IES Blog

Veterans face civilian employment obstacles

Posted on January 4th, 2012 Read time: 1 minutes

The transition from the military back to civilian life can be a difficult one, as war veterans have many factors working against them.

For example, the Cronkite News reports that symptoms from post-traumatic stress disorder can be severely debilitating, as well as other physical ailments veterans may have incurred during their time in theater.

Also, most former military members are used to following orders – good for some jobs but a crutch for a full transition back to civilian life..

Conversely, those who took on great responsibility during battle or held high-ranking positions may be unable to work under a superior going forward.

A problem faced across the board is that the military doesn't necessarily prepare its members for an actual career as a full-time or temporary worker outside of army-specific expertise, leaving them with limited job skills and experience when they leave service.

"When I got out of the military, the challenge was not having a defined career," Army veteran Robert Herr told the news source.

A new law in Colorado is attempting to remedy this issue, KKTV-TV reports. It allows veterans to apply their military training toward licensing requirements for civilian professions that had been disregarded in the past. 

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