Mayor's Office Helps Vets Find Jobs

BOSTON, MA - From the City of Boston: On October 18, 2018, the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Services hosted an Edge4Vets career workshop, a veteran-centric workforce development program intended to connect job-ready veterans to career opportunities. Enlisted companies such as Raytheon, Boston Scientific, Kronos, Draper, Analog, hosted a workshop to help veterans learn how to translate their unique skills from the military into tools for civilian success – while giving companies access to job-ready veterans to enhance their human capital.

“We are committed to creating greater pathways for our veteran community to succeed,” said Chief of Health and Human Services Marty Martinez. “Through our partnership with Edge4Vets, the City of Boston is reducing barriers to employment by connecting veterans to employers and further helping veterans translate their skills and experience for long-lasting success.”

Participating veterans first went through “PREP” which helps veterans translate their military skills into terminology that resonates with recruiters and HR specialists. During PREP, participants learned how to create a personal “Plan4Success” that will assist veterans in identifying their skills and leadership experiences in ways that will help them stand apart from other applicants.

Following PREP, participants went through “Connection.” In this second phase of the program, participants gained support from recruiters and employees from partner companies. Vets also received guidance from company reps who serve as mentors to help vets apply the skills learned from the PREP component for jobs that can lead to careers.

Following the program, vets received an invitation to take an online module to refine their Plan4Success and submit it to receive an Edge4Vets certificate. All vets who complete the course – and submit a Plan4Success – will be invited to attend Edge4Vets Night with the Celtics for a game on January 28, 2019. The program is open to all veterans, National Guard, Reservists, and their families.

“There are no better employees for the future than veterans, but first - as business leaders tell us - the veterans need support to translate their military strengths, including strong values and skills, into tools for civilian success. That’s what Edge4Vets helps them do,” said Tom Murphy, Founder of Edge4Vets.

“Edge4Vets helped me fully understand not only what I was good at, but also what I truly wanted in a career and a life,” said Cliff Houde, Veteran, and Edge4Vets graduate. “I’m grateful to the mentors who volunteered their time to sit with us and help us translate our military skills.”

ABOUT THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OF VETERAN SERVICES
The Office of Veterans’ Services (OVS) strives to recognize and engage our veterans and their families; advocate for assistance in their time of need, and connect them with the services they've earned.

The primary program of OVS is known as Massachusetts General Law (MGL) Chapter 115 and facilitated through the local Veteran Service Officer. Chapter 115 acts as financial help for veterans experiencing homelessness and low-income Veterans and their families. These benefits also include military burial assistance, subsidies on medical expenses and the decoration of veterans' graves and hero squares for Memorial Day.

ABOUT EDGE4VETS

Edge4Vets has been providing jobs prep workshops on the east coast since 2011, including in New York, Massachusetts, and Florida, where up to eighty percent of veterans who complete the workshops have been hired. The program was developed by the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University in New York in the Gabelli School of Business.

Photo courtesy of Mayor's Office of Veterans Services.