• Google launches new site to guide veterans into civilian work force

    By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

    Google is aiming its search-engine horsepower at homecoming veterans, launching Thursday what may be the largest online hub to help men and women exiting the military as American armed forces draw down.

    Called VetNet, the site offers veterans three distinct “tracks” to plot and organize their next life moves – from “basic training” which aids job hunters to “career connections” which links users to corporate mentors and other working veterans to “entrepreneur” which offers a roadmap to starting a business.


    To arm the new site with some heavy-hitting experts, Google partnered with three leading nonprofits in the veteran-employment space: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes program, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, and Hire Heroes USA.

    “We asked: What else can we be doing with our technology to help these folks transition home?” said Carrie Laureno, founder of the Google Veterans Network, the company’s employee-volunteer community which seeks to make Google a military-friendly work environment.

    “We wanted to really move the needle in the right direction. And working with our three partners, we asked: What can we do together to help you reach more people?” Laureno said. “How do we help these millions of people who are in this situation get the resources they need (to land civilian jobs) in a much easier, more straightforward way that’s ever been possible before?”

    After clicking a button to connect with VetNet, users gain access to a weekly snapshot of “what’s happening” in the veteran-employment arena as well as to a ready group of business advisers and to an ongoing array of virtual “hangouts” that train people on basics from resume writing to making “elevator pitches” or that allow veterans to hear insights from leaders in retail, transportation, retail and entrepreneurship, Laureno said.

    The venture drew a favorable review Thursday from a key congressional member.

    “I am especially pleased to see companies like Google and their partners take the initiative to bring together these various resources to help veterans navigate the employment opportunities together,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

    Click here for more military-related coverage from NBC News.

    “I am confident their combined efforts will be especially helpful to those who may not know where to start their job search. This is the least we can all do for our veterans who have served our nation so honorably,” Miller said in an email.

    Miller’s words hint at the fresh irony of post-war life for thousands of ex-service members: Their initial challenge is not a lack of help; it is the over-abundance of nonprofits seeking to guide veterans from their once-super-structured schedules and tight packs of buddies to the wide-open, ultra-competitive job market.

    According to an April 2012 study by the Center for a New American Security, more than 40,000 nonprofit groups now exist in this country with missions focused on filling the various needs of active-duty troops, veterans and their families.

    That giant-yet-fragmented bundle of organizations — while striving to do well by veterans — must also battle for the same funding dollars. And that jostling hasn’t fostered a cohesive landscape for veterans to navigate as they begin their new career journeys, Laureno said. Given that mish-mash of helping hands, some veterans simply don’t know where to go first. 

    “I’ve heard occasionally people (in the veteran-helping field) use the word ‘competitors.’ They are competing for funds. They are competing for awareness. They are competing to be in the spotlight,” Laureno said. “It’s also a well-documented issue in this community that there are some people, just like anything else, who got involved because wanted to help but that emerged as sort of looking for press.

    “The founding partners here are not of that ilk. These are partners who have stuck with their original mission, who are focused on getting the help out to the people who need it, and who recognize that technology can help them take that help to a completely different level than ever before possible,” she added.

    Google and VetNet are hoping to attract new partners from that sea of 40,000 groups. But they’re still hammering out the best ways to assess prospective collaborators — and their larger intensions — before they are invited to join, Laureno said.

    “That’s one of the biggest challenges all of us are facing in this issue, and that’s why there has been this proliferation of 40,000-plus (veterans organizations),” she said. “We are going to need to have a some sort of vetting process. That is something the partners are working on right now: What will be the criteria they use to judge who comes on board and who doesn’t?

    “Anyone who would like to get involved, who has effective services, and who is willing to make the commitment to providing them on this platform who will be supportive of the community, they’re all welcome,” she added. “But if somebody wants to advertise on a one-off basis about their particular program, this probably isn’t the right place for them.”

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  • Employers step up efforts to recruit, hire veterans

    Getty Images

    Veterans Michael Futch, right, and Logan Remillard register for the "Hiring Our Heroes" job fair in Utah last November. Companies say they are are stepping up efforts to hire veterans.

    By Allison Linn, TODAY

    Veterans who are looking for work may have reason to feel more optimistic about their job prospects this Veterans Day: A new survey finds that businesses appear to be making a greater effort to hire them.

