May 2012 |
Transition-e-news Volume 3 Issue 70 |
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Transition Insight
"You know the military was the only thing I new for 8 years, so after that it's like, 'Okay, now what?'" |
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Click here for a complete list and description of organizations of TAOnline.com growing Partners! |
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Seven (7) Texas colleges are offering a unique program where your Military Training and Expertise may be transferred into College Credits. The colleges will provide models for awarding college credit by evaluating military training, including testing and prior learning assessments which other Texas colleges may replicate. There will be a focus on allied health careers, and the initiative will partner with the Military Education Training Center (METC) in San Antonio to provide current active duty service members with an accelerated degree plan. To learn more and determine eligibility, contact the Texas Workforce Commission at (512) 463-8942 |
Your Security Clearance Is Valuable To Civilian EmployersBy Barbara Adams, CPRW, CEIP, CMRC, CFRW When you were issued a security clearance for your military job specialty, you were given a passport to future job positions. Both civilian and Federal employers are currently in great need of people with various levels of security clearances for a wide variety of jobs. As you seek to make the military transition into the civilian world, you certainly want to consider this rich field of hot civilian and Federal jobs. The type of Federal jobs available are indeed many and varied. These openings range from government jobs in Homeland Security and extend to the CIA, DIA, NSA, DoD, and other agencies. The types of positions these agencies are looking to fill include linguists, network administrators, intelligence analysts, intrusion analysts, and many more. This certainly means that there is probably room for someone with your clearance in a Federal job. In addition to the line of Federal jobs, there is also a whole world of civilian job employers who could use your expertise along with your security clearance. These include defense contractors, companies and agencies that need facilities protection and security, medical records, software engineering firms, and many more. Specific in-demand jobs include engineers, biometrics, security, records, IT, intelligence analysts, network administrators, and more. Your security clearance is valuable to you. One good reason is that with it you can get a job with an automatic increase of a minimum of $5,000 per year. This amount may go up to about $15,000 simply for having the clearance. Of course, clearances do quickly expire, but the employer requiring them will take steps to see that it stays effective if you apply within about 24 months. Corporations and government agencies know that it can take a long time and become quite costly to give a Top Secret security clearance to someone who does not have one. In fact, it could take up to a year to go through the whole background investigation process. This is partly because of a backlog of about half a million people who are waiting in line for approval. If someone already had one, though, they could move swiftly into the desired position. The hiring company would also greatly appreciate the chance to save money by avoiding the long and tedious process of investigating someone's background. Clearances that have already expired, though, can also be renewed. If the process begins within 24 months, then only a part of the process is needed to reestablish a security clearance, depending on the level. This means that if you have already made a military transition back into civilian life, your clearance can still make you a sought-after candidate for a classified Federal job or civilian job. One thing you will need to do, though, as you look for a job requiring a security clearance, is to prepare a military resume. Your best bet is to hire a professional resume writer to help you highlight your training, experience, and qualifications. Keywords related to the job position will also be built in, giving you a resume that will stand out among other candidates'. A professional military resume writer knows what your prospective employer is looking for and can help you fit the bill perfectly. Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global (CPG), the parent company of www.careerproplus.com and www.militaryresumewriters.com, has been a member of the careers community for the past 20 years. Ms. Adams holds four prestigious industry certifications. CareerPro Global is the only ISO 9001-2008 Certified Career Service in the industry, as well as one of the fastest-growing Military, Federal, and Civilian Resume-Writing and Careers-Coaching companies. The team of Certified Professional Federal and Military Resume Writers at CPG assist thousands of clients in applying for and gaining employment each year. We can help you land your military to civilian job. |
New Benefits for Unemployed VeteransVOW to Hire Heroes Act for older Vets too! While the big push, currently, is to find jobs for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, recently passed legislation also offers assistance to veterans from previous conflicts. The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) offers 12 months of retraining assistance to Veterans. Additionally, Veterans with a service-connected disability may qualify for additional vocational rehabilitation (Voc-Rehab) and employment benefits. To qualify for VRAP, the Veteran must be:
The VRAP is limited to 45,000 participants between July 1, 2012 and September 30, 2012, and to an additional 54,000 from October 1, 2012 through March 31, 2014. Approved participants may receive up to 12-months of assistance at the full-time payment rate under the Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty program (currently $1,473/mo). The education program must lead to an Associate Degree, Non-College Degree, or a Certification, and train the Veteran for a high demand occupation. What occupations does the VA deem High Demand? Click here for a complete list Veterans who’ve already completed a VA Voc-Rehab program and used the initial 26-weeks of unemployment benefits may qualify for an additional 12-months of Voc-Rehab benefits. To qualify you:
To apply or learn more about VRAP or Voc-Rehab benefits, including how to apply, visit www.benefits.va.gov/VOW and fill out an only application (VONAPP). |
of $1 million will support the program, known as Operation: GoodJobs, at Goodwill agencies in the three key markets of Austin, Houston
and Tacoma through 2013. Together, Goodwill and the Walmart Foundation will collaborate with a broad array of community partners to help
ensure that veterans and their families have every opportunity to succeed.
