Article Body
Hero2Hired connects employers with veterans
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard has declared November as “Hire Veterans First” month and has issued a proclamation asking South Dakotan businesses and government agencies to hire military veterans.
“I encourage South Dakota business leaders, public officials, and the leaders of civic and fraternal organizations that have employment opportunities to hire veterans for those positions,” the Governor said in a South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation press release. “Veterans make excellent employees.”
One Department of Defense program seeks to make that connection between employers and veterans.
Hero2Hired (H2H) is a website designed to make it easy for veterans of all military branches, as well as National Guard and Reserve service members to connect to and find jobs with military- friendly companies. The program is also available to the veteran or service member’s spouse.
H2H also offers career exploration tools, military-to-civilian skills translations, education and training resources, as well as a mobile app. Support for H2H is provided through the Department of Defense’s Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.
“In addition to searchable job postings of military-friendly employers all over the country, H2H provides many other valuable tools to find a job, all in one place,” said Dan Popowski, Hero2Hired employment transition coordinator for South Dakota. “H2H is a one-stop shop for job seekers and employers. Not only is it free to both parties, but it offers an array of powerful tools.”
For the job seeker, H2H provides a search tool for jobs relevant to their military occupation or skills, exploration of alternate career paths, a career assessment tool to link them to relevant careers, information about different industries, education and training resources, and the ability to join communities with similar interests and provide for networking opportunities.
For the employer, H2H provides free unlimited job postings, a forum to promote and market their company, provides direct access to qualified candidates who already have background checks and security clearances, which helps reduce recruiting and hiring costs, employers can directly recruit individuals, receive automatic notifications of candidate applications, receive H2H messages and connection requests, as well as utilize a search function to match experience, education and skills to their job postings.
In addition to the online resources, H2H has employment transition coordinators in every state and U.S. territory who are available to assist veterans and service members.
“We will assist with resumes, cover letters, interviewing and H2H-website navigation questions,” said Popowski. “We are career counselors who can give advice and provide helpful resources to those looking for assistance.”
Employment transition coordinators can set service members up on the H2H website to begin their personal marketing process, provide them with additional web and print resources, or sit down and work through the entire hiring process from initial resume to the thank you letter after an interview.
“One of the biggest issues I’ve seen is that service members do not know how to market their skills and abilities,” Popowski said. “They’ve spent so much time giving credit to others; they forget how to sell their own best attributes.
“They don’t know how to properly translate their military skills to effectively match civilian job postings. An 88M (Motor Transport Operator) thinks they simply drive a truck, however, they don’t think about the 20 additional tasks and leadership roles they take on as a Soldier every single day.”
Veterans or service members who are interested in using H2H services can do so by signing up online at www.H2H.jobs, or by calling Dan Popowski at (605) 357-2913, or e-mailing daniel.popowski@us.army.mil .
-30-