Military and Veterans Resume Writing Workshop

The workshop will focus on each participant producing a high quality resume and a cover letter and having an understanding of conducting a civilian job search in the new economy. 

The workshop will assist Military, Veterans and Spouses with writing their resume and learning how to convert their military experience into civilian terms and how to present the soft skills essential to succeeding in a civilian workplace.

Lessons will include  the different forms of a resume and how to craft an individual resume that highlights strengths. Job searching for veterans will be covered. How to access the county, state and federal veteran’s career resources will also be covered. Setting up and creating a job alert on a jobs board such as Monster, Indeed, etc and the 7 steps to writing a dynamic cover letter.

The workshop will be presented in the Bryant & Stratton College Malta Extension site at 2452 State Rt. 9, Suite 201, Malta, NY, 12020 on Saturday April 18th from 10am-1pm.

RSVP by email to Kkdean@bryantstratton.edu by April 12th, 2015 to ensure a seat. Seating is limited due to the time constraints of working with participants to produce a resume and cover letter.

Pizza and refreshments will be provided.

Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship

The Department of Veterans Affairs just announced it will begin accepting applications for the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship from surviving spouses of military personnel who die in the line of duty after September 10, 2001. Before this change only children of those who died in the line of duty were eligible for this benefit.

The Fry Scholarship will enable eligible spouses up to 36 months of the full Post-9/11 GI Bill which includes a tuition-and-fee payment and monthly housing allowance. Some spouses currently eligible for or already receiving benefits under the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program may now be eligible for the Fry Scholarship.

For more information regarding the Fry Scholarship, call 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551) or go to the VA GI Bill Website: http://gibill.va.gov

how to find a job as a veteran



Persistence

 Two major veteran reports came out this week and both show that veterans are struggling to find jobs, keep jobs and that they need more assistance with transition to the workforce. The first study was done by the respected USC school of Social work that works with veterans found that 80% of veterans leave the military without a job. This trend is particularly disturbing in light of the recently revamped transition process for those people leaving the service.


The second study was by the highly prestigious Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families. The University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families study found that more than 65% of veterans leave their first civilian job within 2 years and that the jobs don’t match their military skills sets. The combination of these factors is well known in the veteran’s community and while the studies are helpful for policy makers veterans needs help in these critical areas. Here are three takeaways that any veteran can use immediately to help with a job search.



1. Hire a professional.



2. Talk to everybody



3. Be persistent



Hire a professional because everyone looking for a job in today’s tight job market should use a staffing and recruiting professional to review their cover letter and resume. When a pipe bursts in your house you call a plumber because he has the tools and expertise to fix the problem in a reasonable time frame. Well recruiters are the plumbers of the job world because they see a lot of resumes and they know what companies are looking for and what to avoid. A good example is the objective section on a resume. This outdated piece of resume advice almost always states the person wants to work in specific career field instead of showing how the person’s skills can add value to a company. An updated resume is a powerful tool in today’s ultra-competitive job market.


A 2010 survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 70% of jobs are found by networking. Most high quality jobs are found by recommendations and by effectively using a network. Keep a list of the people you have contacted and use Facebook and LinkedIn to contact all your family friends and coworkers and ask everyone for one referral. Sitting at a computer filling out the millionth job application gets tiring but cross referencing the contacts from your LinkedIn network with employers that are likely to hire you is likely to have far better results. Create a rubric for the job search that has the name of the company, how the job lead was found, and who was contacted and add a column for veteran contacts. Maintain the rubric and keep track of which companies you hear back from because this will give an idea of what type of employer is interested in your skill set and you can specifically target this type of employer.

Persistence according to the Oxford dictionaries is “the continued or prolonged existence of something”. I work with a lot of veterans and it’s a common complaint that employers don’t value military service. Here are the links to each local,state and federal agency that directly helps veterans find employment:

Locate and contact the veteran’s rep within the Federal Department of Labor. http://www.servicelocator.org/
Locate and contact State Veteran’s representative. http://www.longtermcarelink.net/ref_list_state_county_veterans_service_officers.htm
Locate and contact county level veteran’s representative. http://nacvso.org/find-a-service-officer/


Most employer surveys show that that they just don’t understand military service because they haven’t served and don’t speak the same language. It’s crucial to meet with the people who are on the front lines helping veterans find and keep jobs such as the county veteran representative, the state veteran’s agency, and the local department of labor veteran’s rep and to stay focused and positive.

The Value of a College Education

Everyone attending college hears the quote “People with a bachelor’s degree earn a million more dollars over their lifetime” but what does this really mean. A recent nationwide analysis of degree data by Zaback & Crellin, (2012) shows that people who receive a bachelor’s make more than 71% than those with a HS diploma. That study also broke down the wage increase by field which is more helpful when considering what to major in. The two highest paying fields are Science/ Technology /Math (STEM) and Health care and this is true for both bachelor’s and associates degrees.

