Disclaimer: This post is written on behalf of a partnership with Walmart and the Institute for Veterans Military Families (IVMF). All opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy.
When you think about life after military retirement or separation, the grass can look green. As in, really green. No more deployments, no more moving your family across the country or world unless you choose to, finally being in charge of your own career path for a change…
You might imagine higher pay, amazing benefits, and stability with a company over many years. After all, we all know people who’ve gone on to build careers or start their own business after military service.
For my husband and me, the reality of the job hunt after his years of active duty service hit hard and did not exactly align with the daydreams. I’d envisioned multiple job offers before his actual retirement date. I mean, why not? It had happened to several of our friends who’d stepped right into new jobs the day after they left active duty.
The Challenge of Transitioning from Active Duty to Civilian Career
But that was not to be. His job search took many months, multiple interviews, and several ‘no’s.’ One of the biggest challenges seemed to be translating his finely honed skills into something a civilian employer could understand and appreciate. And while he tweaked his resume’ and went through several levels of interviews at different companies (thankfully, ending up with an amazing job offer in the end), it’s clear that many veterans are in the same boat and find it a hardship to wait months or a year before finding civilian employment.
You may be pleased to hear, like I was, of Walmart’s job initiative for veterans.
Through their Veterans Welcome Home Commitment, the Walmart Corporation has already hired more than 194,000 veterans and promoted another 28,000 to roles with greater responsibility since 2013. That’s amazing!
If you’re a veteran in that limbo between active duty service and a new civilian career, consider the following:
According to the DoD, more than 1,300 veterans and families return to civilian life each day.
In Texas alone, where we retired after 31 years of Air Force life, Walmart has hired 23,838 veterans since 2013.
In February 2018, Walmart sponsored the inaugural Veteran EDGE event in partnership with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) in Austin, Texas, dedicated to training and supporting veteran-owned businesses.
Walmart is clearly committed to hiring and supporting our nation’s heroes, aiming to help ease the transition from active duty to civilian life. But they’re not just waving flags and giving lip service. Walmart understands the crucial role veterans play in our nation’s economy and realizes that veterans are a highly trained and professional group, and are doing all they can to support them.
Here’s Walmart’s commitment to veterans: If you’ve been honorably discharged from the military since Memorial Day 2013 and meet Walmart’s hiring criteria, you are guaranteed a job. Wow!! And beyond that, Walmart has committed to ensuring vets are placed in roles that best fit their skills. Committed to hiring 250,000 veterans by the year 2020, they’re now more than three-quarters of the way there.
Want to find out more?
Click here for more information about Walmart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment and overall support to veterans and military families.
Click here to learn more about the first-of-its-kind Veteran EDGE event.
Veterans, get info on starting a small business with this resource!
