At a time when the unemployment rate for returning veterans has been showing signs of hope, a growing number of companies are breaking the laws that protect the employment of returning veterans.

Vets, including National Guard and Reserve soldiers, have faced numerous deployments and calls to duty during the years of war over the past decade, and many have returned to find they no longer had jobs they expected to return to. Some contend they have faced discrimination on their return, or retaliation for their military service.

Such actions are illegal under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA, which is supposed to help protect veterans when they return to the workforce.

But some employers either don’t care about the law or are ignorant of it.

“The number of new USERRA cases handled by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veteran Employment and Training Service (DOL VETS) and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) rose 10 percent from 1,438 to 1,576,” according to Department of Labor data provided by employment law firm Tully Rinckey, one of the top firms in the country focused on veteran workplace rights. (more…)

Job stimulus proposals don’t get a lot of support these days even though there are 14 million people out of work and a jobless rate of 9.1 percent. But maybe people would think differently if they considered the men and women who sacrificed their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I don’t know if you heard, but 33,000 of them will be heading home in the next year and they’ll be heading into one of the worse job markets in decades, a job market that’s even crummier for them.

The unemployment rate for veterans of the Gulf War, including those who served from September 2001 until today, is now 12.1 percent, up from 10.6 percent in May of last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the numbers for younger male vets between ages 18 and 24 are even worse, about 21 percent joblessness; not to mention those coming home with injuries. About 25 percent of these veterans report having some sort of disability as a result of recent wars, much higher than the 13 percent among all veterans.

Thanks to medical advances, soldiers are able to survive devastating injuries that may have killed them in previous wars, experts say, and that’s creating a large pool of disabled vets looking for jobs once they return home. They are also struggling with hidden disabilities, such as traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues.

“Disabled vets have a lot of unique challenges, and they have a hard time finding jobs,” says Paul Rieckhoff, executive director with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

He estimates that the jobless rate among his 100,000 members is in the double digits, with no sign of relief.

Often times vets whether disabled or not, especially those who enlisted at a young age and have little private sector work experience, have a tough time adjusting to civilian life again and finding jobs. And vets who left jobs behind to go off to war sometimes come back and find their jobs are gone, even though there are laws that are supposed to fight against such actions.

President Obama’s announcement last night that thousands of vets will be returning home was good news for many people out there, but it could end up a recipe for disaster for the many more military men and women that will be returning home if they can’t find work. (more…)

I’m confident I stand with most Americans when it comes to hoping our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq come home soon. But their return also worries me.

There are about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, and despite the end of war in Iraq, more than 50,000 soldiers still occupy that country. If they all came back today we’d have an employment crisis on our hands. Today there are more than 200,000 veterans who recently returned and can’t find work, according the the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and the jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans’ is 10 percent, compared to 9.8 percent among the civilian population. Among young male veterans it’s even higher:

For many young returning vets, the military was the first real job they had so it makes sense that it would be harder for them to find work. And many older vets who thought their jobs would be waiting for them when they returned were hit with a harsh reality — a pink slip.

“I think that there is the potential for some upside in 2011 hiring, but overall the trend remains very poor for veterans when directly compared with their civilian counterparts,” said Chad Storlie, author of “Combat Leader to Corporate Leader: 20 Lessons to Advance Your Civilian Career.” (more…)

There is a harsh reality for veterans when they leave the military and go out into the civilian workforce — many employers don’t value military service.

It’s just the way it is folks. I’ve heard this from hiring managers. It’s not that they’re prejudice against veterans it’s just that many are dumb about what you guys do beyond marching and carrying guns.

A survey released yesterday by CareerBuilder.com found that one in five vets think their biggest hurdle to landing a job “is employers’ inability to understand how military skills can fulfill qualifications for civilian positions.”

So who do you think is going to educate these folks about what veterans have done? I’ve written about the topic and always tout the experience to HR managers, but I’m not there with you guys and gals at the interview table, or when you’re crafting your cover letter.

That means veterans have to step up to the plate and show everybody how great they are, and how their experience would fit a particular job.

I know, this is easier said than done, but just practicing a mock interview with a spouse, or buddy will help you immensely. One veteran I interviewed a while back told me he took a basic job coaching class that included interview skills training and it paid off with a good job. You can hire someone to do this or you can connect with a host of veterans assistance agencies in the U.S. and get help for free.

There are government run sites to help ex military personnel find jobs and there are also independent sites for networking and job postings. Here are a few to check out: www.military.com; www.weservetoether.com; www.togetherweserved.com; www.m4l.com; vetfriends.com; gijobs.net. Also use any help the government provides. Most bases offer transition services for ex G.I.s, so go back to Uncle Sam and find out what you’re eligible for.

While I stress the importance of showing a hiring manager the merits of your service, that doesn’t mean you should show up for an interview with your uniform on and saluting everyone in sight.

You have to learn how to strike a balance.

Here are some general tips that may help:

* Get rid of the military jargon on your resume and try to keep it to one page long. Don’t include every job you held before the military and every post you had while serving. Pick out four or five key jobs and leave the rest out. When detailing the jobs you held in the military try to use words a civilian can understand. Just saying you were a Chief Petty Officer is going to go right over the head of most folks. Detail what that job included, administrative duties, project management, etc.

* Try to keep the “Yes Sirs” at bay during the interview. You’re just a regular guy or gal now and hiring managers are going to want to know you can make the transition from war to the workplace easily.

* Use your contacts in the military until you’ve exhausted them. Many of your fellow soldiers or commanders may now be in the civilian workforce and there’s nothing wrong with sending them an email or calling them if they work for a company you’d like to consider, or could just act as mentors as you navigate the job-seeking process.

* You have to make sure the hiring manager understands the skills you can bring to the job. Talk about a specific assignment that shows how you were able to map out a plan and then execute it. Keep code names for military operations, or model numbers of helicopters or tanks to yourself.

* Ex-military folks may have to pay some dues before they find just the right job. Many men and women go into service without getting a college degree and without substantial job experience, so just like everyone else, you may have to make some job concessions. That means possibly taking a short-term internship to learn the ropes. Also consider making a deal with an employer who is interested in you but just isn’t quite sure you’ll be able to make the transition into the regular workforce, advises Brian Drum, a consultant who also writes a monthly career column for military.com. Offer to do the job for a few months with no strings attached, and put it in writing if the hiring manager is more comfortable with that, he adds.

* He also suggests going through a temporary staffing agency. Many companies often hire temps as full time employee, he adds, when they see an individual can get the job done.

It’s all about staying positive and realizing that you face a tough battle ahead finding a job in this economy. But it will happen, I promise. Don’t give up and lock up negativity in your foot locker for good.

And for all of you hiring managers, bosses and employees out there in the civilian work world, it’s time to give the men and women who fought for this country a break and realize they have just as much to bring to the table as their non-military counterparts.