    The CareerBuilder survey finds that 29 percent of employers are actively recruiting veterans, up 9 percent from a year ago.

    In all, 65 percent of the 2,600 employers surveyed on behalf of CareerBuilder said they would be more likely to hire a veteran over another, equally qualified candidate.

    The efforts come amid increased attention to the plight of job-seeking veterans. Unemployment has been a particularly big problem for young veterans who are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to high unemployment and low job prospects.

    The unemployment rate for veterans who have served since Sept. 11 was 10 percent in October. That’s far higher than the comparable unemployment rate of 7.5 percent for the entire population. The figures are not adjusted for seasonal variations.

    Many young veterans are expected to enter the workforce in coming years, as the U.S. withdraws from wars in the Gulf and potentially looks to shrink its overall presence as well. The job market has been slowly improving, and that could help increase their changes of finding a job.

    But experts say the young veterans are facing additional roadblocks as well.

    Many don’t have the skills or experience in crafting a resume and interviewing for a job outside the military. They also may not know how to translate their military skills into civilian language that would make them attractive to employers.

    Some veterans are also finding that the skills they learned have in the military, such as driving a military truck or serving as a military medic, don’t translate directly into civilian life. That means they have to spend time and money getting the same certifications to do their job outside the military.

    Advocates argue that veterans also bring a special set of skills to the workforce, such as loyalty and the ability to perform under pressure. Other perks, such as the good publicity that comes from hiring veterans, probably don’t hurt, either.

    Related:

     

  • From combat to corporate -- and the new stigma blocking some veterans

    Courtesy of Chris Perkins

    Chris Perkins is a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq until 2006. His battalion suffered heavy casualties.

    By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

    At job fairs this summer from Denver to Colorado Springs, retired Army sergeant Thomas Maretich always bumps into the usual suspects and an all-too-familiar gaze of frustration — as if he’s staring into a mirror.


    “I keep seeing the same people — mostly veterans — and I’m talking about captains, people with college degrees. They’ve been all over the world, have all kinds of experience. But it’s just the same guys over and over,” said Maretich, who in June earned a medical retirement from the Army.

    “There are just a handful of jobs and thousands of veterans lined up for them. How are you supposed to get a job?” asked Maretich, a Colorado Springs resident with more than 20 years of Army experience. “Our veteran numbers are growing and jobs aren’t growing fast enough. It’s a real problem.”

    Yet amid the listless hiring rates of a slack economy, men and women with combat experience are being purposely ignored by some employers who fear they may have the symptoms of  post-traumatic stress disorder, thus making them — in their view — risky candidates, said John E. Pickens III, executive director of VeteransPlus.

    “While it’s good that employers and general public understand (PTSD) issues, there may be some employers who know just enough to be reluctant, and who say: I want to hire this guy but I don’t want this guy having his war experiences affect his work,” Pickens said. His nonprofit has offered financial counseling to more than 150,000 current and former service members. 

    “Some of the folks we talk to say they feel a little bit conspicuous. Employers are even reluctant to talk to them about their military experiences,” added Pickens, a former combat medic. “While eventually transitioning (into corporate jobs), their co-workers become aware that this is a veteran, and the veteran feels scrutinized to the point where it's like: ‘Are you OK?’ "

    Through his consultations with veterans over myriad money issues, Pickens said he has learned that some have opted not to seek treatment for PTSD symptoms at Veterans Affairs hospitals exactly because “they don’t want to be labeled or stigmatized” in their civilian jobs — or while trying to land one.

    Related: Opera about Iraq war reaches out to veterans
    Related: Vets battle PTSD stigma -- even if they don't have it

    “It’s like nobody wants to hire anybody with PTSD,” Maretich said. “It’s ridiculous. The whole thing got a bad name.”

    On his final mission in Iraq on Aug. 27, 2009 — during his fourth tour in a war zone — sergeant first class Maretich was stationed as the gunner atop an Army vehicle. A car approached, driven by “a kid,” he recalled. After Maretich determined the vehicle was an imminent threat, he shot and killed the driver, he said. The car, loaded with an estimated 500 pounds of explosives, nonetheless detonated, causing Maretich to suffer a traumatic brain injury, sleep problems, chronic back pain and a knee that required replacement.

    Related: 'Got Your 6' campaign helps vets return to civilian life

    He also was diagnosed with PTSD — now, be believes, an unmentioned roadblock to his hopes for a corporate job due to its attached stigma.

