Two Schools of Thought on Military Skills Translation

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Forward March Inc

Want to learn a new language? Before you answer yes, let me explain it to you. This language is spoken by American men and women, but there are five difference dialects. This language is full of acronyms and many of those acronyms are spoken as proper words. Only about 10% of the populations has ever been exposed to this language, and at any given time, only about 1% of the American population actively uses it. Many of the words cannot be found in a Webster’s Dictionary, but are used constantly by those who speak the language. This is not a lost language from a tribe of long ago, it’s the language used by the American military, and each branch of service has its own tongue. HOOAH! (Army word referring to or meaning anything and everything except no)

As a talent acquisition or human resource professional, it’s important that you become familiar with this unique language as you might see it on a resume, or could hear it while interviewing a military veteran. Now, before we proceed, I will openly admit and shout it from the hilltop that we veterans need to do a better job at translating our own skills. We need to do a better job of conveying to you what we bring to the table. At any rate, there are two trains of thought on military skills translation for HR professionals.

Apples to Apples Skill Translation

The first and most widely used approach to transforming military skills into the civilian workforce is to use the various military skills translation tools that are found abundantly throughout the internet. The official Department of Labor Military Crosswalk page, for example, can be found at www.onetonline.org/crosswalk/ .

So the way it works is this. The user puts a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) code in the system and it translates that specialty into comparable civilian occupations. Take Field Artillery, for example. First, an EOL Permanent Marker is not something you can pick up at your local office supply store, it’s a point on an orienting line marked by a sharply defined permanent point at least 30 meters from the field artillery orienting station. A Battery Commander is not a person in charge of a cell phone charging station, he or she leads an artillery unit of about 150 Joes (people/employees). A Red Leg is not someone who spent too much time in the sun, it a term of endearment for a field artilleryman. Lastly, XO does not mean hugs and kisses, it’s an abbreviation for Executive Officer.

Now that we have cleared that up, let’s get back the skills translation. According to the Department of Labor, a well-trained Army Field Artillery Crewman (13B) can function as an operations manager, mechanical technician, radio operator, corrections officer, construction laborer, first-line supervisor, bus driver, and light truck driver, just to name a few.

Pros. It’s easy. All you need is an MOS code or the title of a military specialty and the internet does the rest. In a split second, a recruiter or hiring manager has a list of comparable jobs.

Cons. It only tells part of the story, and sometimes we need to look beyond titles. Take an Infantryman for example. Over his career, he has led hundreds of people in the most demanding and chaotic of situations imaginable. This person most likely completed a special duty assignment as a recruiter, drill sergeant, or instructor. He might have performed career enhancing positions such as an equal opportunity advisor, doctrine writer, or advisor to a foreign military. He may have even completed congressional fellowships and been assigned to Capitol Hill, or might have even worked on a Commanding General’s staff. He has attended dozens of professional military education courses or even cross trained into other military specialties. He most likely has a graduate degree. This story cannot be told using even the best skills translation software or website.

Broader Job Descriptions

While it’s important to have a good understanding of military skills and how they relate to civilian careers, it’s not the be-all, end-all solution to veteran hiring. When developing job descriptions, it is important to delineate between what you want and what you need.

Suppose your company is looking for a recruiter and you require oil and gas experience. I will submit to you that any military recruiting professional can easily step into this role without the oil and gas experience. Many of the military recruiters I know have switched from enlisted recruiting, to officer recruiting, to medical recruiting without skipping a beat. Give them the recruiting mission and they will get it done.

By putting that extra requirement of oil and gas recruiting required, two things happen. First, your recruiters and hiring managers automatically dismiss veterans from being considered for that position. Their resumes are shuffled to the trash bin. Second, a recently discharged veteran with applicable experience, but lacking the oil and gas piece may be discouraged from applying to the position in the first place. I am not asking for an organization to lower its hiring standards for our veterans, just to consider how words and phrases on a job posting could create a disparate impact on veteran applicants.

Pros. Posting jobs with broader descriptions can make the position more appealing to veterans and less likely that hiring managers will automatically dismiss veteran applicants for not having a specific certification or certain type of experience.

