By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2014 – First Lady Michelle Obama and
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, today launched the Veterans
Employment Center, the first online one-stop shopping tool for veterans,
transitioning service members and spouses in search of employment.
The announcement was made at a third-anniversary celebration
for their “Joining Forces” initiative at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Joining Forces mobilizes all sectors of American society to
support service members, veterans and their families.
The Veterans Employment Center is designed to connect
veterans and transitioning service members with employers and help translate
military skills into the public- and private-sector civilian workforce.
“Our service members haven’t always had the time or information
they needed to prepare their resumes, to plot their career goals, to meet with
employers and get the jobs they deserve. And that’s simply not acceptable,” the
first lady said. “As my husband has said, when you’ve fought for this country
around the world, you shouldn’t have to fight for a job when you return home.
“Starting today,” she continued, “every single service
member, every veteran, and every military family will have access to a new
online tool that will revolutionize how you find jobs in both the public and
private sectors.”
The online tool is available at http://ebenefits.va.gov.
"Our service members transitioning to civilian life, as
well as their spouses, deserve the resources they need to be successful,"
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a White House news release. "Through
this effort, they are getting that help. Our troops and their spouses are
proven leaders, highly skilled and hard working. Employers hiring them are
getting the best this nation has to offer."
The center is the result of an interagency effort to
improve, simplify and consolidate the existing array of employment resources
for veterans, officials said. It also will provide a single, comprehensive
database of resumes for employers who seek to leverage the skills and talents
of veterans, service members and their spouses.
The new online resource is the first interagency tool to
bring together a wealth of public and private job opportunities, a
resume-builder, military skills translator and detailed career and training
resources.
In connection with Joining Forces, DOD and the departments
of Veterans Affairs, Labor and Education and the Office of Personnel Management
worked with employers to design and develop the site and incorporate features
of existing online employment tools within government.
“Veterans deserve an authoritative source for connecting
with employers,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “The online Veterans
Employment Center is the single, federal source for veterans looking for new
career opportunities, service members transitioning to the civilian workforce,
and spouses and beneficiaries looking to connect with job opportunities.”
With this tool, employers will be able to search and view
veteran, service member and spouse resumes in one location.
Resumes are visible to all employers with an active LinkedIn
or Google profile. To prevent spam, applicants’ names and email addresses are
redacted, and are visible only to employers verified by VA as registered
companies with the IRS. The site also is built using open data and an open
application programming interface to attract private-sector innovation.
“Improving veterans’ employment is an all-hands-on-deck
enterprise,” Labor Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez said. More than 1 million
service members projected to leave the military in the coming years.
“OPM’s USAJobs program is excited to be partnering with the
VA on making this a robust tool for our nation's veterans and transitioning
service members seeking federal employment,” said Office of Personnel
Management Director Katherine Archuleta.
“It has been more than four years since President Obama
established the Veterans Employment Initiative, and in that time, the executive
branch hired the highest percentage of military veterans in more than 20 years
–- of the 195,000 new employees hired in [fiscal year] 2012, approximately
56,000 were veterans, equaling 28.9 percent of total hires,” she added.
“We can continue to honor and show our appreciation for the
dedicated and heroic service of America’s veterans by ensuring that they have
every opportunity to continue their service to this great nation as federal
civilian employees, Archuleta said. “The Veterans Employment Center helps us
honor these men and women by making employment opportunities available when our
servicemen and women lay down their uniforms.”
At today’s Fort Campbell event, Biden noted the success of
the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, which began in June 2011 with fewer
than 60 companies. Today, she said, the partnership has 228 partner employers,
more than 1.8 million jobs posted on the MSEP Career Portal, and more than
60,000 military spouse hires to its credit.
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