This week is Hire a Vet week, under a proclamation by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory. Job fairs are being held across the state to encourage employers to give preferential hiring consideration to veterans. Larry Calloway, Veterans Supervisor for the North Carolina Commerce Department, says hiring a veteran is a real win for employers.
“The employers will gain a great employee," he says, "plus they can also get a tax incentive, anywhere from $1,200-9,000 a year tax credit for hiring a recently released veteran, that's post-911." Calloway says there are 53,487 veterans and other eligible people who registered for some kind of employment assistance with the agency.
Calloway says veterans in the job market often face barriers such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or physical wounds. They might also feel a bit lost without the directives, team support and discipline of the military units they're accustomed to. His department helps veterans of all service branches get unemployment if they need it, set goals and create strategies to train for and attain the kind of jobs they want.
For employers, Calloway also has suggestions for employers. “If you see someone come in and they check off that they were in the military, talk to them about what they did in the military," he says. "Tell me some of the leadership roles that you took, some of the things that you learned, the discipline that you had, and how would that translate into the civilian workforce?" And it can translate, Calloway says.
The veteran services department has helped 35-hundred veterans find work statewide just this year. On Friday, Nov. 15 a job fair will be held at the National Guard Armory in Winston-Salem for Davie, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin county veterans. Calloway recommends vets arrive prepared – dress in uniform if appropriate. If they need help putting a resume together, he says visit his office ahead of time.
For more information, visit www.ncworks.gov or the Department of Employment Security
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