Welcome to VA for Vets: your gateway to VA careers. VA for Vets aids in the reintegration, retention and hiring of Veteran employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs. It offers career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veteran employees, and coaching and reintegration support for Military Service Members. The VetAdvisor Virtual Room is the virtual collaboration tool used to support our National Guard and Reservists throughout the full deployment cycle.
Virtual coaching is an online work space that features customizable avatars representing both the Military Service Member and the Coach. They have the choice of a floating balloon, a simple shape where a photo or a webcam can be displayed, or a premade avatar that has already been created for the room. These avatars can perform simple movements and realistic body language such as nodding, shaking heads, or waving while in the room.
The VetAdvisor Virtual Room is comprised of different areas that the Military Service Member and the Coach can move through freely. Both can be at ease if they would like to sit and talk about VA career goals, deployment concerns or reintegration issues. They can address one another by using either the private text chat feature or the built-in voice over IP system.
The Military Service Member and the Coach may also want to walk around the room and explore what it has to offer. The VetAdvisor Virtual Room can be customized by adding posters, family photos and items related to a person's hobbies and interests making it a personal space.
The Coach can bring multiple resources to the Military Service Member's attention by importing files from either user's desktop and then placing them on the bookshelf in the virtual room. Display panels are employed within the virtual room to allow the user to view these various files such as documents, videos and websites.
For example, the Coach can drag this Letter of Acknowledgement word document to a display panel from the inventory on the bookshelf. This document is able to be edited as any other word document would be on your personal computer. After the collaborative changes are made, the modified document can be saved and exported to the respective computer. All virtual room interactions are in real-time; meaning the Military Service Member and the Coach can view and modify the information simultaneously, just as they would in a face-to-face meeting.
Websites can also be viewed on a display panel. The Military Service Member and the Coach can walk through USAjobs.gov to search for job postings within the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. If the Military Service Member has questions about the website, the Coach can provide answers and guide them. Viewing the website together in real-time enhances the virtual coaching experience.
Another great collaborative tool that the VetAdvisor Virtual room has is the whiteboard. It allows the Military Service Member and the Coach to make visual representations of things that they are talking about.
For example, this Military Service Member is working on career development. If the Coach wants to reinforce some of the resume writing tips they reviewed in a previous session, then they can easily be listed on the whiteboard by using a textbox. These tips can be left on the whiteboard and, during a later session, they can be checked off as they review the Military Service Member's resume.
Videos can also be imported into the virtual room. This adds another point of connection and enables the Military Service Member to stay in touch with family and colleagues.
Surprise! Today is the Military Service Member's 10 year work anniversary! Colleagues have created this video to congratulate this accomplishment and show their support. You can't have a celebration without cake and balloons! Items such as these may be added to the virtual room to commemorate special occasions and further personalize the virtual room experience.
This VA for Vets virtual collaboration tool is a highly immersive 3-D environment that provides strong feedback and enhances collaboration and communication. Virtual coaching is equipped with all the tools, data and opportunities for interaction that Military Service Members and Coaches need to explore ideas, resolve deployment and reintegration issues, track progress and assist with achieving VA career goals.