Veterans' next battle: finding a new job

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Matthew Ellersick of North Carolina, who recently returned from duty in the Middle East, talks during a job fair for veterans and their families at the Baltimore Ravens' stadium.


Veterans' next battle: finding a new job
By Lorraine Mirabella, The Baltimore Sun
Stars and Stripes online edition, Thursday, April 8, 2010

BALTIMORE — While on active duty in Iraq, Matthew Ellersick started job hunting online, planning his transition to civilian life.

Since returning from a six-month deployment in February, the Army National Guard intelligence analyst, who has a master's degree in marketing, has traveled a circuit of job fairs from Tampa, Fla., to Philadelphia with no luck.

"When I came back, the economy was a lot worse than when I left," said Ellersick during a recent job fair in Baltimore, a chance to come face-to-face with employers after many companies he contacted had directed him to apply online. "You feel like they're blowing you off. The only ones who are not picky are the military."

Young, unemployed veterans who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan face even lower odds of finding jobs in this economy than their civilian counterparts, according to recent government statistics. The jobless rate hit 21 percent last year for the youngest veterans, who are 18 to 24 years old, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report released last month. That's compared with 16.6 percent of nonveterans in the same age range.

Returning veterans have historically faced challenges. They can be at a disadvantage if they find their military training doesn't easily translate into civilian skills, or if they had delayed the pursuit of a four-year degree to enter the military, said Joseph Sharpe, director of the economic division for the American Legion in Washington. Grueling deployment schedules also can be an impediment.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69233