Cons. You may not find an exact word-for-word skills match, but you are still getting a highly motivated and well-trained veteran applicant. Just remember, recruit for attitude, and train for skill.

Before we Pull Chocks (Air Force Slang for leaving for the day or wrapping it up), consider the many services Forward March Inc., provides companies in developing a veteran hiring strategy. FMI brings a wealth of experience to bear in helping organizations find, attract, and retain top military talent.

OOHRAH!! (Marine Corps term used to respond in the affirmative to a question, acknowledge an order, or generally to express enthusiasm)

~ Article written by Jason Caswell, Forward March Inc – Director of Training and Talent Pipeline Services

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If you want to get started hiring veterans Forward March Inc stands ready with a special offer. On November 17th we will be holding our Camouflage to Corporate Conference in San Antonio, Texas. This is an outstanding opportunity for companies and organizations to learn how to get started hiring high quality military talent. The information in this conference has helped many other companies to develop highly successful hiring strategies, military pipelines, and learn how to retain quality military talent. Click here to learn more…

Resume and Interview Tips and Suggestions – Military and Veteran Employment Preparation – Part 3 of 3

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Forward March Inc

Part III – Resume and Interview Tips and Suggestions

Below are suggestions to use in your resume writing and also for your interviews.

Leadership and management skills – Leadership and management skills acquired during your military service are to be highlighted. Highlight when you had leadership and management experience, training, or when you had leadership and management on a project/mission/task. Leadership and management does not necessarily have to translate to the job you are interviewing for, when they do not highlight them as a capability to manage people/materials/resources.

Practice good communication skills – Your physical and verbal communication should be open, friendly, and confident. Try to physically relax and make eye contact with the person you are interviewing with. Avoid crossing arms, putting hands on hips or in pockets, or slouching when talking or listening to a potential employer. Make sure in your speech you keep your communication professional, short, and positive. Never talk about situations, people, or events in a negative manner. Try to keep the conversation positive. Never complain about previous employers, coworkers, assignments, duties, or situations. Avoid unnecessary details when relating your job experience. Keep your political and sociological ideologies out of the interview process.

Highlight your military skill and projects while being brief and describing things as much as possible in terms any civilian can easily understand. Avoid acronyms that are military knowledge specific.

Quantify work experience and achievements – Specifically what did you do, what problems/challenges did you overcome, problem solving tools, etc. For instance highlight the state of a project before you brought the solution to bear and then highlight how you improved the state.

Highlight goals and achievements – Depending on the interview style and time given for the interview, it is incumbent upon you to highlight briefly and succinctly your achievements, goals achieved, recognition and awards for achievements, etc. Make sure you highlight the necessity of teamwork, as often as is applicable so that an employer sees that you know that mission success is more about the team than the individual. This lets employers know that you are going to be a team player and not a lone wolf. Keep your examples to about two. Again, pay attention to the interviewer and take their lead, if they seem to want more information or more examples/details/etc then supply those.

References – In an interview these may or may not be asked for. Frequently when time is short interviewers will not ask for references. Make sure that your relevant and impressive references are highlighted before the end of your interview. Be brief, but make sure that the interviewer is aware of your references.

Highlight volunteer/intern/freelance work – Any volunteer work or freelance work done in the field you are looking at applying for should be listed on your resume and highlighted in your interview.

Clearances – When applying for positions which you think you may need a security clearance for make sure you note on your resume if you have a CURRENT security clearance and what level it is.

Photo Credit – Bokeh Breath by Rick Camacho

Lastly but most importantly – Relax, be yourself. People generally appreciate a person that is true to who they are.

If you are looking for a chance to put some of these tips and suggestions to work for you then make sure you come to the Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event on November 17th. This event will give you the opportunity to meet with potential employers, veterans organizations and more. Click here for more info…

About That Social Media Thing – Military and Veteran Employment Preparation – Part 2 of 3

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Forward March Inc

Part two of three in our continuing series on veteran and transitioning military employment preparation.

Most people have social media pages. No matter how private you “think” your social media page is remember this… it’s not! Potential employers regularly review social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others. This is common practice and is NOT a practice just reserved for potential employees who will need background checks.

If your social media page(s) contain images, videos, music, or speech that causes employers to think you are not a good candidate it can prevent you from getting an interview or landing the job. Many employees have found that their social media has been the reason for their termination.

