Photo By Tech. Sgt. Brian Christiansen | Spc. John Shive, A Company, 505th Engineer BN works on his resume during a Veterans...... read more read more
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – More than 200 soldiers from four different units, who recently returned from overseas deployments, spent three days in an engaging and informative employment workshop hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor at the Gerald A. Rudisill Army National Guard Readiness Center May 16.
The workshop was geared towards helping soldiers who were identified by their chain of command as being unemployed and transitioning from post-deployment military service into the civilian workforce after their deployment.
The program, called Veterans Opportunity to Work act nicknamed, “VOW,” was mandated by Congress in November 2012 in order to mitigate the high unemployment rates of redeploying service members were experiencing.
Beverly Robinson, a contractor for the U.S. Department of Labor, said that the new program targets soldiers who are coming off orders lasting 180 days or longer.
This course is not just for anyone: individuals must be identified by their commander.
Eligible participants must serve during a 180-day, or longer, Title 10 deployment. Other criteria for consideration require service members be nonexempt for 180 days or longer for a Title 10 tour.
Title 10 tours are those in which National Guardsmen and Reservists serve for a period of time on federal, active duty, orders.
Applicants must complete this workshop before coming off of Title 10 orders so that their leadership feels confident that the service members have the tools to find a job.
Besides character, integrity, and honor, the soldiers learned what military and civilian skills they should highlight if interviewed, and more importantly, how to succeed during those interviews. The intent of the class was to help service members identify critical skills and accomplishments gained during their military service.
The service members then use the skills learned in the course to develop effective résumés, conduct successful job searches and get the interviews they need in order to get a job.
The course helped the job seekers to describe their military job, without using the complicated acronyms used in military service, and see how that experience translates into the civilian work force.
"The trend is that soldiers believe that they have no skills or that their skills are not relevant,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Shawne Johnson, N.C. National Guard Joint Force Headquarters J9. “By the end of the three-day workshop they will understand how untrue this is.”
The course is not like other workshops that don’t require a lot of involvement from the participants: there’s homework and lots of it.
Imagine writing a résumé from scratch one night, and the next night, completely re-writing it to make it better?
Other issues discussed were how to deal with the stress of finding a job.
“Be proactive,” Robinson kept stressing. “Don’t just sit and wait for a response on that dream job. Keep applying and keep interviewing.”
Robinson reminded the soldiers to set clear short, medium and long term goals, based upon their own individual priorities. She encouraged the job seekers to make sure their goals were specific, realistic, adaptable and measurable.
Soldiers initially came into the class overwhelmed, but once they identified a plan of action and knew their skill sets, they were ready to hit the road and start networking for available jobs.
After the workshop, the soldiers walked away with the knowledge and tools of selling themselves to help land a job and possibly a future career. For more information, visit: https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits-portal/ebenefits.portal.
Other classes occurred earlier this month and will be ongoing through the early part of June. See the information listed below for dates and locations:
• May 29-31: 514th Military Police Company at Winterville, N.C., Armory
• June 4-6: 151st Engineer Company at Laurinburg, N.C., Armory
| Date Taken: | 05.24.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.24.2013 22:55 |
| Story ID: | 107569 |
| Location: | CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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