Terry Gerton I want to start with a big picture question because the last few months of downsizing in the federal workforce and the ramifications that has had on contractor workforces have really had a significant impact on military veterans and military spouses. Can you help us understand why those groups are so vulnerable in those particular sectors to downsizing.
Dan Clare Absolutely. I mean, veterans comprise a large percentage of the federal workforce. There is some preference given to disabled veterans, veterans who have certain decorations from their service if they’ve been on campaigns and things like that. And there are federal set-asides as well for government contractors. There’s a lot of disabled veterans, particularly, who are working for the federal government. And those folks, some of them faced a fork in the road — some of them have been furloughed for a long period of time, some of them are looking for different career opportunities now that the government doesn’t seem maybe as steady as it used to be. So we’re hearing from a lot of veterans who [are] just looking at other opportunities, basically. And some of them have been without work for a good while. So we are helping them out. And then on the contracting side, both as employees and as business owners, veterans are disproportionately affected by interruptions in contracts, by government shutdowns, all those sorts of things.
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Terry Gerton And the federal government had a special hiring authority for military spouses, correct?
Dan Clare It’s a great question because military spouses are always disadvantaged, they’re always sacrificing for our country alongside their loved one, whether that be a man or woman. And those folks, the portability of their careers is very important to them. So for them, having opportunities in employment, having opportunities to have a business that they can take with them as they go along their journey, those are both very important things for them.
Terry Gerton How is DAV engaged in the veteran employment space? That might not be the first place that folks would expect the Disabled American Veterans Group to be involved.
Dan Clare You would think, but you know going back a hundred years — DAV has been around for a long time — that was one of the original issues that we faced from World War I veterans coming home. Veterans who are changed as a result of their service — they’re at a disadvantage sometimes when they’re looking for jobs, so … we’ve always advocated for employment opportunities, program services for veterans, but this is a chance for us to connect veterans directly with employers who want to hire them, who recognize the unique skills and talents that they bring. So we’re so proud as an organization to be able to partner with these employers who recognize that value and they’re making it a serious effort to hire and retain veterans.
Terry Gerton What are some of the lessons you’re learning through that involvement about today’s employment market? What are big opportunities? What are employers looking for and how do veterans fit in?
Dan Clare Well, I think one of the things we tell veterans frequently is that you’re in military service and you might have a job specialty or an occupational specialty that doesn’t seem like it translates particularly well to civilian life. Some do. You know, if you’re a firefighter in the military, being a firefighter or a crash rescue guy on the civilian side lines up pretty nice. But we find that there are a lot of soft skills and real talent and job experiences that veterans have that help them out a lot. So we’re talking to all industries right now when we’re talking about our employers. And there are so many different positions that they offer and so many different talents that veterans bring. I mean, people think about maintenance, aircraft maintenance, they think about logistics, but there’s great management opportunities. There’s people who’ve worked with budgets in an operational environment. There’s all kinds of different reasons why veterans are uniquely suited to be resilient as job searchers.
Terry Gerton I’m speaking with Dan Clare. He’s chief communications and outreach officer at the Disabled American Veterans. Dan, DAV is hosting a nationwide virtual job fair next week. Tell us about that.
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Dan Clare It’s a virtual career fair. These are awesome events. You’re going to find some great opportunities there. We have AT&T, Department of Energy, Wells Fargo, Border Patrol, Discount Tire. Those are some of the top level companies who we think of, you know, they have names that are pretty recognizable to most of us, but there are a lot of other employers who are gonna be there. And as a veteran or spouse who is looking for a job, you might think, well, I’m not gonna work in the waste management industry because I’m disabled and for me, hiking trash cans isn’t gonna be a career for me. But you have to recognize that all of those companies have different opportunities and different positions within them that might be a perfect fit for a veteran’s experiences so far.
Terry Gerton What helpful hints would you have for veterans and military spouses who are interested in participating? How can they best prepare?