Here are some rules that will keep you from having issues with your social media:

Remove any images, videos, or other content that contains vulgarity.
Remove images or other content that contains sexual content.
Remove content that contains alcohol or drug use.
Remove images containing violence, graphic images of war/violence/gore/etc

Its pretty easy, though possibly time consuming, to clean up a social media site with the above guidelines. However, its much harder to clean up your comments on posts you or others in your network or in the public have posted. It may be advisable to close your social media account(s) weeks or even a month before you begin sending out your resume and networking.

Some brutally honest advice you may not want to hear – Sometimes it’s better to close down your social media page than to try to clean it up. You will have to assess the difficulty and time invested in cleaning up a page vs. shutting it down and starting a new page at a later date. Should you decide to close down your social media page you have to remember that it takes time. Facebook, for instance, can take weeks to close your page down.

LinkedIn profiles are difficult to delete; that has to be done by LinkedIn at your request. It usually (at the time of this article) takes about two days to get your profile deleted. LinkedIn is a professional social media outlet for professional networking. Follow these guidelines for keeping your LinkedIn page in a favorable light.

Do not post entries or posts that contain vulgarity, sexually explicit remarks, or potentially political or religious inflammatory remarks. In a nut-shell follow the same rules posted above for Facebook. Additionally it is important to remember to keep your LikedIn content professional, and relevant to your professional career.

Your LinkedIn photo, which it is HIGHLY suggested that you have, should be professional. A clear, crisp headshot that has a relatively solid background is preferable. If your career direction is one where a suit and tie would be expected even part of the time then have your photo taken with a suit and tie. For both men and women, the photo should be business dress as opposed to business casual. If your career is one where dressing business casual is not required it is a good rule of thumb to go ahead and have your photo taken with business casual attire. Refrain from “goofy” faces, hand gestures, and most of all using objects, logos, pets, animals, movie images, etc. Only use your portrait, if you do not use a portrait then leave the image blank.

Ultimately it is important to be your self on social media, however, you should always temper that with professionalism as it is not just your “friends” who are looking at your social media posts. Remember this rule of thumb; “Nothing you post on the web is private”.

For further guidance on how to edit or delete social media entries or even delete accounts refer to the instructions on the social media sites themselves. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have excellent instructions on how to make these things happen and with a little time and attention you can “tune up” your social media and have it ready for your next step in getting your dream career.

Veterans, Transitioning Military Personnel, and their families are encouraged to meet with employers at this free event.

Military and Veteran Employment Preparation – Part 1 of 3

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Forward March Inc

Landing a career as opposed to a job is what most every transitioning military person or military veteran desires. There are countless websites, books and other instructional resources that can help with figuring out what you want to do for a career, how to get an interview in your chosen profession, career networking, and how to land that dream job. Today’s post is not intended to be comprehensive but rather a guide for getting started once you have an idea of what you want to do for a career.

“This seems like a lot of work” – Just remember, battles are frequently won or lost on the quality of intel. Your job search is no different. The more intel work you do, the more background knowledge you have of your desired position(s) and potential employer(s), the better you will do. Know your industry to the best of your ability through research. Practice being conversant about your field, your desired job, and about your desired employer in order to get the most out of your interview.

Part I: Interview or Job Fair Preparation:

Use a military skills translator and find the jobs that your skills translate to in the civilian world. Remember that these are a rough guide and not an exhaustive list. Many times your skills can translate to jobs or positions that are not seemingly aligned. This is where it is also important for you to do some research to see what it is you want to do job-wise. Research the jobs you want, the employers, and the job descriptions. Translate your experience to match where applicable.

VA Translator

Military.com Translator

Market yourself as broadly as possible – If you are an aircraft mechanic and only want to interview for aircraft mechanic jobs then market yourself very specifically in just that skillset. However, if you want to look at other possibilities in mechanics from auto mechanics to wind turbine mechanics to oilfield mechanics then be more broad with how you market your skills within mechanics. Highlight mechanics related skills that translate across several disciplines.