    The irony, he added, is that his duties in Iraq — including in operational intelligence and serving as a combat advisor to Iraqi soldiers — make him an ideal contender for a stateside job.

    “I don’t think there is better job training anywhere,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that if I can get an Iraqi soldier to do what we’re training him to do — in a different language and a different culture — I can handle any kind of training job in America where the people speak the same language.”

    Some companies, including New York-based financial giant Citi, have recognized that service members who have weathered combat carry unique talents into the boardroom. Last year, Citi hired 700 veterans and this year the company plans to hire at least 1,000 more, said Citi spokesman David Roskin.

    Courtesy of Chris Perkins

    Former U.S. Marine Chris Perkins has successfully moved from the lethal streets of Iraq to the fierce ways of Wall Street.

    Former U.S. Marine Chris Perkins has maneuvered from lethal hot spots in Iraq to a high-pressure job on Wall Street. He exited the Marine Corps in 2006 and immediately recognized, he said, the same talents that fuel success in Manhattan’s hard-charging financial district are not dissimilar from the skills that helped Perkins thrive while serving in Ar Ramadi, the capital of the Al Anbar Province.

    Related: Mortgage woes afflict high rate of active troops, veterans

    “My job over there was to make very timely and accurate, quantitative decisions with the understanding of risk and risk managements,” said Perkins, now managing director and global head of OTC derivatives intermediation and clearing for Citi. He recalled one frightening moment — delivering bicycles to an Iraqi school then being pinned down by insurgent gunfire five minutes later and about one block away.

    Over time, 260 Marines were wounded within his battalion of 1,000 and 16 were killed in action.

    Courtesy of Citi

    Today, Perkins is an executive with Citi but also helping other veterans ease into the corporate workforce.

    “When I was able to navigate into the financial services sector, I asked: ‘Hey, you guys are traders, right? Isn’t that what you’re doing? Aren’t you making quantitative decisions all day long while understanding the risks you are taking?’

    "The successful traders said, ‘Yes, that’s exactly we’re doing.’ So I was able to transfer my skills into that job,” said Perkins, who later founded the Citi Military Veterans Network and played a leading role in working with fellow veterans within the financial services industry to co-found Veterans on Wall Street.

    Veterans who apply for corporate gigs should carry not a stigma, Perkins said, but a stamp of approval: they’re wired to work long hours with minimal sleep, start early, complete assigned tasks — all with a certain intensity and focus that only can be sharpened by battle experience.

    But maybe too many hiring managers and human resources honchos “have just seen too many ‘Rambo’ movies,” Maretich speculated. “Maybe they think we’re all going to come back and not be productive.

    “Believe me, man, if I could go out there and swing a hammer, I would. I can’t anymore. The one thing I can do is work in a corporate environment,” he added. “And the thing is, I’ve been really training to do that for years.

    “In the civilian world, it’s not life and death. You’re not working 12 hours a day 7 days a week. You’re not worried whether your next decision is going to get everybody killed when they go out there. The corporate world would actually be a lot easier.” 

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  • Why companies do, or don't, hire veterans

    By Allison Linn, NBC News

    Employers value the leadership and other characteristics associated with military duty, but they also have trouble figuring out how military experience might translate into civilian job skills, a new report finds.

    The Center for a New American Security, a think tank that examines national security and defense issues, conducted in-depth interviews with representatives of 69 companies in an effort to understand why employers either hire or don’t hire veterans.

    The report sheds light on why so many veterans might not be having any luck getting a job once they get out of the military.

    The unemployment rate for veterans who served since Sept. 11, 2001, was 12.7 percent in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, versus the national rate of 8.2 percent.

    The problem is only expected to get worse as more veterans enter the civilian job market because of drawdowns in the Middle East and the possibility of military budget tightening.

    The report found that employers see good reason to hire veterans, and it’s mainly for the skills many associate with military experience. Those include their leadership and teamwork skills, dependability and maturity.

    The public relations value of hiring a veteran ranked very low on the list, with only about 10 percent of the companies citing it.

    But the researchers found that even those companies that are actively recruiting veterans find barriers in hiring them.

    Those biggest problem: It’s difficult to figure out how to translate military skills into applicable work experience in civilian life.

