Abie Chong ⋅ Mc Lean, VA Hilton ⋅ 35 years experience

Start with this free, interactive, role-playing resource...it's educational for all parties.

The site is reinventingmichaelbanks.com

Reinventing Michael Banks is an interactive movie dedicated to helping Veterans, their families and employers address the challenges of transitioning from active-duty service to meaningful civilian employment. Hope this helps your team get on the right path!

Joseph Barnhardt ⋅ Huachuca City, AZ Dr. J. Barnhardt LLC ⋅ 40 years experience

Sir,

I am a veteran on a Think Tank here in Arizona.
We can support you in this endeavor.

Dr. Joseph Barnhardt
dr.j.barnhardt@gmx.com

Brandon Knecht ⋅ Chicago, IL Allstate Insurance Company ⋅ 15 years experience

Thank you so much everyone for the answers. This is all extremely valuable information when we build our program.

Stephen Kemp ⋅ Peoria, AZ City of Peoria, Arizona ⋅ 32 years experience

My son is a Marine Corps veteran, who served in Afghanistan. Some things that he found difficult in adjusting to. The military is extremely structured, many civilian work places are not. In the military when you screw up, discipline is fast and over with. In the Civilian world, it is not. In the military there was much more of sense of each person having the other's back. In many civilian work places that sense of team does not exist. The civilian world looks at how employees can add value to the orgnization through suggestions, process improvement; while the military is focused on following structure. I don't think we do a good job of preparing individuals for what to expect once they are in the civilian world. We think a few resume writing courses and perhaps an interview skills course is enough, when we really need several sessions on preparing individuals on what to expect and how to manage

Constance L Joy ⋅ Virginia Beach, VA Bank of America ⋅ 10 years experience

It’s great your company wants to do this but there is a lot of information out there without going to large expense you might want to try first. Let your people know in the beginning, it’s like dealing with someone who speaks a foreign language. You have to know a little about each other before you can communicate.
Because of who, they (military personnel) are and what they do, their mind set 24/7 is on a different frequency, the military job way and military requirements to keep that job. Getting a raise is not as simple as in the civilian community where you can apply for a different position that pays a higher rate. Rank and time in service dictates their pay grade.
Keep in mind that military communities are very transitional; therefore their everyday thought process is short term. Find out how the military and civilian job fields equate one to the other. Upon transition the military personnel need to know how their military job experience translates into what they can do for the prospective employer. Employers, see how you can write a job description that incorporates wording for certain military backgrounds so they know they have what you are looking for and no time’s wasted. A lot of military dependents had/have to transition to. Put a post on face book/Linkedin and ask them (former spouses & dependents) what their challenges were. Be prepared for a lot of information.
Here are the links to a very few of the places that offer help to Veterans and potential employers come together.
http://www.nawb.org/ The national association of workforce boards
https://www.wfdc.org/ The workforce Development Center
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/phases-retiring?content_id=267523 Military One Source
http://vets.syr.edu/education/employment-programs/ Syracuse Univ Institute for Veterans & Military Families
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/just-veterans Texas Workforce Commission

Neil Serafin ⋅ Easthampton, MA Telecommunications ⋅ 40 years experience

You say the truth Richard! ..disconnect is so large between those who served and those who did not. So some advice for the those that served: do not think you are entitled, do not expect your employer to do anything extra, view your time in as another place in time....remember the public can recall who got pushed off the Island in 2007 but cannot recall anything about Iraq.

Linda Welch ⋅ Plano, TX United States Postal Service ⋅ 40 years experience

I just joined the Board of Directors at Dress for Success Dallas and have been volunteering there for several years. We offer a number of programs for men and women trying to get in the workplace or improve their position in the workplace. We have a partnership with Walmart and offer seminars on job searches, goal setting, transferable skills, cover letters and resumes, branding yourself, social media use and mock interviews. We have partnered with various employers in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to participate in the mock interviews and offer employment information about their companies. You might check to see if you have a local DFS Affiliate offering similar assistance.

Richard Mentz ⋅ Phoenix, AZ Goodwill of Central Arizona ⋅ 28 years experience

I have been a career advisor for a couple years and a US Army veteran for 35 yrs. I volunteered at Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), trying to put our homeless veterans back to work and off the streets. It is challenging but, the resources are out there if you can maneuver through the red tape. My experience at CASS was frustrating and enlightening at the same time. The system is broken and needs an overhaul if not just euthanized! Civilians have no idea what challenges our veterans face every day and the solution to this problem is to have veterans help veterans because, the private sector is failing miserably.