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Getting Veterans Back to Work

Employer tips for integrating veterans back into the workforce

Keith Kambic, director of security and asset services at Sears Tower, says that military veterans are well-positioned to work in security because they are well equipped to handle emergencies. "Our experience [at the Sears Tower] is that their cage is not going to get as rattled as easily as someone who hasn't gone through that basic training and military experience. We find them generally to be very stable men and women," Kambic says.

2. Do background checks as you would for any employee. Employers should perform background checks on veterans just as they would for any other job candidate. But for veterans, this can also include checking into how they were discharged and where they last served. "We wouldn't hire anybody below an honorable discharge," says Jeff Gillaspie, security manager at Sears Tower.

Employers can request a copy of the job candidate's Report of Separation, or the Department of Defense Form 214 (DD214). The one- to two-page report includes a service member's date and place of entry into active duty, last duty assignment and rank, military job specialty, military education, and decorations and awards. It also covers the type of separation, character of service and reason for leaving. The DD214 keeps medical conditions private.

Aflac's Fowler says because these forms are limited, he also checks references.

3. Support is available for the transition. The Defense Department has an agency called the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to assist soldiers returning to work from

the National Guard and military reserve system. (Visit www.esgr.mil.)

Employers also can point veterans to readjustment counseling at any of 207 community-based Department of Veterans Affairs centers nationwide. Counseling is offered free to any veterans who served in a combat zone, as well as their families. The centers are staffed by small multidisciplinary teams of providers, many of whom are combat veterans themselves. Vet Center staff are available during normal business hours. For more information, visit www.vetcenter.va.gov.

4. Working with other veterans can help. Fellow veterans can ease the transition from military service to the private sector.

Ken Poinsette, second vice president of information technology support services at Aflac, is a 1985 West Point graduate who made the transition to the IT profession after a 10-year military career, including an eight-month tour of duty in the Persian Gulf during the first war with Iraq. His work as a soldier included computer science training and working side by side with civilian IT contractors at a military post in Germany. His first civilian-sector job was as a desktop services manager at General Electric.