First generation of employers with no widespread military experience makes finding a job hard for veterans

Matt Pizzo has a law degree, can-do attitude, proven leadership skills, and expertise in communications and satellite technology from his four years in the Air Force.

Yet the 29-year-old has been told that he’s overqualified, too old, too “non-traditional,” and that he’s fallen behind his civilian contemporaries.

“It was disheartening, to say the least,” he said of his latest job rejection. “But it’s typical, I’m afraid.”

For unemployed veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, rejection is a special ordeal. Veterans’ advocacy groups, and many unemployed veterans, say civilian employers don’t always appreciate veterans’ skills and maturity. They point out that this is the first generation of employers who have no widespread military experience and thus no inherent appreciation for what the institution can provide…

The unemployment rate for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq is 10.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For veterans age 24 and under, the rate is 29.1%, or 12 points higher than for civilians the same age. That compares with 8.2% unemployment nationally, and 7.5% for all veterans.

A survey this year by the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found that a quarter of its members could not find a job to match their skill level, and half said they did not believe employers were open to hiring veterans.

“These veterans have skills and maturity a decade beyond their civilian peers,” said Tom Tarantino, the group’s deputy policy director, who couldn’t find work for 10 months after he left the Army in 2007. “It’s very frustrating for them to be told they have to retrain for jobs they’ve already been trained for in the military.”…

Source:

Read More @ Unemployment is a special challenge for veterans – latimes.com.

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