u.s. veterans From war zones to job market

March 11, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

McClatchy Newspapers

RALEIGH, N.C.

His job in the military brought New York native Joseph Rodriguez to North Carolina. The promise of a job outside the Army keeps the former infantryman here.

Since getting out of the military in 2004, Rodriguez has had a series of jobs. His last one ended in December, casting Rodriguez into the ranks of a segment of the population whose status most rankles the American public: unemployed recent combat veterans.

It’s a difficult job market for everyone, but veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have had higher-than-average unemployment rates across the country. In some states, as many as 20 percent of post-9/11 vets are out of work.

They leave the military with a unique set of challenges and benefits. They’re relatively young and inexperienced at a time when the job market favors the seasoned. They may have physical and psychological injuries related to their service and combat deployments. They don’t always know how the skills they learned in the military can be used in the civilian workplace.

Frustrated to see people it regards as heroes marginalized, the nation has responded. Dozens of programs created by federal, state and local governments, veterans advocacy groups and interest by private businesses have cut the unemployment rate among vets of Gulf War II, a statistical category used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to describe those who served during either the Iraq War or the Afghanistan War. Joblessness among Gulf War II vets has fallen from 15.2 percent nationwide in January 2011 to 9.1 percent in January 2012.

“They have great skills,” said Edith Edmond, manager of the North Carolina Division of Employment Security’s JobLink Career Center in Fayetteville, N.C., which sees hundreds of ex-soldiers each week.

Edmond, who spent three years in the military herself, said veterans display exceptional teamwork, flexibility, self-discipline and leadership, and when something goes wrong on the job, “they can usually figure out a way,” Edmond said. “They just know how to make things happen.”

What they don’t always know how to do, she said, is tell a potential employer what they have to offer.

“You speak a completely different language when you’re in,” Edmond said. “When you’re in the military and you see someone in their Class A uniform, you know their rank, how successful they’ve been, what field they’re in and about how many years they’ve done it. You know things about them that most people wouldn’t know after a 30-minute conversation.

“Now that you’re out of the uniform, you have to learn to enunciate those things. That requires some transitioning.”

Each Monday, JobLink workers start a new four-day class on post for Fort Bragg soldiers who have begun the process of getting out.

Workshops, part of the congressionally mandated Army Career and Alumni Program, include mock interviews, r sum preparation and advice on where to search for jobs. Attendance at the classes has been on the rise, with recent sessions drawing 200 people each. With the war over in Iraq, combat winding down in Afghanistan, and force reductions in the offing, Edmond expects classes to grow.

Through the program’s office and website, service members also have access to job listings and information about job fairs and other training and benefits.

Still, some aren’t satisfied with their r sum s and seek professional help in crafting one that stands out.

Sam Valle started his Fayetteville business, South Dixie Consulting, about two years ago and now produces about 300 r sum s a year, he said. About 80 percent of his clients are ex-military whose r sum s are circulating but are getting no hits.

Valle said that’s usually because the r sum is too general.

“They’re just doing their job every day. They’re not analyzing it,” Valle said.

Some military jobs — medic, military police, mechanic — may translate directly into the civilian job market. In others, soldiers focus on one task, such as supply and logistics, but may gather a litany of other skills along the way, such as personnel and inventory management, IT and quality control, all marketable in a range of civilian workplaces, Valle said.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently launched a feature on its website called “My Next Move” that similarly helps veterans find civilian equivalents for their military skills.

“It’s not that they can’t get jobs,” Valle said. “It’s that they’re not presenting themselves to the fullest extent possible.”

At the same time, some aspects of a soldier’s career may be best left off a r sum , Valle said. Unless the veteran is applying for a job with a contractor that provides security for overseas diplomats, for instance, combat experience is probably irrelevant.