New Effort to Match Veterans With Manufacturing Jobs and Training

In an ambitious effort to match unemployed veterans with manufacturing jobs, and match veterans who need training with appropriate programs, a partnership of major manufacturers (GE, Alcoa, Boeing, Lockheed-Martin and others) and technical and community colleges have created Get Skills to Work. The first goal is to get 15,000 veterans matched/trained for jobs in these firms and others.  Ultimately, they are aiming for over 100,000.  The coalition will start in the Cincinnati area January at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, and go to nine other cities further in 2013.  You may want to check out the website to see when and where you can sign up to participate in the program.

However, there’s stuff you can use on the website right now.  Go to the bottom of the page and find resources for veterans, where you can search for open positions at the Manufacturing Pipeline.  You can put in the location, and radius, and a military operation or job keyword (like manufacturing), and it will pull up positions that have been posted. 

You can also go to the Career Assessment area, in which you answer 14 questions that help you sort out your aptitudes and interests.  You are then presented with some career options, for which you can get information on pay levels and skills and training required, and jobs that are currently open. 

The third part involves the creation of “badges”—the matching of military occupation codes and civilian career skills and creating certification for those skills.  Create an account, upload your resume (or create one with their resume builder), and they will email you with notification if any of your skill sets match, and you are awarded a certification badge. 

In the “education” section, you can put in a career you would like to train for, your city and state, and the level of education you’d like to get, and it will spit out a list of institutions that provide it, as well as links to their financial aid information and other information about the school. 

There’s also a “community” section with discussion forums.    The resources page is pretty much a policy paper section for the National Association of Manufacturers, a major partner of the coalition.  And hey, in all of this, you only get *some* intrusive electioneering ads from the National Association of Manufacturers, who tell you to vote for the Good Guys and against the Bums That Are Destroying America.  Ah, but that’s why God made the “x” in the upper right hand corner. 

Possible Temporary Work in Disaster Cleanup In Central, Southern, and Northwest Ohio

As I've often said, grant money does the darndest things, running out and eventually wending its way to individuals in all manner of fashion.  Who knew that disaster funds for storms that hit Ohio this summer would end up in...the Department of Labor, given out to south and central Ohio counties to hire people in temporary positions to do cleanup work after the storms?  It's true. 

Thirty seven counties in Ohio were declared part of a disaster area from storms that occurred between June 29th through July 2nd, by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, and the Department of Labor gave them $21 million emergency grant for cleanup labor.  Of the 37, 19 counties have applied to the Department of Labor to hire temporary cleanup workers.  Part of the reason is that there are costs for the recipient counties as well that not all these localities can bear. But which are the 19?  I've looked, but could only identify some from news stories: Licking, Muskingum, Morgan, and  Fairfield.

Those eligible to be hired must have lost their home or job in the disaster, be one of the long-term unemployed, be a "dislocated worker" (whose job was lost through foreign trade), or a returning veteran.  They are limited to working up to about 1000 hours and $12,000 in wages in the program.  If your county is one of the 37 with disaster aid, and you fall into one of the group of eligible workers, how can you find out if your county is one of the 19 which has the aid to hire people?  Call your county's Jobs and Family Services, which will be in charge of hiring the temporary workers.

***NEW****As of October 3, there is hiring in Hancock County to clean up wind damage for up to 26 weeks.  See the story for details.  You can apply at JobSolutions in Findlay between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.  Call 419-429-8083 to learn more.
 

Another Venue for Veteran Job Fairs--in Cyberspace

Job fairs, even in these times, are still a going concern, but they mean the usual hassles--dressing up, getting the resumes together, parking, etc.  Except in cyberspace.

Milicruit.com is a service that offers veterans a chance to attend virtual job fairs, submit information to employers, and interact with them online.  The next online employment fair is a regional one for the Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa) will be on December 13^th.  At that time, veterans from those states will be able to interact live with employers, either one-on-one or in an online “booth” (with everyone in the booth able to interact).  A nationwide event will be held on February 23^rd. 

However, veterans can submit information at any time for employers.   Once in, employers may contact you.  It's another venue to get your name and services out there.