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Monster: Vets Feel Unprepared for Civilian Workforce

November 16, 2012

Veterans believe their military skills are valuable but continue to show a lack of confidence in their ability to find jobs and still face challenges in translating their military skills to civilian jobs, according to Monster Worldwide Inc.’s November 2012 veterans talent index report. On a scale of 0-100, the index dipped to 50 compared to 56 in November 2011.

Two-thirds of veterans believe the skills they acquired in the military are relevant for business use while 78 percent are not confident about finding a job that meets their abilities, the report found. Compared to November of last year, 43 percent feel they are prepared for their career transition out of the military, down from 53 percent, and 22 percent of respondents are confident about finding work that suits them, down from 34 percent.

Four out of five veterans will be searching for a job in the next 12 months, up from 69 percent a year ago, with nearly 82 percent of respondents very or extremely likely to be looking for work within the year.

The report is generated from employer and veteran feedback, leveraging the resources of the Military.com Career and Transition Center, including data on veteran skills, training and experience gathered from more than two million veteran resumes.

The Employer Veterans Hiring Index — a monitor of how employers who have hired multiple veterans in the past year compare work performance to non-veteran employees — dipped slightly to a 72 on a scale of 0-100, compared to a 74 in November 2011.

The November 2012 survey of over 750 employers revealed continued positive indications towards veterans. It also revealed a widening gap between veterans’ and employers’ views, and a sense that veterans can do better when explaining their skills in order to more successfully compete with non-veterans in the job market.

“In the most recent survey, nearly all the employers we spoke with would recommend hiring veterans, and 99 percent say veterans perform their job functions the same or better than non-veteran workers,” said Steve Cooker, executive vice president, global government solutions for Monster Worldwide. “However, the fact that just 50 percent of employers surveyed agree that veterans are prepared for a successful transition, shows there is still a lot of work to be done.”