New York State’s Department of Labor is trying to help returning veterans turn their military experience into a civilian job.
Labor Spokesperson Chris White finds the link isn’t made with advanced and technical skills.
“The employers may not recognize that,” said White. “And a lot of the men and women coming back with a great service background may not realize they can turn those skills into civilian skills, essentially.”
The program is called “Experience Counts”. One success was finding positions for more than 250 vets who had truck driving experience where the transportation department could pave the way.
“And they said, ‘o-k, so you have this experience driving heavy equipment in the military. How can, now, you turn that into skills to be used on the road here at home’. They also said, ‘what barriers can we break down’, and some of those were fees associated with those licenses that could be waived by the Department of Transportation.”
White says there are now more than eight thousand security jobs into which their trying to match veterans. Along with their military experience, the Vets need only take a four-hour training. Information about “Experience Counts” is at Labor.ny.gov in the veterans section.
