Returning from War to Fight For Jobs - Polidicks

Source: [url]http://reisterstown.patch.com/articles/returning-from-war-to-fight-for-jobs-3129653e[/url] [quote] Stephanie Gilbert of Pasadena served six years as an Arabic linguist and was an Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan before being honorably discharged last year. The former staff sergeant is now pursuing a degree in financial economics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. But when it came time for the 27-year-old veteran to seek financial services internships this summer, Gilbert was shocked when she was passed over. Twice. “I’m 27 years old and I’m applying for internships,” she said. “It’s disconcerting when a 19-year-old gets the internship instead of me. It’s like, ‘What?’” With a resume stacked with wartime leadership experience, a 3.8 GPA and Arabic fluency, Gilbert said she assumed she would have been at the top the list. She wasn’t. And, she’s not the only veteran home from war who now faces a new battle: finding jobs in an economy hobbled, in part, by the cost of waging two wars overseas for the past decade. In Maryland, the 8.9 percent unemployment rate among the 28,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is higher than the state’s overall average. Joblessness for that same group nationally is much higher. Some veterans have reinvented themselves entirely—such as the injured soldier featured in the accompanying Pulitzer Prize winning video on the Huffington Post, which ran on Patch.com. Many soldiers such as Gilbert are returning to college to finish degrees and build new careers. Others are turning to state and local government for help. Many efforts are under way across Maryland, including in Howard County, to help unemployed veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq find jobs. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and other state and education leaders have made helping veterans attain degrees and establish careers in both the public and private sectors a top priority. “While as a nation we have come a long way since the time of Vietnam, and we do a much better job of welcoming home our veterans, still a lot of it unfortunately is lip service,” said Brown, who has been a member of the U.S. Army, both active and reserve, for nearly 28 years. Brown said employers are hesitant to hire or rehire veterans because of fear of future deployments and “lack of understanding of the skill sets that veterans bring to the workforce.” Know of a business that is doing a good job hiring veterans? Tell us in comments. To help overcome that stigma, every county in Maryland has a One-Stop Career Center that has a representative dedicated specifically to helping veterans find jobs. The Baltimore County Workforce Development Centers provide services at three locations in Randallstown, Hunt Valley and near Dundalk. This is the first in a series of Patch articles examining the employment issues Maryland veterans face in a fragile economy. In the coming weeks, Patch will ask veterans to publish their profiles on our sites as part of an effort to promote the skills of those soldiers who hail from or have settled in the Free State. Nationally, Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, especially those in their early 20s, have shouldered a disproportionate amount of the nation’s economic pain. NBC News, which is working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on a special project to help veterans find jobs, has reported that the unemployment rate is at 30 percent for veterans younger than the age of 25, compared to the national unemployment rate of 8.3 percent. The White House and others have taken notice. The issues of veterans and their families have been at the forefront of national conversations, with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, promoting the one-year anniversary this month of the “Joining Forces” initiative, which supports military families. Often, as supporters of the initiative point out, soldiers face daunting challenges when they return to civilian life, including injury and disability. But many go on to find fulfilling careers. (See the accompanying video for one such story, as told by the Huffington Post in a Pulitzer-Prize winning series, "Beyond the Battlefield.") “Army leadership—if it’s taught me anything, it’s that you’re competent, confident and agile,” said Mike Ball, a 23-year-old political science major at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and an intelligence analyst who served in Iraq from 2009 to 2010. “You could put anyone in the military in a leadership position [in a business] and they would outperform any civilian in that same position,” Ball said. But it’s not that simple, Ball and a group of fellow veterans noted in recent interviews, mindful of the 2011 average unemployment rate of 8.9 percent in Maryland among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. That's higher than Maryland's overall 2011 average unemployment rate of 7 percent, state data shows, though it's lower than the national average unemployment rate in 2011 for that group—12.1 percent, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Jerry Boden, chief of staff for the Maryland Department of Veteran Affairs, said "many of the Iraq/Afghanistan veterans want to go to college and/or take an extended amount of time off after they return from combat,” which, in turn, can lead to additional challenges. Experts agree that part of the problem is a lack of understanding among businesses about how military skills can translate into the private sector. “That’s a stressor for our veterans,” said Fritzie Charné-Merriwether, the special assistant to the UMBC vice president for student affairs who works on veterans’ issues. “They have all this great experience and backgrounds. Sometimes, it’s difficult for someone not exposed to that to understand what they bring to the table.” In Maryland, state leaders said they have been working to close that gap. In 2010, Brown announced what he called a “Warrior to Worker” initiative, which is a coordinated effort to hire more veterans in state government and promote employment opportunities throughout Maryland. Since July of 2011, state agencies documented the hiring of at least 64 veterans, said Marc Goldberg, Brown's spokesperson, but that is probably one-tenth the actual number hired amid state outreach efforts, other state officials said. By identifying themselves on state applications and submitting honorable discharge documents, veterans can get preference in state hiring, said Mark Townend, director of the recruitment and examination division in the Maryland Department of Budget and Management. Townend said state government will have a better picture of the number of veterans hired with the implementation of an online job application system. “A lot of times with veterans, they don’t say they are veterans; they’ll compete on equal hiring,” Townend said. There are also more efforts under way to connect Maryland veterans with federal jobs, as well as to promote jobs and job fairs, including one occurring April 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the 5th Regiment Armory in Baltimore for veterans interested in working for the Maryland Department of Transportation, or in other transportation jobs, state officials said. Counties are also taking measures to help veterans get jobs. Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince Georges counties, as well as Baltimore City, are among those that give veterans preferences in hiring for public sector jobs. The Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs also maintains a list of companies that have specifically said they want to hire veterans. It is distributed across the state. At UMBC, Ball, who is still completing his political science major, said he has been focusing on networking as a way to make himself more marketable. He is the chairman of the Veterans Military Affairs Caucus in the Young Democrats of Maryland organization and is the president of the new UMBC group, the Student Veterans Association. Through his work, he encourages fellow veterans to branch out and talk to others who haven’t served in the military. He advises veterans to hone their resumes to highlight how their experience overseas—where they were in charge of “millions of dollars of equipment, and people’s lives during a high stress job”—translates to the civilian job market. “Go to events,” he said. “Yeah, it’s nice to talk with your buddies at a bar, but branch out. Don’t stay in that same bubble." [/quote] Local Patch news story. Watch the video in the link...Holy hell that's some deep shit. Makes me feel lucky to have what I have.

