The Consumer Electronics Association and the Northern Virginia Technology Council, with the support of more than a dozen other industry associations and nonprofits, today announced a partnership with Monster.com to help military veterans find employment in the high-tech sector.
The centerpiece of the new initiative, announced today at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is the website, USTechVets.org.
Powered by Monster.com, the site provides a wide range of job search tools designed specifically for veterans, including a military skills translator to match each veteran’s skills, training and collateral duties to civilian jobs; a searchable database of jobs in the technology sector; and educational resources to help veterans develop skills to thrive in a private sector career.
USTechVets.org member companies also receive free access to Monster’s database of more than 800,000 veteran resumes, powered by Monster’s 6Sense semantic search technology. Employers also can automatically or directly post their jobs to the site, which veterans can search.
“NVTC member companies believe overall workforce development is one of the greatest long-term challenges facing our technology community,” said NVTC president and CEO Bobbie Kilberg in a statement. “Through the combined power of the organizations involved in this initiative, we hope to accelerate veterans’ transition to civilian life by providing access to thousands of employment opportunities across the technology sector and the tools and resources they need to succeed.”
More than 1 million veterans are expected to begin transitioning out of the military to civilian life in the next three years. Recent unemployment data from the Council of Economic Advisers show the unemployment rate for recent veterans is hovering at 10 percent, with more than 240,000 post-9/11 veterans out of work.
In addition to disability and lack of civilian work experience, one of the major obstacles veterans have faced when trying to land a job has been the difficulty of finding civilian jobs that match their military training and experience, and then navigating through complex licensing and hiring procedures in many industries.
“Veterans with the right mix of business, communication and technical skills can find rewarding careers in the tech industry,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA, one of the major industry associations lending its support to USTechVets.org. “In the past two years, some 16,000 veterans have earned nearly 22,000 CompTIA certifications. These IT skills certifications can be a first step in transitioning from active duty to civilian life.”
Merlin Guilbeau, executive director and CEO of the Electronic Security Association, characterized the partnership with Monster.com as “an effort to create the largest collection of veteran job candidates and open technology industry jobs.” According to Guilbeau, ESA member companies often complain finding and hiring quality talent “is a continuous challenge.”
Joining CEA and NVTC in this effort are:
- Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association
- Central Station Alarm Association
- CompTIA, Electronic Security Association
- National Association of Broadcasters
- Professional Services Council
- Security Industry Association
- Telecommunications Industry Association
- Wireless Infrastructure Association