Service Connected DisabilityPart 2: Claim with Assistance By Josh Penner, Veterans Advocate If you’ve had the chance to follow this newsletter for the last couple months you many remember this is now the third part in a series on Service Connected Disability. Parts one and tow being available here: Part 1 / Part 2. We’ve now covered why you would consider a Service Connected Disability claim and whether or not you may be eligible. This month's topic is who to turn to for assistance in filing your claim. By all accounts filing your VA Service Connected Disability claim is a big deal. Minor mistakes, missed mail inaccurate information, inadequate evidence, and more can take what seems like a straightforward claim and muddle it in years of appeals-causing anguish, heartache, undue financial burden and more. This alone is grounds for educating yourself on the different options for assistance in filing your claim. Some of you, perhaps many of you, will be more than capable and willing to deal with the rigmarole of self-presentation, while others - either by nature or because of your disability will not be best served by spearheading this process on your own. For those that wish/require assistance there are four options: Option 1: Service Officer - Each of these organizations has VSO representatives that are trained and certified by their organization to assist you in your VA claim. To be quite frank, the quality and availability of service officers varies greatly. Many of them are unpaid volunteers and while they cannot deny assistance to you, they may have difficulty providing the best service possible to your particular claim. Others are fantastically capable, but overworked. A good service officer is worth their weight in gold, but a good service officer that is overwhelmed seems to be the status quo. If you chose to have a Service Officer represent you, you will then sign a power of attorney (POA) over to the Service Officer and they will begin the process (in coordination with you) of getting your claim filed. Then, if they/you haven't already done so, they will start to gather and submit in support of your claim, supporting evidence (medical records, official military records, buddy statements, historical and legal precedent, and more). Option 2: Claims Agent - Many claims agents work for attorneys in a paralegal type role as their subject matter experts on VA claims. Though, there are many who operate independently as well. We'll cover more of their services in the upcoming article concerning Service Connected Disability appeals. Option 3: Attorney - Attorneys need to be VA certified in order to practice VA case law. This means the VA must file the VA Form 21a and be approved by the Office of the General Counsel. Specific knowledge of 38 C.F.R. (the law of the claim), as well as procedural knowledge is variable depending on the attorney and their experience. A list of VA accredited attorneys can be found here. The process for using an attorney to represent you is similar to a VSO and a Claims Agent in that it will require you to submit to a POA so that the attorney can build your case and represent you. You should be aware though, that many attorneys will not represent you on an initial Service Connected Disability application as there is no monetary benefit available for them in doing so. We'll cover the attorney option more in the before mentioned future article on appeals to Service Connected Disability denials. Option 4: Another person - A few key facts to know about your initial claim:
As we wrap up this article though, I want to leave you with clarity of thought. Each of the four options I've detailed to assist you in your claim will in reference to the other three, often describe why you should not use the other three. I would say that the success rates of any of them are not entirely great. This is the time to do a 'gut check' and figure out what it is you really need. Are you best served by working with someone else? Can you deal with difficult people? Do you have someone in your life that you think can assist you better than someone who does this every day? For each of us, the answers to these questions will be different. Thus the help we may need will be just as different. Next months article will cover the process/procedures for 'going it alone' and filing your own Service Connected Disability claim. Josh Penner, Veterans Advocate: |
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