Employment After Deployment: DAV Helps Veterans Find Their Next Mission

If you're a veteran, or happen to know one, you might be familiar with the work of DAV - Disabled American Veterans. One of the major missions that they focus on is connecting veterans with work, especially as we deal with rising unemployment around the country. They've got a nationwide virtual job fair coming up later on this month, and Dan Clare, DAV's Chief Communications and Outreach Officer, joins the show with the details.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week right here we come
together we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. Thanks again for tuning
in this week. I'm Nicole Davis. If you're a veteran
in need of a job, maybe you know one in
your family or in your friend group. Disabled American Veterans,
or the DAV as you might know them, does a

(00:29):
lot of work when it comes to connecting veterans with jobs,
and as we deal with rising unemployment. They have a
virtual job fair coming up that really could help. Dan
Claire is the dav's chief Communications and outreach Officer. Dan,
this is an issue that really impacts our vets.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, veterans are usually disproportionately affected by things like this
and for us now, you know, we're coming off of
a government shutdown, We're coming off of a period where
a lot of federal employees have been let go or
separated from the government. We know that we're hearing from
a lot of veterans who are you know, they're just

(01:05):
in a different place in their life right now. They
need help. And of course there's a core of a
million veterans transitioning to civilian life every year, so we
want to help them as well.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
And it's difficult enough, I feel, making that transition, because
when I talk with people about veterans affairs and veterans issues,
it's always about the purpose and the dignity. You want
to make sure veterans have both in spades when they
leave the service, and that's going to be difficult when
all of a sudden you either find yourself out of
a job or not able to find a job in
the first place.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
We always say that veterans haven't made a successful transition
to civilian life until if they're able, until they have
their next career, Until they have that next mission, they're
really in a tough spot. So working with those folks,
finding employers who want to hire them and connecting them
is extremely rewarding for that reason. And veterans, you know,

(01:58):
they just bring a lot to the table as employees.
They're very loyal, they're great communicators, they're proven to be trainable.
There's all kinds of reasons why we want to hire them.
We just want to help make that connection.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
So tell us a little bit then, about these virtual
job fairs.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
You're holding virtual career fairs. Our next one is November
twenty fifth. We're going to have great, great employers there
at and T is going to be there, Wells Fargo,
First Media, Discount Hire, Wells Fargo, Border Patrol, Federal agencies.
We get a ton of very serious employers who are
looking for veterans. And those are just some of the

(02:35):
industries and companies who are represented. We have people from
across the board, whether it's small companies, mid sized companies,
with a wide variety of different jobs for veterans. So
it starts at noon. It's a virtual event, but you're
going to get that one on one time through through
the virtual medium, through meetings with employers, and you just

(02:59):
know going into it as a veteran, whether you're a spouse,
a child, all everyone above there can apply for or
can attend the event, and you just know that these
are people who want to hire you for the reason
that you served or connected with the military. So they're
great opportunities for folks.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
And what if people say, well, yes, I was in
the military, but I don't have a college degree or
I don't have a specific trade that I'm good at,
should they still come anyway?

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Oh? Absolutely, and I mean sometimes the feedback that you
get can be extremely helpful. There there are typically a
good amount of educational opportunities, you know, schools who show
up if that's what you're into. But you know, I
you know, I know everyone tells you to go to college,
you know, and people join the military and get their

(03:46):
college benefits. But when you get out of the military,
if you don't have a college degree, you're still going
to be able to work. There are still people who
want to hire you, who recognize often that the four eight,
twenty year however long you're in the military, that you
achieved a lot academically that way, formally and informally, and
they want you on the team.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Sure. And then if somebody wants to maybe stretch out
and go to the entrepreneurial side of things. I love
this idea. This is the Patriot boot Camp. Tell us
about that.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
We love it too. You know, we're connecting veterans with benefits.
That's a free service to the dav offers, and we're
connecting veterans with healthcare and jobs that way. The prospect
of taking a veteran and making them a job creator
and a benefits provider is really exciting to us there.
We're looking for founders. It's called DAVY. Patriot boot Camp

(04:38):
is the name of the program within DAV. It's a
two and a half day cohort our. Next event is
November eleven through thirteen in Myrtle Beach, which might be
a good time not to be in Boston for the weather,
but that's we're looking for founders, you know, we're looking
for people are starting their own companies. We want to

(04:58):
give them the building blocks they We recognize they gave
up the first four years at least that they might
have been succeeding as an entrepreneur to serve their country.
We want to give them the network, give them the training,
and give them the opportunity to be mentored by people
who can help them succeed as entrepreneurs.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Beautiful. So if somebody is listening, they're a veteran, they
know a veteran, where can they reach out to get
more information not just about Patriot boot Camp but also
about the job fairs?

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah? Absolutely, I mean you can visit us at jobs
dot dav dot org. That's the best portal and that
goes for people who want to volunteer. If you want
to hire veterans and be an employer who hires veterans.
If you want to mentor veteran entrepreneurs, you can find
it all through through our website their jobs dot dav

(05:47):
dot org.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
All right, Dan, this is great information. Thank you for
coming on the show.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Hey, thank you for karn so much about veterans and
we hope, we hope everyone who served or is connected
to anyone who's served. Issue the asked for the holidays,
and thanks for your time.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.