    The report noted that even junior officers may have had the type of experience employers are looking for, such as responsibility for a big project or management of a team of workers, but many veterans don’t know how to present their military skills to accentuate those talents.

    More than half of the employers also expressed concerns about post-traumatic stress and instability after deployments.

    Employers also said another problem was a mismatch between the skills veterans have and the ones they need for  civilian jobs. Another common concern was whether work would be interrupted by deployments.

    The research was funded by large companies including Prudential, JPMorgan Chase and BAE Systems, although the researchers said they retained editorial control of the project.

    Tip of the hat to USA Today, which earlier reported on this study.

    Related:

    Younger veterans want to work but face roadblocks

    Many recent vets face another battle: Finding a job

    Defense cutbacks worry some military families

     

  • To land jobs vets should leave ‘yes sir!’ at door

    Military.com

    Rear Admiral T. McCreary (Ret.) and president of Military.com

    By Eve Tahmincioglu

    Veterans face many challenges when they return home and start looking for work, everything from discrimination to a lack of training and skills for civilian jobs. But in the end, it’s up to vets themselves to leave the military behind and adapt to the nonmilitary work world.

    That’s the message Rear Admiral T. McCreary (Ret.) who is president of Military.com sent during our live Web chat Wednesday. He took online questions from vets and their loved ones while attending the Hiring Our Heroes jobs fair event -- an initiative by NBC News and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- on the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York. 

    Here’s a sampling of the Q&A:

    Jeremy asked:

    “Why can't veterans find jobs?”

    McCreary answered:

    “Vets can find jobs. It's just hard work and requires a lot of learning and patience. There are jobs out there, it’s just finding them, translating skills and learning how to job hunt.”

    And he defended efforts to focus on veteran’s unemployment flight, against readers who questioned why returning military deserved more help than those who never served.

    April asked:

    “Why do veterans deserve any more job placement assistance than folks who have not served?”

    McCreary answered:

    “I don't think it’s an issue of deserving more but leveling the playing field. Most vets join right out of school and have never had to job hunt. They've lived in a unique culture and speak a different language. As a result, they don't know enough to be competitive. I think all these programs are designed to bring veterans up to speed and help them compete in the broader job market.

    "That said, many feel serving ones country should offer them a little leg up when job hunting as they are behind their piers in assimilating into the corporate world. Whether that is military service of some other type of national service, most think our vets do deserve some additional help to ensure they can ‘rejoin’ society in a more normal transition.”

    For more of this enlightening discussion and targeted tips for vets struggling to find job, check out a replay of the Web chat here:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • KISS needs a roadie -- and wants to hire a veteran

    Mario Anzuoni / Reuters file

    KISS, who will tour with Motley Crue this summer, has pledged to hire a veteran to work as a roadie.

    KISS needs a roadie — and they want to hire a veteran to help out.

    The band, who are touring with Motley Crue this summer, have been long-time supporters of the U.S. military, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Wounded Warrior Project. Watch their troop salute here. 

    They're participating in Hiring our Heroes to give a job to a touring set carpenter who will travel with the band from July 14 through Sept. 25.

    The lucky veteran who gets the gig will be part of the team that assembles the KISS stage set, helps run effects during the show and takes down the set afterwards. Applicants do not need to be a trained carpenter, but will work long hours. 

    To apply for this job, send an email to hiringourheroes@uschamber.com with your resume and contact details.

    More from Hiring our Heroes:
    Young veterans share their skills, dreams
    Capital One, Comcast pledge to hire vets
    Comcast and NBC Universal will hire 1,000 veterans 
    Hiring our Heroes 'unlocks the potential' of vets 
    Jill Biden: Veterans will 'get the job done' 
    Bloomberg: NYC is committed to hiring veterans 

    For more on Hiring our Heroes, an initiative from NBC News and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that aims to get veterans back into the workforce, click here. Learn more about job fairs for veterans here.

  • Younger veterans want to work, but face roadblocks

    Rachel Mummey / for msnbc.com

    Tyson Akers was turned down for a security job with the Iowa National Guard in the midst of a 13-month job search. The veteran juggles going to school full time at Iowa State University while raising two young sons with his wife, Amanda.

    By Allison Linn, NBC News

    Tyson Akers joined the Marines straight out of high school and spent more than eight years in the infantry, including four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    When he left the military in February 2011 because he wanted more time at home with his young children, he knew any civilian job would be different than what he’d done in the Marines.

