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Want to hire a veteran? Panel offers tips

Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA) - 4/25/2015

April 25--Veterans hone a number of skills during their time in service as they learn leadership skills and how to be a team player.

But employers don't always understand how those skills meet the requirements of jobs they're trying to fill.

The Virginia Values Veterans, or V3, is one of a number of programs that can help, according to a group of panelists in a hiring veterans question-and-answer session held Thursday at Salem Church Library.

The panel was sponsored by Workforce Now, a part of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.

V3 is a state program that helps employers recruit, hire, train and retain veterans. Darla Burton, Mary Washington Healthcare's human resources director, told attendees that going to one of its seminars helped her understand military lingo better. Logistics, for example, in the armed services is the same thing as supply chain at a hospital, she said.

And when a veteran applied for a manager position, Burton said, she could tell that he had leadership skills, but didn't spell that out in his résumé. She told the person in charge of filling that position to call the applicant and ask how his experience matches the job description.

"It's looking beyond the words on paper," Burton said.

Mary Washington Healthcare, now a V3 certified company, has pledged to hire veterans and put the program's logo on its website.

Virginia had 630,045 veterans as of last September, and more than half are veterans of the Gulf War, said Mary Ann W. Bowersock, the local veterans employment representative for the Virginia Employment Commission.

The 1st Congressional District, which includes Fredericksburg and its surrounding counties, has 92,691 veterans. Of those, 64,322 are under the age of 65, she said.

"Over the last five years, Virginia has added 80,000 veterans to its workforce," said Andrew Schwartz, V3's program manager. "That's more than all other states combined."

He said that 20,000 people are getting out of the military in Virginia each year, and are looking for something to do.

"It's a great talent pool and a ripe talent pool for recruiting," Schwartz said. "I think it's a great resource to improve your workforce."

Greg Calvert, vice president and general manager of Kloke Group in Fredericksburg, said that he's hired people who drove vehicles in the military, but didn't have a commercial driver's license.

"They can drive better than the employees that do [have a commercial driver's license]," he said. "Why don't they come out with a CDL? It doesn't make sense to me."

Schwartz said that Virginia's "Troops to Trucks" program can make it easier for veterans to translate those skills into the license they need to drive a commercial vehicle.

Among other things, the program can waive CDL skills testing for service men and women with appropriate experience operating large vehicles as a part of their duties, and provide opportunities on military bases for them to complete the written and skills test portions of the license application process.

Veterans can also take advantage of the Workforce Investment Act, which provides up to $3,000 for job training, said the VEC's Bowersock.

She recommended that employers use the Virginia Workforce Connection to post job openings and find veterans that can fill them. The online service is free and has a searchable database.

According to Bowersock, creating an account and posting job orders on the site can also help federal contractors meet Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs recruitment rules.

"You can screen that data base for veterans and find a person who meets your particular needs," Bowersock said.

Cathy Jett: 540.374-5407

cjett@freelancestar.com

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(c)2015 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)

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