Hire the vet

A comprehensive effort to employ veterans’ skills

The Heinz Endowments’ new campaign to promote the hiring of veterans is about more than putting people in jobs. It’s about getting employers to understand the sophisticated skills veterans bring to the table and matching veterans with jobs commensurate with those skills. It’s about helping employers get ahead and, to paraphrase those featured in the campaign, helping veterans find their next way to serve.

To pique curiosity, the $130,000, six-week campaign will be revealed in two stages. In the first, launched last week, ads featuring half of a veteran’s face appeared on websites and buses and at bus shelters and the North Side light-rail station with messages such as “Don’t just call veterans heroes” and “Don’t just thank a veteran.” In the next phase, beginning June 8, the ads will be rounded out to include the rest of the veteran’s face and a call to action, such as “Call them for an interview” and “Hire one.”

There’s also a website, rethinkvets.org, which gets to the deeper message about who veterans are, what they gained through their service and what they can do for employers. Often perceived as a battlescarred population with physical limitations, a group needing to be helped not leveraged, veterans — having commanded large teams, worked with sophisticated equipment, functioned under extreme pressure and learned to troubleshoot and take responsibility for their actions — in reality bring special skills to the workplace.

“The truth is, veterans are experienced leaders and educated citizens. They served their country and now want to serve their communities. With over 235,000 veterans making their home in Southwestern PA ... it is essential we welcome and make the most of this powerful resource,” says the website, which includes veterans’ stories in video and written form.

Some employers seem to look right past a rich talent pool. One veteran, Lynn Strezeski, said on the website video that she applied for 800 jobs before landing one. “And it’s like that experience in the Army didn’t count,” she said. “It’s like null and void.”

The sad irony is that even as people at home undervalue and underestimate them, veterans struggle to readjust to a civilian life where responsibilities aren’t as taxing or do not require the vigilance of their work overseas. “You have such an important job that giving it up, it’s really hard to figure out where you fit after that,” explained Megan Andros, a West Point graduate and Army ordnance officer who served in Iraq and now works for the endowments.

The armed forces need to do a better job at preparing veterans for civilian life — and a better job of networking with the private sector to help employers understand that the military’s loss is their gain. The endowments’ initiative will help.

The veterans in the ad campaign made clear that they don’t want to be thanked for their service as much as given a shot at a new kind of deployment in the workplace. “Come out and serve with me and see the fact that I’m not done serving,” Army veteran Matt Landis said. “I’m not even close.”