ANCHORAGE — The state is working to help match military veterans with jobs in the public and private sector, through policy and job fairs.
Steven Williams coordinates employment for veterans with Alaska’s labor department. A common challenge for service members leaving the military is feeling overqualified for civilian life, he said.
“I think one of the challenges with transitioning out of the military is having to start from scratch,” said Williams, who spent more than a decade in the National Guard. On deployment at age 20, he said he had responsibility not only for equipment but for lives.
“And then the struggle comes when you get to the civilian sector, and you come with all this experience and all this responsibility, and you’re trusted with a broom,” Williams said.
Alaska has the highest number of veterans per capita in the nation. State policy gives veterans priority at job centers and offers tax credits to employers, KSKA reported.
At a recent job fair in Anchorage, Army Sgt. Alena Withers said she feels like she should have started looking for a job a long time ago. While she still has a year left in the military, she said she never should have taken her eyes off the civilian job market.
“Finding a job and just learning how to network, that’s a skill-set in and of itself,” said Withers, a combat medic.
Withers said she was also discouraged that not all her skills transfer into the job market.
“The problem that I’ve been seeing is that I don’t have the civilian certifications that back up the training and the skill set that I’ve learned how to do,” she said. “So I’m having to be forced to go back to school regardless of whether or not I’m really good at that job.”
Withers’ friend, Maria Gusto, has been looking for a job since this summer after four years as an Army human resources officer.
Many veterans may be applying for a job for the first time or unsure how their work histories translate into the civilian world. More needs to be done to address these issues, said Craig Crawford, a vice president at CH2M Hill, which is involved with construction and support services for Alaska’s oil and gas industry.
“Just about every job you can imagine in the military is reflected again in the oil and gas field,” including security, administration, pipe-fitting and welding, Crawford said.