    “Your job was to go out and be on the front line and pray to God nothing happened to you,” he said. “It’s hard to translate that over to the civilian world.”

    But Akers, 29, didn’t count on a job search that has lasted more than a year, leaving him demoralized and even questioning his decision to leave the Marines.

    “You start thinking to yourself if it’s even possible to get a job once you’re out,” he said.

    While older veterans generally have a relatively low jobless rate, the unemployment rate for veterans who have served in the post-9/11 era averaged more than 12 percent last year, compared with under 9 percent for the general population, according to government data out last week. 

    The problem of veteran unemployment is widely recognized. President Barack Obama has referred to it frequently and just last month pledged to get more veterans back to work.

    "They've already risked their lives defending America,” he said. “They should have the opportunity to rebuild America."

    With the U.S. making plans to withdraw from Afghanistan and possibly shrink the military, thousands more young veterans like Akers are likely to be looking for work in the coming months and years.

    Yet there are plenty of roadblocks preventing veterans from getting civilian jobs, including a lack of job-seeking skills and a mismatch between military experience and civilian requirements.

    ‘Hard to translate’
    Younger veterans especially may lack the experience crafting a resume or handling a job interview. And after emerging from years in the jargon-filled military culture, they may have a hard time explaining how their military experience would benefit a civilian employer.

    “They have a difficult time translating their military cultural language into civilian cultural language,” said Randy Plunkett, director of community and government outreach for military.com, a website aimed at the military community. “They undersell themselves. They don’t see and have a good handle on how to self-promote (and) how to articulate the skills they bring to the table.”

    Akers, who lives in State Center, Iowa, thought that it wouldn’t be too hard to get a job as a security guard while he attended Iowa State University full time with support from the GI Bill.

    Instead, over the past 13 months he’s endured rejection after rejection as employers told him that they had more qualified candidates. His wife, Amanda, said one prospective employer even told him his deployments didn’t count as security experience.

    Recently, he got a break: A job interview with another former Marine at a security company run by other veterans.

    He found out this week that he had gotten a security position, starting at 20 hours a week and paying $9.50 an hour. Although he had hoped to secure a supervisor position, at least it's a start.

    Even companies that actively seek out veterans say it can be tough to get them hired.

    Jim Barr, vice president of government relations with Ryder, said the trucking company has made a point of trying to hire veterans who drove or worked on trucks in the military. But to drive for Ryder, veterans need a civilian commercial driving license, and requirements vary by state.

    Some require hundreds of hours of training, and military experience may not count. In other cases, Barr said, the veterans may be able to waive the training but have trouble getting a truck for the test.

    “They sound like kind of minor barriers, but if you don’t have the truck to take the test with, you can’t take the test,” Barr said.

    States including Washington, Utah, Colorado and Texas have been working to remove some of the licensing barriers.

    Eddie Crosby, 36, served in the military from 1996 to 2000 and then re-enlisted from 2004 until 2010. He worked as a military truck mechanic and driver and trained for dealing with chemical spills. He has been surprised he has been unable to translate his experience into a civilian job.

    He used the GI Bill to go to civilian truck driving school. But even after he got his commercial license, he said many companies were looking for someone with more experience on the road.

    To save money, he moved to Hermiston, Ore., where he’s living with his fiancé in a 26-foot camp trailer on his family’s property. He is about to start a part-time, minimum-wage job at a potato chip factory.

    “I loved my military service, I really did,” Crosby said.

    But it’s hard to find himself, at age 36, scrounging for entry-level jobs.

    “Everybody that I graduated high school with, they’re 10 years on a job, and here I am struggling to pump gas, you know?” he said.

    Slipping through the cracks
    Experts are seeing some of the biggest disconnects for veterans with medical experience and training.

    One issue is that a military medic may end up doing advanced work that may not translate directly to a credential in civilian life, said Steve Gonzalez, assistant director of the American Legion Economic Division. It can then be tough to figure out how to apply that experience toward a civilian medical license or credential.

    There also are legitimate differences between medical work you do in the military and in civilian life, said veteran Ben Chlapek, deputy chief at the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District in Missouri. A medic who served in combat may not have experience with common civilian issues such as drug abuse, domestic abuse and pediatric patients.

