Veteran’s Opportunity to Work

Unemployed veterans may be heading back to school in mass under a federal program to get out-of-work veterans trained and back in the job market. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the veteran unemployment rate for recently discharged veterans is nearly three times the national rate.

The VOW to Hire Heroes Act was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2011. Included in the law is the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP).   According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the Veteran Unemployment rate for those who served on active duty post 9/11 is at 12.1 percent. Veteran unemployment rate for male veterans, age 18 to 24, is even higher at 29.1 percent. VRAP offers 12 months of veteran career training and financial aid.  The VOW program is mandatory for all reserve component members who serve 180 days or more on active duty.

The GI Bill opened the door to higher education for veteran employment.  It’s credited with helping to contribute to the post-World War II economic boom by greatly widening the pool of educated professionals in the American work force.

There are several veterans’ debt relief programs, aimed at reducing or eliminating the burden of debt that military veterans and their families face. The Veterans Affairs provides a Debt Management Center (DMC) Homepage that deals with veteran financial aid. Veterans, members of the Armed Forces and family members who incur debts as a result of their participation in most VA compensation, pension and education programs as well as home loans closed before January 1, 1990 receive letters from DMC notifying them of their rights as well as their obligation to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Include the skills you developed as a service member when you develop a resume for soldiers. These skills are truly valuable and in high demand, but describing those skills to a prospective employer can be difficult. Veterans can be counted on to get the job done. Army officials have announced a new program for transitioning soldiers they say will help curb veteran unemployment and help improve their resume for soldiers even better than their civilian counterparts.  The Soldier To Civilian Work Program (SCWP) is designed to help unemployed veterans assess their skills, create resumes for soldiers and help them get a head start into the civilian world.