When you are preparing for a job fair and you know there will be a variety of employers, make sure to have several resumes in different formats that are industry specific. You can also have resumes on hand that are very specific to your ideal job on hand in case you are leaning to a particular specific position. HINT: keep each resume kind in a file folder that is clearly labeled so that you can quickly and easily access them when moving from employer to employer.

Resume Format – Know the correct format for your particular industry. There are on-line resources that give plenty of examples of resumes; focus more on the examples for your particular industry. For instance, an engineering firm wants a conservative resume, a graphic design firm wants something with creative flair. However, if you are applying for a government contracting position with a company such as Lockheed Martin or Boeing they will most likely have a format they want you to put your resume into. Check out this link for some industry specific examples:

Monster Resume Examples

Network, Network, Network – Use LinkedIn, make your profile as neat and professional as possible. Use the above pointers, such as being brief but concise.

Look for and maintain network connections with people in the fields you are looking at going into. Network with people doing the work you want to do. Do not pass up opportunities to meet with these connections in person. Take concrete steps to meet these connections, especially in person. When reaching out to a potential connection on the internet, especially on LinkedIn make sure to make your message personal, do not use the default message.

As a veteran you are given a year of LinkedIn pro. Make that happen. (Offer is good as of the writing of this article)

In your network connections make sure you have a few trusted professional connections that can review your resume, and your LinkedIn page to make sure that they are as professional as possible.

Those trusted mentors are good resources for practicing your interviewing skills with.

Network with professional organizations, groups, and clubs that have people in your industry as members.

Dress to Impress – When interviewing put your best foot forward with regards to your appearance. When interviewing for a job it is important to go with business dress, a suit or at minimum; slacks, button down shirt, and a tie. Vests can be worn as well but try to keep your overall appearance conservative. That bright red silk shirt might be great but keep it for another occasion. If you need to appear in uniform ensure that your uniform is impeccable. ACUs are never acceptable for an interview or when meeting employers at a job fair. The exception to this would be if there is a job/career fair that is brought to your (military) location during duty hours and it is understood that everyone will be in ACUs.

These tips and suggestions should help you move toward landing the job you are looking for and starting on an exciting new career.

Check out the Tools and Resources page on our website for valuable links to help in your veteran job search or your military transition.

Make sure you bookmark this site and come back for parts 2 and 3 where we will continue with social media and interview tips and suggestions.

Veterans, Transitioning Military Personnel, and their families are encouraged to meet with employers at this free event.

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Veteran Employment in Energy and Oil and Gas on the Rise

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Forward March Inc

North Dakota Oilfield Camp

At a remote camp miles and miles from civilization, a team is gearing up for the day’s assigned operation. Helmets are secured as the team leader performs his final checks ensuring everyone is properly equipped for the strenuous mission ahead. The team knows the mission will likely continue into the night.

It’s bitterly cold, with wind chills of -20 degrees, but the mission must continue. The rugged men and women assigned to the outpost know their job. They are a dedicated tight-knit team with the mindset that failure is not an option. Day after day and night after night they get the job done. This is not a remote forward operating base in the snow covered mountains of Afghanistan, it’s an oilfield camp in North Dakota.

According to the Government Accountability Office, over the next five years, one million veterans are expected to leave military service. These Veterans are ideal candidates for oil and gas, and transportation companies. Veterans often bring experience and much needed certifications enabling them to be more quickly on-boarded, easier to train, and generally more capable with managing their schedule and priorities.

Realizing this, energy companies have begun a variety of programs to bring veterans on-board, some with greater success than others. GI Jobs recognizes companies such as Fluor Corp which was recently named a “Top 100 Military Friendly Employer” for the eighth year in a row. Furthermore, 5 of the 35 Top 35 Veteran Employers (according to Military.com) are energy, oil and gas, or power, not including companies such as Schneider National Inc. which specializes in trucking.

The Houston Chronicle reported last spring that there was a significant increase in the number of veteran hiring programs among energy companies throughout Houston, Texas.

Forward March Inc Military Talent Pipeline Services – Affordable, Customized, Scalable

Forward March Inc. specializes in helping companies of all size learn how to efficiently find, attract, hire and retain high quality veteran talent. Our 35 year plus history of bringing companies and veterans together enables us to bring customized and scalable solutions that will enable your organization to bring the right military talent on board at the right time. Unlike many other companies we can give you a valuable mission plan that will enable your organization to retain veteran talent and subsequently build a vibrant veteran culture.

