Mike Stajura: To help veterans, job fairs are not enough

As the military drawdown in Afghanistan continues, the United States will add an additional 80,000 veterans from the Army alone to the civilian workforce. This is on top of the normal annual rate of separations from military service. On this Veterans Day, let’s think about all America’s soldiers who are receiving pink slips.

Members of the military receive rigorous training from a very selective institution, and they served their country under difficult circumstances that required adaptability, perseverance, teamwork and maturity. What more could an employer want?

Apparently, a lot more. Despite the many veteran employment initiatives out there – put forward by the White House, mayors’ offices, corporations and nonprofits – it’s still difficult for veterans to find work, let alone jobs that use them well. The Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families offers one explanation that applies to me and others I’ve talked to: Many veterans take work that is a poor fit for their knowledge, skills, ability and experience. This leads to dissatisfaction, lower performance and job-hopping.

If you were a helicopter mechanic in the military, it makes sense to seek work fixing helicopters. It’s harder for veterans whose primary military job skills don’t directly translate to the civilian workforce. As an infantry officer for the Army (who left before the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started), my work included managing a fleet of armored vehicles, supervising the distribution of water in Honduras and assisting a State Department official in Bosnia-Herzegovina. When I completed the coursework for my doctorate in public health, I started applying for emergency management and disaster services positions.

I wasn’t even getting interviews. Rather, I’d get letters saying I met the education and skill requirements, but didn’t have the “right” experience. I was 41, but they were looking for specific junior job titles on my résumé that I would never have unless I started at the lowest rung.

I ended up getting two jobs precisely because I am a veteran. One employer had a contract with the Army and needed someone who could “speak Army.” I became highly prized for my ability to produce PowerPoint slides and “decision-support matrices” matching Army norms. My second job came when a mentor introduced me to an organization that serves veterans and their families and they created a position just for me.

But they didn’t know what to do with me. During the first three months, I only worked on occasional tasks and found myself unable to tell others what my job was because I didn’t have an official description. Things changed only after I explained that I needed a project and accountability.

Michael Poyma, an employment specialist for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Michigan, has heard many such stories. And he thinks some of the most common approaches to matching veteran job seekers and employers need to be rethought. For example, job seekers and employers have told Poyma that many job fairs are a waste of time. While a few find jobs this way, it’s a drop in the bucket.

Poyma also noted that veterans gravitate in disproportionate numbers toward certain fields: government service, law enforcement, government contracting and work with other veterans. These jobs allow veterans to continue working in familiar environments.

But isolation can just entrench the misunderstanding. This is why Chris Marvin of Got Your 6, and previously, The Mission Continues, has embarked on projects to help veterans integrate more fully into the civilian world. The Mission Continues, for instance, puts veterans to work painting houses, tending gardens and mentoring kids at a wide range of organizations.

Poyma and other VA representatives are about to start pilot seminars that will put potential employers and veterans on opposite sides of the room, separated by a “demilitarized zone.” He will conduct exercises to dismantle the zone by discussing systemic barriers to employment (such as the cost of retraining for civilian licenses), the stigmas that follow veterans, and each side’s particular acronyms and jargon. In the end, he hopes to demonstrate that there is hidden value in a veteran’s résumé.

This story was originally published November 9, 2014 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Mike Stajura: To help veterans, job fairs are not enough."