[quote]“I’m 27 years old and I’m applying for internships,” she said. “It’s disconcerting when a 19-year-old gets the internship instead of me. It’s like, ‘What?’” [/quote] The 8 year age difference doesn't ring a bell? [quote]With a resume stacked with wartime leadership experience, a 3.8 GPA and Arabic fluency, Gilbert said she assumed she would have been at the top the list.[/quote] Wartime leadership is considerably different from leadership in the financial world and while impressive, being fluent in Arabic is of questionable use at best.

If anything military experience looks good on a C.V. it shows a lot of skills and such. But at the same time if you leave service with no higher education or college degree it is difficult to get a job, military service can only get you so far in the job sector. [quote]Brown said employers are hesitant to hire or rehire veterans because of fear of future deployments and “lack of understanding of the skill sets that veterans bring to the workforce.” [/quote] I'm not an employer but even I can see what skill sets a person with military experience brings.

[QUOTE=Mabus;35770213]If anything military experience looks good on a C.V. it shows a lot of skills and such. But at the same time if you leave service with no higher education or college degree it is difficult to get a job, military service can only get you so far in the job sector. I'm not an employer but even I can see what skill sets a person with military experience brings.[/QUOTE] depends on where you are working and the position involved. the military IS good leadership experience.. but if you think about it... what kind of job would military leadership truly apply...

[QUOTE=Mabus;35770213]I'm not an employer but even I can see what skill sets a person with military experience brings.[/QUOTE] Things like leadership skills are great in addition to a required trade skill, but if that's your main selling point you'll have a hard time finding a job. Veterans that served as mechanics for example would probably find employment after service easier than your average marine. Which is one of the reasons I think a lot of vets without anything but basic training look into working for military contractors.

[QUOTE=BaconMan_lol;35770234]what kind of job would military leadership truly apply...[/QUOTE] To be honest, I'd say something in sports, even a PE teacher or something. The ability to motivate is a good skill to have and you'd be used to handling a group of people. I couldn't really see a use for leadership skills out-with sports, unless you're tasked with keeping a group of workers on task.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;35770178]The 8 year age difference doesn't ring a bell?[/QUOTE] She has far more life experiences. [QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;35770178]Wartime leadership is considerably different from leadership in the financial world and while impressive, being fluent in Arabic is of questionable use at best.[/QUOTE] It's not that different save in an actual battlefield - which she wasn't in. Leading people is the same, just different in setting. As for the linguistics, I don't see much use for it but it's better to have a skill than not.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;35770329]She has far more life experiences. It's not that different save in an actual battlefield - which she wasn't in. Leading people is the same, just different in setting. As for the linguistics, I don't see much use for it but it's better to have a skill than not.[/QUOTE] Well for the life experiences thing.. I think in their mind that she should be applying for something higher than an internship. I mean her qualifications would put her on the top of the list so I think they'd go for someone who needs the experience that is fresh out of school in order to help them with getting more experience. That's my two cents.

I got a paid internship and I'm 17 software development, not financial services though. She probably didn't consider the backdoor connections though, like the 19 year old might have a father who has connections in the industry, this is financial services after all, province of rich bankers.

The age difference is a big thing for the internship. Employers don't hire interns for their world experience. They want smart graduates that are naive that they can mould into an employee that fits their needs. They can't do that with an experienced leader let alone a marine

[QUOTE=Ven Kaeo;35770751]The age difference is a big thing for the internship. Employers don't hire interns for their world experience. They want smart graduates that are naive that they can mould into an employee that fits their needs. They can't do that with an experienced leader let alone a marine[/QUOTE] yeah this too, they don't want someone who could take their job it's totally capitalist, stifling competition, lmfao. However if the execs up top are smart they want the more efficient person doing the job.