VOUCHING FOR VETS
Heinz Endowments campaign urges employers to hire veterans
As a maintenance officer in Iraq during the Second Gulf War, Megan Andros commanded more than 100 troops in a heavy brigade combat team, and oversaw millions of dollars worth of weapons and other equipment.
But when the West Point graduate had to write her first resume at age 28 upon leaving military service, she quickly discovered that despite her bachelor’s degree and several years of management experience in a war zone, her skill set didn’t easily translate to jobs being filled by private sector employers.
“The military gives you a ton of responsibility at a young age and gets you out of your comfort zone,” said Ms. Andros, who is now a program officer for the Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh. “I think it’s difficult for civilian employers to understand that and it’s hard for people getting out of the service to find a job with even half as much responsibility as they had in the service.”
In an effort to heighten awareness about the strengths that military personnel can bring, the endowments is launching a messaging campaign that encourages employers to consider hiring more veterans.
Beginning Thursday, the campaign will be displayed on buses, public transit shelters, at the North Side T station, and in digital banners on websites.
The first installment will feature posters that show partial faces of male and female veterans and teaser taglines such as, “Don’t just call veterans heroes” and “Don’t just thank a veteran.”
The second part, to be unveiled June 8, includes the full faces of veterans and adds follow-up phrases to each message such as “Call them for an interview,” “Hire one,” or “Help them build a future.”
Also set to launch Thursday is a website, RethinkVets.org, which will contain information and resources for veterans and potential employers.
The endowments spent about $130,000 on the new campaign created by Garrison Hughes, a Pittsburgh advertising agency.
Besides urging employers to think more about recruiting veterans, the campaign, which will run for about six weeks, also aims to dispel widely held perceptions that most veterans have physical limitations or mental health issues that might be barriers to employment.
“The idea that most returning veterans are in some way incapacitated or vulnerable is a myth that tends to permeate our communities locally and nationally,” said Grant Oliphant, the endowments’ president.
‘An issue of underemployment’
Nationwide, the unemployment rate among veterans was 3.7 percent in April, down from 3.9 percent a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That compares with a non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.9
percent in April among nonveterans.
But even though the statistics show more veterans than non-veterans are working, Ms. Andros said many of those veterans are not in positions that best use their talents or provide equitable pay for their experience.
“It’s more an issue of underemployment,” she said.
That’s largely a result of corporate human resource professionals not fully understanding how skills acquired in the military can be applied to civilian work, she said.
Another challenge is that many nonprofit agencies assisting veterans target their services for those struggling with issues that prevent them from working such as physical injuries, addiction, and homelessness — instead of career counseling.
While many Pittsburghbased companies have begun to think about the issue of hiring more veterans, only a few — PNC Financial Services Group and Highmark are among the largest — are aggressively engaged in developing initiatives to do so, said Ms. Andros.
“A lot of companies are at the job fairs [for veterans] but they show up because they look bad if they don’t. And really, not many veterans are getting jobs from career fairs anymore.”
Lida Citroen, a Denverbased branding expert, said most veterans “bring tangible business skills that are not on their resume.”
“Take problem solving,” Ms. Citroen said. “They are trained for that from the time they hit the military. In the corporate world, you could have a civilian employee stop at a roadblock but a veteran will find a way over or around that problem.”
In her book, “Engaging with Veteran Talent,” Ms. Citroen provides guidelines for employers on establishing veteran-hiring initiatives and measuring the return on such investment.
She considers Verizon, Disney and Bank of America to be among the U.S. companies that have developed robust, successful veteran recruiting programs.
Quick reaction times
Ms. Andros’ path to private employment post-military began as an admissions representative at Cornell University’s graduate business school while her husband, also an Army veteran, obtained a degree there.
When the couple moved to Pittsburgh, she became a fellow at the Coro Pittsburgh leadership program and earned a master of public management at Carnegie Mellon University’s H. John Heinz III College.
In 2013, she joined the endowments where she focuses on services for veterans.
Over the past four years, the endowments has made gifts totaling more than $4 million to support veterans programs, including the launch of PAServes, a coalition of agencies that assist veterans with issues such as housing and job search.
Much of the endowments’ outreach targets veterans in the region who have served since 9-11; they comprise 35 percent of veterans who have received help from PAServes.
Many have a “soft skills” set that includes flexibility and quick reaction times, Ms. Andros said.
“The military develops you into a person who can receive a mission or a task, figure it out and adapt. A lot of those things you don’t get credit for in the resume screenings that computers are doing.” Joyce Gannon: jgannon@post-gazette.com or 412-