Posted on May 18, 2015
What are the biggest barriers military veterans face once leaving the service?
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Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 17
<scratching my chin> Well from my observations and experiences and of course the situations..I believe it's mainly the civilian themselves....In the military everyone knows what and how much you make..and no one is afraid of you taking their their 'job' away from them if you get promoted. And then of course you have the team work and camaraderie and everyone should more or less help you and themselves out..of course you have the exceptions......I've noticed in the civilian world that unless it's in a 'professional' field i.e. police, fire, emt something along those lines; your so called co workers will try and back stab you, try and take something away from you to make them look better and especially put in a bad word for you if they are suddenly in charge... A few jobs that I had after I got out i was looked down upon and treated like dirt because I was former military because I think they thought I would try and take their job and promotion away from them since I was squared away and what not..which if I may put in a quick afterthought here..Civilians don't seem to have the teamwork bug...they think if you want to help them or something then you must be out for their 'promotion'.....but that's just my opinion:)
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Suspended Profile
I would say the biggest barrier is the veteran themselves. I meet guys all the time who did one enlistment and they act like they served 30 years. The biggest advice I give most veterans is to not talk about your service in the civilian life. You are not longer Major/Sgt XYZ you are Steve. The military is one part of your life like high school.
that I am a female and a vet most people think it is my husband, but I served for 27 years! Also getting any employment I do work for the government due to husband's position we did move 5x in 7 years getting employment was hard.
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My biggest barrier was the fact that I was Combat Arms, and when asked about what I did in the Military...none of my accomplishments seemed to matter to my potential employer. It always seemed to circle back to what my MOS was, and not my education level (4.0 MBA) or what my NCO-ER's always looked like (always top of my grade with well documented bullets).
It came down to "So, You were Infantry"
I have a fantastic job now for an excellent company that saw past all of the Combat Arms background to the real me. Their hiring comment was "we need more people like you that are here to simply get the job done ". It has been a long hard road since leaving Afghanistan, and the number of hiring opportunities that simply vanished in front of my face without cause led me to believe it was either my age or my military background (and it was probably both, I'm 54 now).
It came down to "So, You were Infantry"
I have a fantastic job now for an excellent company that saw past all of the Combat Arms background to the real me. Their hiring comment was "we need more people like you that are here to simply get the job done ". It has been a long hard road since leaving Afghanistan, and the number of hiring opportunities that simply vanished in front of my face without cause led me to believe it was either my age or my military background (and it was probably both, I'm 54 now).
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Either they think they can move mountains, or they do not give themselves enough credit for what they have done. There is no equivalent for military service in the civilian world, and some employers are not in the picture of what military members can actually accomplish. For my part, it was learning how to write my resume and conduct an interwiew so I wouldn't scare prospective employers off. These skills cannot be readily learned and only come from experience, and each employer is different, and has different expectations.
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MSG Brad Sand
CSM James Winslow
Some of the things I have seen, soldiers not translating their experience into language civilians understand. Also, soldiers thinking their experience is such that it is below them to take some positions. The higher the rank, the more you will see this.
Was working with an 88M, he tried to tell me that as an Senior NCO that he was just a truck driver. While it is true that a Motor Transport Operator is a truck driver BUT we all know he was much more than a just a driver!
I had to drag out his leadership and responsibility and in the end asked him again if all he did was 'drive a truck' but not all employers are going to know, or care, if he was more than he was saying.
Some of the things I have seen, soldiers not translating their experience into language civilians understand. Also, soldiers thinking their experience is such that it is below them to take some positions. The higher the rank, the more you will see this.
Was working with an 88M, he tried to tell me that as an Senior NCO that he was just a truck driver. While it is true that a Motor Transport Operator is a truck driver BUT we all know he was much more than a just a driver!
I had to drag out his leadership and responsibility and in the end asked him again if all he did was 'drive a truck' but not all employers are going to know, or care, if he was more than he was saying.
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Civilian stereotypes - all veterans have PTSD
Veteran stereotypes - We're going to find a job that pays as much as or better than we made on active duty.
Veteran stereotypes - We're going to find a job that pays as much as or better than we made on active duty.
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MSG Brad Sand
PO1 John Miller
I think you are failing to give civilians enough credit, or are giving them too much. Civilian employers are just people too and only know what they are told? So to your answer, who is telling them about PTSD?
I think you are failing to give civilians enough credit, or are giving them too much. Civilian employers are just people too and only know what they are told? So to your answer, who is telling them about PTSD?
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PO1 John Miller
MSG Brad Sand
Media to include all forms: Internet, news television, printed, etc. Movies about the crazy veteran, etc. You name it.
My first job after the Navy, I was talking with a co-worker with no military background. I was talking about some of my Navy experiences and all of a sudden he got a bit scared and asked me if I have PTSD. I laughed and said "No I don't, and not everyone in the military or who has served in the military has PTSD or is crazy."
Media to include all forms: Internet, news television, printed, etc. Movies about the crazy veteran, etc. You name it.
My first job after the Navy, I was talking with a co-worker with no military background. I was talking about some of my Navy experiences and all of a sudden he got a bit scared and asked me if I have PTSD. I laughed and said "No I don't, and not everyone in the military or who has served in the military has PTSD or is crazy."
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