WEBVTT

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unemployment continues to be a major

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issue in many parts of the United

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States , especially for veterans for

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quite some time now helping jobless

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veterans has been a top priority for

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several government organizations ,

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including the Department of Labor , the

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pentagon channel had a chance to talk

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with the department's Deputy Assistant

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Secretary for Veterans employment . Now ,

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he talked about what lies ahead for

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veterans looking for a job and what his

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department is doing to make it a bit

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easier to find the job they're looking

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for with the war in Iraq over and the

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one in Afghanistan winding down the job

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market may soon become more crowded

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with service members who are leaving

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the military . Our veterans have taken

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care of us now , it's time for us to

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take care of them . And with the amount

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of transitioning individuals that are

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coming out within the next five years ,

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we need to be able to take care of them .

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Junior Ortiz says unemployment figures

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for veterans are not as low as he'd

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like them to be , but he says the job

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situation is getting better for

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veterans . The economy is a big factor .

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However , I mean , we we've been ,

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we've been plugging through and doing

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what needs to be done and and I think

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we were getting very successful . Mr

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Ortiz says there are several

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initiatives the Labor Department has in

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place to help veterans find a job . One

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of the biggest is the long running

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employment workshop , which he says

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recently went through some changes ,

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the program that was 20 years old , You

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know , imagine having having the same

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exact training that you had 20 years

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ago today . Now what we're trying to do

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is make sure that it has the adult

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learning principles , it has all the

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things that are needed in order for

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young transitioning service member to

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be prepared to find a job . Another

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initiative is called , My next move for

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veterans helps those individuals prior

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to them getting out to put in their Mos

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or the military occupational specialty ,

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find out specifically what the civilian

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equivalent is and then get all the

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information that they need in order to

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be able to compete in that civilian job .

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And Mr Ortiz says there's one critical

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thing many veterans need to do a better

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job of in order to improve their

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chances of finding a job . Our young

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men and women . Um they bring they have

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a value and a skill set that is very ,

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very important to a lot of employers

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out there . However , they don't know

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how to express themselves when they're

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going to sell themselves or when

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they're going to apply for a job . Um

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they have to be able to translate it .

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The Department of Labor has several

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other resources available for veterans ,

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including twenty eight hundred one stop

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career centers which are located around

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the country . Now , you can learn more

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about those locations as well as other

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information online at D O L dot gov

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backslash vets