The Relationship between Veterans’ Employment Program Component Use and Career Advancement Over Time

Abstract

Over the last 5 years or so, as veterans transitioned, they generally fared well in the civilian workforce. There are numerous programs designed to help veterans write a resume, translate their military skills, and practice interviewing. The goal of many of these programs is to aid veterans to find employment. However, many of the program components that are effective for job attainment may also lead to greater job success after initial employment. Participating in employment programs may lead to leaving a job for a better opportunity or receiving a promotion. This study examined the use of employment program components related to content (i.e., what is taught) and process (i.e., how the content is taught). For example, content such as interviewing skills and processes such as mentor/coach may be helpful among this sample of transitioning veterans. This study used an adapted common components approach (Morgan et al., 2018) to examine the degree to which participation in employment program components resulted in opportunities for better employment or promotion over the first 6 to 15 months after veterans transition to civilian life. Employment content components (i.e., resume writing, translating military to civilian work, and career planning) were associated with both leaving a job for a better opportunity and promotion. Mentor/coach was often a significant process component associated with the above content components. These findings can assist program developers, local program implementers, policymakers, and funders to promote the continued use of content and process program components that may further advance veterans’ careers after transition.