The valuable skills veterans acquire
This past Tuesday, the Washington Post ran a front page article titled "Veterans' unemployment outpaces civilian rate." The piece, written by Michael Fletcher, highlighted the struggles that many returning veterans face in today's sluggish economy. Accrording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, veterans who left military service in the past decade have an unemployment rate of 11.7 percent, well above the overall jobless rate of 9.1 percent.
Featuring a veteran by the name of Brian Joseph who was a former radio operator, the article talked extensively about Mr. Joseph's challenges in leveraging his past military experience into a civilian job.
My response to the article was to send off a letter to the editor at Post. Imagine my surprise when it was published yesterday in the paper's opinion section. The reprint is below:
The valuable skills veterans acquire
Michael A. Fletcher’s Oct. 17 front-page article, “Veterans returning to jobless welcome,” noted that Brian Joseph’s military experience meant little to civilian employers. That’s disappointing but not surprising, given that employers and veterans alike are focusing on the wrong traits. It’s not Mr. Joseph’s experience as a radio operator that matters most but rather the critical-thinking skills behind that experience.
Mr. Joseph, like tens of thousands of other returning veterans, has accumulated tremendous decision-making and problem-solving skills; and in many cases, these skills have been honed under the high-stakes pressure of combat. These are the traits — the critical-thinking skills behind the military experience, and not the experience itself — that returning veterans need to highlight during the interview process.
Patrick Lefler, Far Hills, N.J.
The writer, a former Marine Corps officer, serves as a volunteer mentor to service members entering the civilian workforce through the American Corporate Partners program.
Here's the takeaway: For veterans transitioning back into the workforce, always focus on the critical skills behind the experience, and not the experience itself.