Dan Clare Well, I mean, having a good resume is very important. If you’re going in advance and looking at the job fair, there’s a page there. You can look at the types of positions that are out there and kind of earmark some opportunities specifically. And if you can, you can then tailor a resume a little bit more towards what the requirements are of that position. So those are important things. Veterans know how to dress nice, fortunately. So we have that going for us. You should look great going into it. And then developing a little bit of a pitch for yourself, an elevator pitch, where you say, this is who I am, this is what I’m about professionally, this is the kind of opportunity that I’m looking for, and this is what I hope to do through that opportunity for the company I work for … That’s some of the advice that we’re giving veterans to prepare.
Terry Gerton And not every veteran wants to work for someone else. Many of them want to start their own business. And DAV has a program, the Patriot Boot Camp, to help veterans understand how to start a business. Tell us about that.
Dan Clare It’s an incredible program. It’s cohort based, it’s two and a half days of very intensive training … you’re going be able to talk and interact with people about funding, which is one of the biggest, biggest shortfalls for veterans as entrepreneurs. We’re gonna talk about team building, sales, marketing, branding, and you’re gonna get mentorship. You’re going to get about four hours of mentorship with CEO-level professionals who can help you and they’re driven because they wanna help you avoid making the mistakes that they might have made earlier in their careers. And these people will fly across the country to be there with us. Our next event is Feb. 11 through 13 in Myrtle Beach. And I encourage people to travel for these events because sometimes as an entrepreneur, when you’re closer to home, it’s impossible to avoid some of the details and things that you need to work on for your venture. So Feb. 11th through 13, this is a free opportunity. And we want to get as many veteran entrepreneurs and spouses involved as possible.
Terry Gerton Do you give folks a real taste of the challenges of entrepreneurship? I mean, it’s not the easiest way to move forward.
Dan Clare No, it’s extremely risky. By definition, being an entrepreneur is being a risk-taker, and we recognize that. And we recognize, too, not all these ventures are going to succeed. But the veterans having the experience, getting involved — we find they’re naturally resilient, they’re creative. They’re good at strategy, good at planning. There are just some areas every veteran entrepreneur seems to have where they’re an A+ across the board. And then when it comes to marketing or sales, maybe they’re a D-. So we can address that there. And also they walk away with the community. Each cohort is its own network. And that includes all of the mentors who participate. So we’re really excited. What this does to transform a veteran’s life and make them someone who hires people is extremely exciting for us. And we’re always looking for mentors, always looking for veterans who want to get involved. And it’s extremely meaningful to be involved with.
Terry Gerton What message do you have for employers or business leaders who want to get involved from the hiring side in these activities?
Dan Clare I mean, it’s accessible to you too. Hiring veterans, the people who come to these career fairs, we have them there all the time. Tons of veterans coming through all the times. They tell us that the value is there. The reason why they’re there isn’t — I mean yes, they wanna do the right thing, they’re patriotic, they believe it’s right thing for America to hire veterans — but they’re also making a good deal. They’re finding people who are already trained or trainable. They’re finding people who are disciplined, who show up on time. They find people who’re great team workers and abnormally loyal to companies and institutions that they get involved with. I mean, it makes good business sense for you to hire veterans. If you visit our website, jobs.dav.org, we have an employer resource there where you can kind of validate that decision or make that decision if you want. We have a recognition program called the Patriot Employers Program. That you can access where we’re actually going to help you recruit because you’re going to be able to show veterans with a digital seal that it’s something that you’re focused on. So there are a lot of great ways to get involved. Hiring veterans is good for you and it’s good for our country.
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Terry Gerton For veterans and military spouses who might be interested in participating either in the job fair or in the Patriot Boot Camp, where do they go to find out more?
Dan Clare You can find more at jobs.dav.org. There’s all kinds of stuff on there, so check it out. You can hear about success stories, hear about things that are working for other folks, and just visit us … Nov. 25, that virtual career fair could change someone’s life, so we wanna get as many people involved as possible.
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