    Follow the story of Staff Sgt. Charles Weaver over the past ten years, from 2002 when he had been a soldier of Operation Iraqi Freedom to today - having returned back home to the United States, but now fighting to be a productive and employed individual.  NBC News' Tom Brokaw reports 'Hiring our Heroes' on Sunday, March 25th, at 7pm/6c. 

    “Soldiers rarely deliver babies,” Chlapek said.

    He said some potentially good candidates slip through the cracks when they realize they can’t get a job right away, or one that pays as well as their military job did.

    “A lot of times they’ll call us or come in, and then they’ll disappear,” he said.

    Even when the skills transfer directly, it can be tough to juggle military and civilian careers.

    Todd Fredricks, 46, of Athens, Ohio, always dreamed of having his own rural medical practice, but he also wanted to serve in the military. As an Army flight surgeon in the reserves, he deployed to the Balkans once and to Iraq three times, most recently in 2011.

    The transitions made it impossible to keep up a medical practice, and he now works full-time in a hospital in West Virginia.

    “I practice the medicine that I do now because it’s the easiest way I can enter and leave service,” he said.

    Peter Leon, an administrative nursing supervisor with Panorama City Medical Center in California, also considers himself lucky: As an RN, he was able to easily transition back and forth between his job stateside and his military deployments as a reservist.

    Leon, 44, last deployed to Iraq in 2008, and now that he has a young daughter he no longer volunteers to go overseas. But he misses his military duty.

    “I wish I could go back and deploy again,” he said. “I feel more useful out there than I do here.”

    There are other success stories. J.P. Morgan, 36, served in the military as an aircraft electrician from 1994 to 1998.

    In 2004, he rejoined the military as a reservist, partly because he would get additional training he could never afford as a civilian. That has allowed him to get the certification he needed to become an aircraft maintenance technician for Southwest Airlines.

    Morgan, who lives in Dallas, left the reserves in 2010.

    “The military – it was wonderful to me in that respect,” he said.

    (This story has been updated from an earlier version to reflect new information that Tyson Akers has landed a job.)

    What do you think is keeping recent veterans from finding jobs? Discuss it on our Facebook page.

    For more on Hiring our Heroes, an initiative from NBC News and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that aims to get veterans back into the workforce, click here. Learn more about job fairs for veterans here. 

  • Many recent vets face another battle: Finding a job

    Ralph Orlowski / Getty Images

    The unemployment rate for 18- to 24-year-old veterans who have served since Sept. 11 was 30.2 percent in 2011.

    By Allison Linn, NBC News

    The job market in this country has been gradually improving, except for some veterans: A new report finds that the situation has actually gotten a little worse for recent veterans who are trying to find work.

    The unemployment rate for veterans who have served since Sept. 11 was 12.1 percent on average in 2011, according to a government report released Tuesday. That’s slightly higher than in 2010, when the average unemployment rate for the year was 11.5 percent.

    That’s the opposite of how it is for nonveterans. The unemployment rate for nonveterans averaged 8.7 percent in 2011, down from 9.4 percent in 2010.

    The situation is especially dismal for young vets. The unemployment rate for 18- to 24-year-old veterans who have served since Sept. 11 was 30.2 percent in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. For 25- to 34-year-old veterans from that era it was 13 percent.

    Unemployment is a particular problem for those veterans who have served since Sept. 11. The unemployment rate for all veterans, including those who served in previous conflicts, averaged 8.3 percent in 2011, down just slightly from 8.7 percent a year earlier.

    Experts say young veterans are at a disadvantage in part because they have been serving in the military while other young people were going to college or a trade school and making connections in their field of choice.

    These more recent vets also may be finding that the skills they learned in the military don’t translate directly into a new job because they lack the certification or training that they need to do the same job in civilian life.

    In general, the unemployment rate for younger workers also has been higher than for older workers over the past few years.

    Private groups, government agencies and some elected officials have been working to smooth the path for young veteran jobseekers. It’s a problem that’s expected to get worse as more troops withdraw from the Gulf and the military grapples with budget cutbacks.

    “Our veterans have made sacrifices on behalf of the nation, and I ask all employers to renew their commitment to veterans, because the best way to honor our veterans is to employ them. No veteran should have to fight for a job at home after fighting to protect our nation,” Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in statement Tuesday.

    Related:

    TODAY sponsors job fair for veterans

    Defense cutbacks worry some military families

    We are the median: Living on $50,000, military-style