Jobs for Veterans and Family Members with the Federal Government

Recently I became aware of and spent some time on the website www.fedshirevets.gov. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount and quality of information there that might help a military veteran of any age or rank to land a decent job. You will also find similar important information for certain family members of military veterans.

President Obama issued an Executive Order applicable to federal government agencies in 2009, essentially requiring them to increase efforts to hire veterans and qualifying family members. And, some noteworthy improvements have been made according to the most recent statistics from June of 2011.

The percentage of veterans employed in the federal executive branch is up to 28% of all federal employees. And the percentage of disabled veterans among veteran employees is up to 8.8%.
Keep in mind that federal government agency employment accounts for approximately 22% of all persons employed in this country.

Here are a few sections of www.fedshirevets.gov that are “must-sees.” Check out the short video on the Veterans section of the Job Seekers tab. Be prepared, get your ducks in a row, do your homework, etc: whatever cliché you prefer, start out by getting a first-class resume together. You want to present yourself and your skills in the brightest light possible.

Also on the Job Seekers page, you can find very useful information for military members separating out of the service, the Transition Assistance Program. There is also a link to the Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) of the U.S. Department of Labor.

I found the Frequently Asked Questions portion of the Job Seekers page really helpful. It takes one to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, where you can learn a great deal about how “veterans’ preference” works, about “derived veterans’ preference” if you are the widow/widower, spouse or mother of a veteran, and about going to another useful website, www.usajobs.gov, to learn about currently available federal agency positions.

Since there are federal government agencies located throughout our nation and at U.S. facilities throughout the world, you may want to also click on the Agency Directory tab of the Feds Hire Vets website. You will find there the name, e-mail address and telephone number of the individual in charge of this program at each participating federal government agency. Clearly, this should be a shortcut for a qualifying military veteran or widow/widower, spouse or mother to get a question answered or some local federal agency job information.

I used the VA Vocational Rehabilitation program to continue my education after my disabling injury, and looking back, I know that it helped me to pursue a very satisfying career in the private sector for 36 years. The website www.fedshirevets.gov can help a qualifying veteran or family member land the fulfilling career that we all deserve.

Terry Moakley
Chair of the VetsFirst Committee

Category: Integration & Independence