Contact Forward March Inc. today to learn more.

Veterans, Transitioning Military Personnel, and their families are encouraged to meet with employers at this free event.

Set Your Veteran Hiring Goals High for Mission Success

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Forward March Inc

Military Hiring for Mission Success

We post often on this blog the various attributes and skills that today’s veterans bring to the workplace. The value of our veterans to employers is immense, and employers who recognize this and harness their talents reap immeasurable rewards within their organizations. You can read some of what we have written about the value of veterans in the workplace here. Don’t take our word for it, check out what Syracuse University, Military.com, and Forbes all have to say.

Forward March Inc can help your company or organization learn how to find, attract, hire and retain high quality veteran talent. We can teach you how to form a strong veteran culture within your organization and we can teach you how to retain the veteran talent that you hire. Our proven methods and strategies can help your company or organization join the ranks of those companies who are celebrated as veteran or military friendly employers. Most importantly our proven strategies are customizable and scalable to your organization.

Military.com 35 Best Veteran Employers

Military Times Best for Vets 2014

Top 100 Military Friendly Employers from Military Friendly

If you are a company that is looking to add veterans to your organization then you will want to reserve the date of November 17^th. This is the date of the Camouflage to Corporate Conference and also the VET Networking Event, both hosted by Forward March Inc. Forward March Inc. is committed to continuing our 35+ year history of bringing veterans and companies together to make careers happen! Details can be found here. Make sure you check out or Corporate to Ca mouflage Conference where we teach businesses and organizations the art of finding, attracting, hiring and retaining veteran talent.

Attention Veterans: Looking to Be Your Own Boss?

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Forward March Inc

Are you a veteran or transitioning military that is looking to be your own boss?

Are you interested in starting your own business or owning a franchise?

If so, we would like to share some information with you today.

Forward March Inc. is an SDVOB, that is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business. We are a company of veterans helping veterans. We take a lot of pride in our work and in the fact that we are in the ranks of our military service brothers and sisters who have started their own business. As of 2012, according to the SBA, veterans made up 9.1 percent of all business owners. According to the George Bush Institute, and many other research groups, veteran owned businesses are far more likely to succeed than non-veteran owned businesses.

GWBI_Logo3

If you are interested in joining the ranks of veterans who own their own business then you will definitely be interested in some of the outstanding opportunities available to you right now. Many of these opportunities are free for veterans! While many of these opportunities are in the San Antonio area we encourage veterans to look into their local Chamber, SBA, and university locations to find out if programs like this are being offered in their location.

Here is a roundup of opportunities that we found for veterans this week:

The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce is “re-booting” their entrepreneurial boot-camp for military veterans. You can learn more about that here.

Screen Shot 2014-08-20 at 8.41.57 AM

Veterans who want to join the SBA and start down the track of entrepreneurship should check out the latest article on the San Antonio Business Journal site. The SBA is extending their fee waiver program for veterans through 2015!

Veterans and transitioning military interested in starting their own business should also check out the San Antonio Small Business Development Center at UTSA. This program offers a number of benefits including special veterans assistance.

Forward March Inc. has an outstanding relationship with our customer Fred Astarie Dance Studios. You owe it to yourself to check out our previous post to learn more about the outstanding opportunities for employment and even franchise ownership with them.

Screen Shot 2014-10-02 at 10.03.08 AM

For veterans who want to learn a new skill, or expand on a skill-set should check out the fine folks over at Workforce Solutions Alamo and Alamo Colleges are collaborating to offer short-term skills development programs in the areas of Information Technology, the Manufacturing Industry and Aerospace. Learn more here.

Veterans, Transitioning Military Personnel, and their families are encouraged to meet with employers at this free event.

Don’t forget, that if you are a veteran or transitioning military and you are looking for employment or a career change make sure you check out our FREE Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event on November 17th. Details can be found here.

If you represent a company, organization, or educational institution this VET Networking Event is free for you as well. Forward March Inc. is committed to continuing our 35+ year history of bringing veterans and companies together to make careers happen! Details can be found here. Make sure you check out or Corporate to Camouflage Conference where we teach businesses and organizations the art of finding, attracting, hiring and retaining veteran talent.

