

WILLING TO RELOCATE

Military personnel are accustomed to moving once every three years or so, but this does not mean they are job jumpers. Uncle Sam religiously rotates troops to give them the ability to adapt and overcome in any situation or environment.

I have listed just a handful of the traits of our talent strong military personnel—characteristics that employers desperately need in any type of economic environment. And in these tough economic times, it makes especially good sense to recruit military!

Chad Sowash Chad Sowash is Vice President of Business Development at DirectEmployers Association, where he leads VetCentral and several other veteran-centric employment projects. Chad was an Infantry Drill Sergeant in the United States Army. Contact him at 371-874- 9003 or chad@directemployers.org.

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