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New Military Veterans Face Job Challenges

Ann-Elise Henzl Reporter Milwaukee Public Radio
A recent Milwaukee County job fair for veterans

Many employers say they offer plenty of opportunities for new veterans just entering the civilian workforce. Yet some vets have to overcome hurdles as they begin their new careers.

When you hear glowing words like these about veterans, it seems like it should be a breeze for them to find jobs:

"They've had more experiences, they've been around the world, which certainly lends to the global environment that we have in our industry."

"They have the work ethic, the dependability, the maturity."

"I hired a veteran about a month ago, and I'll tell you what, he shows up every day and he works his butt off."

Those were a few people who set up booths at a recent job fair for veterans at the war memorial. Sue Davis of Walmart went on about veteran job applicants.

"With the last one I talked to on the phone, I got yes ma'am, no ma'am, when I said can you be there at 10, he was there 10 minutes early, showed up dressed professionally and ready to work," Davis says.

The employers told us that like anyone looking for a job, where veterans land depends on their experience. Carl Surtees of In-Place Machining Company in Milwaukee says he seeks out vets to hire. He says they smoothly transition into new careers with his firm. It does mobile machining work, including for the military.

"You know, diesel mechanics, you know, we've got employees that were on Navy ships as machinists, and so they've been able to relate it to what actually they have been working on, whether it be a vessel or something like that. A lot of them are mechanically inclined," Surtees says.

Yet some veterans who may have impressive and transferrable skills haven't yet connected with civilian jobs. Take Army veteran Mathew Armstrong, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"If you put 'I led 300 missions in a combat zone,' it's obviously going to sound great on a resume, but it's not going to transfer over to corporate America very well," Armstrong says.

Armstrong says he learned organizational skills and how to manage a team – and all while under duress.

"I did do a lot of operations and everything like that with moving pieces around. We had our cannons on like six different locations, so we had to set up air flights for them and helicopters and stuff like that. A lot of that stuff is super transferrable over to a civilian world, it's just super hard to get it down on paper where people actually understand it," Armstrong says.

"It's just a matter of being able to articulate their skill sets," says Antonio Guajardo, campus director for Springfield College in Milwaukee. He helps veterans fine-tune their resumes upon graduation.

"A lot of times a lot of the vets don't write those skill sets down, and when you look at the resume, this is your talking points, basically," Guajardo says.

Guajardo says he's a veteran so he can cut through military jargon, and list vets' work experiences in terms civilian employers will understand.

Chuck Olsen says he appreciates when veterans seeking work are prepared. He's with Boucher Automotive Group, and says it's eager to hire veterans. But Olsen adds, in order to get their foot in the door they need to be able to make their case.

"Employers like me look for resumes that are one-page long, that show good knowledge management, not everything you did, but what can apply that would be attractive to a corporation," Olsen says.

Olsen believes the sky's the limit for vets willing to work their way up in the company. He speaks from experience. The corporate sales manager is a 21-year Army veteran.

Yet veterans beginning civilian careers don't just have to modify their resumes. On Wednesday, we’ll report on another big adjustment they must make: living without the structure and camaraderie of military life.

Ann-Elise is WUWM's news director.
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