There’s a lot of information out there about which schools to go to — whether you’re using your G.I. Bill benefits or just looking for more information on colleges in general. Check out this tool provided by the Institute of Education Sciences:
Want to nominate your employer? You still have time:
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Defense Department agency, is calling on Guard and Reserve members to nominate their supportive employers for the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award before the January 16 deadline. The Freedom Award is the Defense Department’s highest recognition for civilian employers supporting Guard and Reserve members. All employers – large, small and public – are eligible to receive the honor. Guard and Reserve members, or a family member acting on their behalf, may nominate their employers at www.FreedomAward.mil.
“Even as our nation scales down our combat missions abroad, Guard and Reserve members and their employers remain a critical component in our national security equation,” said James Rebholz, ESGR National Chair. “Just as our country has heavily relied on the more than one million men and women of the Guard and Reserve, these service members have counted on their employers for support and encouragement. I encourage all Guardsmen and Reservists to nominate their supportive employers today, so our Nation may acknowledge their extraordinary efforts.”
This year, ESGR’s Freedom Award website provides additional guidance to make it easier and faster for Guardsmen and Reservists to submit information about their supportive employers. Suggestions include ways for a service member to best tell the story of their employer’s support. Service members who have previously nominated their employers for the Freedom Award are encouraged to do so again. The Department of Defense recognizes nominees, semi-finalists and finalists each year, and all employers who have not received the award in the past ten years are eligible. One Freedom Award recipient was recognized as a semi-finalist or finalist for three years prior to being honored as a recipient last year.
The 2012 recipients will be announced in early summer and honored in Washington, D.C. during a special ceremony in the fall. Past recipients have met with the President of the United States and Secretary of Defense.
Enlisted military soldiers earned the top spot as the nation’s most stressful job, while medical records technicians ranked as the least stressful, according to the 2012 CareerCast.com Job Stress Report, an annual survey of 200 different professions that measures work environment, job competitiveness and risk.
The five most stressful jobs all involve peril and significant hazards. They include firefighters, who take on dangerous and complex fires, often coming in contact with poisonous gases or other hazardous materials; airline pilots, who face potential terrorist attacks and midair collisions; military generals, who are responsible for the lives of many others and often work in hazardous, stressful environments; and police officers, who enforce laws and are tasked with catching criminals.
Hero2Hire launched December 16, 2011, and was developed to address the NDAA 2011 call to provide employment assistance to members of the National Guard and Reserve under the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.
H2H.jobs is designed to help our citizen warriors find jobs with military-friendly companies who value employees with specific training and skills. H2H.jobs provides free, direct access to qualified candidates who already have background checks and security clearances, while reducing your recruiting and hiring costs.
The goal of H2H.jobs is to simplify the job search while reducing the number of unemployed Reserve Component service members. H2H.jobs also allows military-friendly companies to access the talented men and women who serve in the military, post job openings, search for candidates and invite them to apply, and participate in hiring events – all free of charge.
President Obama announced the launch of the Veterans Job Bank, powered by the National Resource Directory (www.NRD.gov).
The Veterans Job Bank provides a central source for Veterans to locate job opportunities without having to visit multiple sites. The Veterans Job Bank is unique in that it provides users with the ability to define their search criteria by keyword, Military Occupational Code (MOC) and location. Based on information provided, the search engine sends a query using a Google custom search which pulls a selection of global job opportunities that have been posted or specifically tagged for Veterans on job boards, such as Simply Hired and corporate websites.
In support of this initiative, the Veterans Job Bank Widget was created which allows access to the Veterans Job Bank directly from other websites. An easy to implement feature that any individual or organization can use, the Veterans Job Bank Widget allows Veterans to quickly and easily conduct a targeted job search without ever leaving the website they are visiting.
OPEN HOUSE Celebrating the launch of the Intel Veteran Employment Training (VET) Initiative
Join Intel and the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services and honored guests:
The Honorable, James Moran, U.S. House of Representatives
Rodney Lewis, White House Fellow, Office of the First Lady
Intel VET is the result of an innovative community and industry collaboration to serve Washington, DC area veterans. As vital members of our community, we invite you to join us on November 9 for the launch of this important new program.
