VETERANS RESOURCE PAGE

Welcome Veterans and Thank you for your Service!

The transition to a civilian career or business does take a lot of planning and preparing. Use your TAP resources as a starting point. You will need a strong resume or business plan which has civilian friendly language. Practice your interviewing and networking skills too. Here are some more ideas and resources for you after those basic steps:

1. Profile: Have a great LinkedIn Profile with a professional headshot photograph. To describe your skills, be sure to use language that is understandable by civilians. Use a "military skills translator" to help you describe your skills that are more understandable to civilians. The VA has one online, and many other companies also have them online. Use the LinkedIn summary section to tell your story. 

2. Sample LinkedIn Profiles of Veterans

Charles and Alfe are veterans from Connecticut and New York who attended our LinkedIn Boot Camp in Norwalk.

3. Online: Make sure all of your online profiles are appropriate for viewing from corporate recruiters or hiring managers.

4.  Join LinkedIn Groups that can help you in your job search and networking.  

Groups to investigate: Veteran Mentor Network; Army Veterans; USAF Veterans; Student Veterans of America.

5. Corporate Recruiters looking for veterans

Use the words "Army (or Navy/ Air Force) Veteran" or "Miltary Veteran" in your summary and headline. Many companies are specifically looking to recruit veterans so make it easy for them to find you. If you are in business, it is still a good idea to share this important fact about yourself.

6. Sign up for the "Job Seeker" Service from LinkedIn. Now it also includes Lynda (LinkedIn Learning). This is normally a monthly fee item, but as a veteran you are eligible to use this for free for one year. This is more than a $500 value. Click here.

7. Other resources to explore:

Military.com

VetJobs

America's Veteran

GI Jobs

National Veteran's Foundation

Military Hire.com

Interesting LinkedIn article about veteran's success

8. Starting a business?

If you are a Veteran owned business, there are programs and opportunities offered by the State of Connecticut and the Federal Government to help support the growth of your business.

These opportunities include contracting opportunities with the State and Federal government along with major defense contractors, special loan guarantee programs from the U.S. Small Business Administration.  

To become aware of these opportunities, it is wise to list your business as a Connecticut Veteran-owned company, click on this link at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC)  This is a private list only used by government agencies.  Or Contact CERC for help with the government assistance programs. 888-854-3724