Your Company Needs Veterans!

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Forward March Inc

High quality military talent… It’s what your company or organization needs!

Did you know that approximately three quarters of the age eligible population of the United States couldn’t qualify for military service?

Did you know that, according to the DOL, less than ten percent of the U.S. population are veterans?

Did you know that almost thirty percent of veterans over the age of twenty-five have a bachelor’s degree or higher?

Did you know that veterans frequently leave military service with valuable certifications and training that is highly sought after by companies?

Did you know that the average military veteran brings a wealth of experience, leadership and management skills, communication skills, and experience working in a variety of environments and situations?

Today’s veterans are among the most educated, technically savvy, and diverse group of veterans in our nation’s history. Today’s veterans even, at their lowest levels of rank, have experience in working in diverse environments, putting leadership training to use in the workplace, working in trusted environments, and communicating clearly and directly. Veterans transitioning out of the military today have certifications and training in a wide variety of fields including, but not limited to, truck driving, mechanics, engineering, IT and computer networking, IT security, and much more.

We have been helping companies hire veterans for over 35 years!

Forward March Inc. (FMI) has experience working with companies to build a highly successful military talent pipeline. We have helped companies learn how to find, attract, hire and retain high quality military talent for energy related jobs from truck drivers to managers and engineers. We take all the guesswork out of the process of attaining a powerful veteran workforce.

The Camouflage to Corporate Conference will be held on November 17^th, in San Antonio, Texas. This powerful conference has a reputation for helping companies and organizations learn about the process of finding and hiring veterans. Attendees will come away with valuable knowledge to get them started with hiring high quality veteran talent. FMI will also give a detailed overview of how we can bring our customized and scalable solutions to your organization to help you achieve mission success.

Veterans, Transitioning Military Personnel, and their families are encouraged to meet with employers at this free event.

This conference will be very special as FMI will be rolling out our Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event. This event will be from 1pm to 4pm on November 17^th and will focus on connecting veterans and transitioning military with companies, organizations, and educational institutions. FMI has over 35 years of collective experience bringing veterans and companies together and is very proud to be able to facilitate this very special opportunity. FMI is a company of veterans committed to helping veterans. This is why there will be no charge to veterans and transitioning military or to companies, organizations and educational institutions who want to attend.

To learn more about the Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event and how to register for free on our website, click here.

While this outstanding event is in conjunction with our Camouflage to Corporate Conference, admission to the Conference is separate. To learn more about Camouflage to Corporate and how to register on our website, click here.

Forward March Inc Military Hiring Guide

Retaining Top Military and Veteran Talent

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Forward March Inc

Part 3of a special 3 part series:

Finding the right veteran talent requires a solid military talent recruiting strategy with an executable and measurable plan. Interviewing veteran and military talent requires a certain level of expertise in military skills translations, understanding military lingo, and even interpreting the DD 214. The bottom line is this; finding the right military talent for the right position requires hundreds of man-hours in the recruiting, screening, interviewing, and hiring process. Unfortunately, all that time and energy is lost when retention rates are low.

Here are some key takeaways for an effective veteran retention strategy.

Onboarding:

Effective onboarding allows new hires to get adjusted to the culture of the company and understand performance aspects of their job quickly and easily. It allows them to learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to function effectively within your organization. Effective onboarding includes:

Giving the veteran a written plan of objectives and responsibilities. Within the military culture, this is an expectation.
Conducting formal orientations.
Introducing the new employee to the team. Veterans need to feel like they belong to the team.
Assigning a veteran mentor to capitalize on the brother and sisterhood that exists within the military profession.
Indoctrinating the veteran into the company’s culture, mission, and values.
Addressing questions or concerns immediately.
Being aware of physical limitations, should they exist.
Motivating veterans by giving them purpose and direction.