Another common myth is the Bill Gates story that if he doesn’t need college then you don’t either because college costs are rising. While, college cost have risen well over 200% so has the gap in income between those that attend college and those that don’t and the unemployment rate for college grads is significantly lower than those without college. In statistics, we measure things using the bell curve and it’s assumed that 95% of people fall into the same category. Bill Gates does not fall into the 95% of the population. Actually, a study by Wadhwa, Saxenian & Siciliano (2005) showed that of 500 startup companies founded those started by college graduates performed better than those started by someone with a HS diploma. The knowledge that a college education imparts is critical thinking and learning how to structure your thoughts along a proven framework based on hundreds of years of research by scholars and researchers.

Yes, college costs have risen dramatically and this is why researching the right major and school is so critical to transitioning to a college environment. If you’re planning on attending college and unsure of the economic value of a major then a good place to start researching is http://live.sheeo.gotpantheon.com/resources/publications/economic-benefit-postsecondary-degrees

Military Spouse Education Benefits program

*DOD announced that the MyCAA program will resume operations on March 13, 2010, at 12 p.m.,for military spouses who currently have existing MyCAA accounts. Those who have an existing account will have access to the Web site, including the ability to create and have financial documents approved. Those who do not will have to wait until more information comes out*

The military spouse career advancement program is a Department of Defense (D.O.D) program that pays for education and training to include degree programs leading to employment in portable careers.

To get started the spouse must establish an account at https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa
The spouse must have an established and approved career goal and have an approved degree program.

Any spouse of a military member on active duty, Coast Guard deployed with the Navy, Active/Guard Reserve (AGR) and Reserve component members on active duty for more than a year are eligible.

To apply for the program a spouse must call a military OneSource consultant at 1-800-342-9647 to create a career plan and academic goal. The program only covers tuition up to $6000 dollars a year and it does not cover fees and other costs.

The program is sponsored by the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy and the program is designed to decrease the stress of Permanent Change of Duty Stations (PCS) on military families.

Why you shouldnt switch G.I bills

The post 9/11 G.I bill also known as the Webb G.I bill will roll out in august of this year and has some enhanced benefits. The first benefit is that the new G.I bill will cover tuition at state colleges and still pay the individual the basic Housing Allowance at the rate of an E-5. This is a wonderful benefit however if you have the old G.I bill and your going to online classes or your living at home it may not behoove you to switch and heres why.


Let’s say a soldier just got out and wants to go to community college for two years first and that soldier hypothetically lives in Utica N.Y. If the soldier waits until August to attend college using the new G.I Bill he would receive a BAH of just over $800 as the table below based upon the government BAH rates illustrates.
http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/perdiem/bah.html



If however the soldier used the older G.I bill and was attending full time and used the old G.I bill they would receive $1073 however they would have to pay tuition. Although most states school waive tuition for veterans so they would theoretically receive more money.
http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_BILL_INFO/rates/CH30/ch30rates080108.htm



Veterans who are making the decision to stay with the old G.I bill or switch to the new G.I bill should conduct their own research to make an informed decision as to which program benefits them the most. Here is a link to the most current and up to date information regarding the two programs.

http://www.military.com/money-for-school/gi-bill/guidance-for-choosing-between-gi-bill-programs

What is a patriot loan?

What is a patriot loan? What benefits are available?

The Patriot Loan Express program is a pilot program through the Small Business Administration (SBA) that helps veterans get loans for small business needs. The SBA has given out $230 million dollars already with an average loan size of $91,000 (The American Legion, 2009). Loans are available for amounts up to 500,000 and qualify for loan guarantees as high as 85% from the SBA.


1. Go to http://www.sba.gov/index.html

2. On the left hand side near the middle is a an expandable list, click on veterans

This is the Part of the where the veterans’ services are located.

According to the SBA fact sheet the following groups are eligible for the program

• Veterans
• Service-disabled veterans
• Active-duty service members participating in the military’s Transition Assistance Program
• Reservists and National Guard members
• Current spouses of any of the above
• The widowed spouse of a service member or veteran who died during service or of a service-connected disability

In today’s troubling economic times it behooves veterans to consider this program if they are starting a small business. The part of the program that is most interesting is that current spouses of Active, Guard, and Reservists can utilize the program. What a great benefit for the spouses who are considering starting a small business and unlike many of the veteran benefits the patriot loan program isn’t limited to just the service member.

The Patriot loan program can also be used by existing businesses for expansion, to purchase equipment and inventory. In addition to the loan program the SBA also has free counseling services available to help veterans start a small business.


References:

The American Legion Magazine. (2009). Patriot Express loans work for veterans.

Small Business Administration. (2009). SBA Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative. Retrieved on February 23, 2009 from,
http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/sba_patriot_backgrounder_patri.pdf