Veterans are critical to the workforce. This program helps them adjust to civilian life.
Most of you likely already know that veterans are some of the best employees you can hire. Veterans are team-focused, disciplined, have an unmatched work ethic, organizational skills, and, of course, are very loyal. However, it’s our job in the private sector to help veterans make the transition out of the military and into the workforce a seamless one.
I served for 32 years in the United States Army, ending my career in the Army's recruiting command. I started working for Bank of America in 2016 and am grateful I had a manager who was willing to work with me as I learned the differences between military and corporate culture.
It took some time for both of us, listening and learning, to adjust to how things worked in the corporate world. For example, when I first started, I would tell my manager everywhere I went throughout the day and every detail of my workload. I was simply following military protocol where someone always had to know where I was at all times. My manager, as he kindly explained, trusted me to do my work and be where I needed to be without needing consistent location updates.
Career Recon offers an approach to integrating veterans back into civilian life
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These days I use this and many other examples when talking to groups of veterans joining the workforce. I’ve found that many soldiers, including myself, needed more than just one week of transition training offered by the military.
That’s where programs like Operation Stand Down Tennessee’s Career Recon step in. I was honored to be a guest speaker at the Nashville fall cohort last month where 10 veterans received an additional two weeks of real-world business training and earned a Certificate of Business Acumen from Belmont University's Jack C. Massey College of Business.
Career Recon is an intense workshop where veterans and military spouses within a year of separating from the military learn how their military experience and skills will translate. Participants explore their strengths, expectation management, and career discernment. They also take classes on business fluency and corporate structure. This intentional training is also something Bank of America is proud to financially support through a grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
Equally as important, the Career Recon participants have the opportunity to make connections to members of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and network with local employers. Bank of America is one of many companies that actively recruit veterans, acknowledging the unique skillsets and experiences we bring.
Operation Stand Down Tennessee plans to hold the next Career Recon cohort in February 2024. If you’re interested in participating as a veteran, spouse, or servicemember planning to transition or as an employer, reach out to Operation Stand Down Tennessee by emailing recon@osdtn.org.
Erik Strobeck is vice president of Bank of America.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Veterans Day: Operation Stand Down helps with civilian life transition