Veteran Resource Group:

A great way to support your veteran employees is to create a veteran employee resource group. The purpose of the veteran employee resource group is to share knowledge across the organization in every aspect of recruiting, hiring, retaining and recognizing the veteran population. Here are ways the veteran resource group can help:

Assist in developing veteran hiring strategies.
Recognize veteran employees during company events.
Coordinating observations of Veterans Day, Memorial Day activities, and service birthdays.
Providing assistance, through care packages, phone cards, letter writing and all other means of support, to those currently deployed.
Support current National Guard and Reserve members.
Mentor veterans who recently left the service.
Generating support for veteran hospitals and homeless shelters.
Develop organizational partnerships with veteran service organizations.
Provide moral and psychological support for your veteran employees as needed.
Involve the veteran’s family.

Support Guard and Reserve Members:

First and foremost, being a member of the National Guard or Reserve should not be a hiring deterrent. Second, the best way your organization can support your country is by supporting your National Guard and Reserve employees. It’s important to foster a culture in which your company supports and values the employment and military service of members of the Reserve Component.

It is not only the right thing to do to support guard and reserve military personnel, it’s also the law! Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), employers have specific obligations to support their Reserve Component members.

The law guarantees the right to take time off from work to meet your military responsibilities during weekend drills and annual training.

A military member who leaves a civilian job for voluntary or involuntary service for extended periods of time is entitled to reemployment in the civilian job (with accrued seniority) if he or she meets certain criteria.

Discrimination in hiring is unlawful. It is also unlawful to fire someone for being in the National Guard or Reserve, or to discriminate with respect to promotions or other benefits of employment.

It is unlawful for you to make the employee use vacation time while in the performance of military duty.

You are not required to pay an individual for time not worked due to service, although many organizations do.

Communication is the key to a lasting partnership between the service member, your company, and the military unit. Here are others ways to help your current guard and reserve employees:

Learn more about the role of the National Guard and Reserve. Attend open houses and public functions at local military units. Talk about the National Guard and Reserve with military and civilian leaders in your community.

Get to know representatives from the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve (ESGR). Find your local Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve representative on their website.

Get to know your employees’ military commanders and supervisors. Ask them to provide you with advance notice of their annual military duty schedule.

Provide the service member the time and flexibility to perform his or her military duties.
Put your support in writing by signing a Statement of Support for the National Guard and Reserve. Publicly show your support and appreciation for all those who serve.

Military veterans are a loyal, hard-working, and well trained group of individuals that will enhance an organization’s ability to accomplish its mission. But loyalty only goes so far and veterans will stay with your company if you give them a reason to stay by keeping them busy, giving them focus, and above all, purpose.

Employees turn-over is expensive, but Forward March Inc., has the solution for keeping veteran employees engaged. Companies with strong veteran cultures enjoy many benefits to include greater productivity and professionalism as well as higher referral rates. We can help your organization develop a very strong veteran culture with both new and existing veteran employees. If your organization is up to the challenge, FMI has your back!

Forward March Inc Military Hiring Guide

~ Article written by Jason Caswell, Forward March Inc – Director of Training and Talent Pipeline Services

National American Gold Star Mother’s Day

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Forward March Inc

“Perpetuating the Noble Principles for which They Fought and Died”

Sunday, September 28^th is National American Gold Star Mother’s Day. The American Gold Star Mothers Inc. was formed in 1936, just after World War I supporting mothers who have lost a son or daughter in war.

The name of the organization comes from the tradition of hanging a banner or Service Flag in the window of a home of families of servicemen. The flag would show a star for each family member in the U.S. Armed Forces serving in war. A blue star represented living military service members; a gold star represented those who had lost their life in battle.

Membership in this socially active non political organization is open to any American woman who has lost a son or daughter in service to the United States in the Armed Forces. God Star Mother’s Day is observed in America in their honor.

You can learn more about their organization here.

Every American should remember with gratitude and honor, the lives of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation. This weekend make sure to remember and honor the mothers of our fallen warriors.

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If you are looking for tools and resources to help with employment or other services for military transitioners and veterans alike, we are always updating our tools and resources page which you can access here.

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Two Schools of Thought on Military Skills Translation

Veteran Employment in Energy and Oil and Gas on the Rise

Set Your Veteran Hiring Goals High for Mission Success

Attention Veterans: Looking to Be Your Own Boss?

Your Company Needs Veterans!

Retaining Top Military and Veteran Talent

National American Gold Star Mother’s Day

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