Date: November 9, 2011
Time: Event will begin at 1:30 p.m.
Location:
Gum Springs Community Center
8100 Fordson Road
Alexandria, VA 22306
In support of the White House “Joining Forces” initiative, Intel and Intel Computer Clubhouse at Gum Springs are partnering to offer employment training services to local veterans and their spouses (partners). This new program is designed to provide veterans and spouses with training such as resume writing, skills translation, interviewing, and job search techniques as they transition from a military career to employment in the private sector.
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense agency, is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The Freedom Award is the DoD’s highest award for civilian employers supporting Guard and Reserve members.
The DoD encourages all Guard and Reserve members to nominate employers who have provided exceptional support of their military service. Nominations may be submitted by service members, or a family member acting on their behalf, at www.FreedomAward.mil through January 16, 2012.
“Employers who go above and beyond in their support of Guard and Reserve members are providing a tremendous service to our country; they are contributing to the resiliency and peace of mind of the more than one million men and women who stand ready to serve when our nation’s calls on them,” said David McGinnis, acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. “Guard and Reserve members who feel their employers have gone the extra mile in supporting their military service should nominate them for the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award to show their appreciation and highlight their support as an example for others to follow.”
With employer support acknowledged as a critical component of our national defense, ESGR enhanced the nomination website this year to help guide nominators in capturing the most important details of their employers’ support. Previous recipients garnered recognition for supportive measures including organizing colleagues to provide dinners to a deployed employee’s family, covering extra shifts during an employee’s military training, taking a deployed service member’s children to sports practices and other family events, and establishing robust military support networks.
The 2012 recipients will be announced by early summer and honored in Washington, DC during a special ceremony early next fall.
The USO, Hire Heroes USA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce partner to offer veterans an opportunity to connect with employers in a one-on-one setting.
Career Opportunity Day is an event connecting prospective employers with wounded warriors and their spouses in a stress-free environment. Participants will engage in mock interviews and be provided prospective job openings to build on the foundation established at transition workshops put on by the USO in partnership with Hire Heroes USA.
The Career Opportunity Day event is limited to 20 employers and 75 wounded warriors and their spouses in order to create a comfortable atmosphere where both parties can engage and network.
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
8:30am to 3:00pm
*Best time to attend is 8:30am-12:00noon
Springfield Hilton
6550 Loisdale Road
Springfield, Va. 22150
Designed to help service men and women and their families successfully manage the transition from the field back into the routine of home life, the Coming Home Series presented by Walmart is a free, confidential set of small-group facilitated sessions designed to help foster positive reconnections between family members and help service members reintegrate into civilian life. The Walmart Foundation awarded a $500,000 grant in support of the program and is the lead sponsor.
The Coming Home Series, which will be offered by Red Cross chapters throughout the country, covers a number of topics that service members and their families have found relevant to their experience as they transition back home, including managing anger, supporting children, building communication, reconnecting with others, recognizing Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and other topics critical to reunion adjustment.
The series, developed in cooperation with military experts, has been piloted in 8 different locations across the country. It will be available to members of all branches of the Armed Forces, as well as National Guard, Reserves, veterans and their families.
This is a national-level course specifically designed to assist spouses, parents, siblings and significant others across all signs of service.
The workshops include:
Communicating Clearly
Exploring Stress and Trauma
Identifying Depression
Relating to Children
Working Through Anger
More information about this new, no cost and confidential program for military service members and their families can be found in their online brochure (PDF), and at RedCross.org.
The U. S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published final regulations today to give military spouses of deceased and 100 percent disabled veterans as much time as they need to apply for a federal job under the military spouse hiring authority.
This is part of an on-going effort by President Obama, Vice President Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to help military families and spouses during a period of stress on the services.
Enlisted military soldiers earned the top spot as the nation’s most stressful job, while medical records technicians ranked as the least stressful, according to the 
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense agency, is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The Freedom Award is the DoD’s highest award for civilian employers supporting Guard and Reserve members.
