Being in the military can be one of the best experiences, but it can sometimes be difficult to get a decent civilian job after you leave the U.S. military. Google believes it can help you get a job that matches your skills, and thus, has introduced features to help U.S. military veterans and military spouses find better jobs.
U.S. military veterans – underemployment a big concern
After you leave the U.S. military, you are not always clear how your skills would match civilian jobs. So, there are chances you may underestimate your experience. Even though the unemployment rate among the military veterans was at record-lows – just 3% in July 2018, the instances of underemployment are a concern.
A November study from ZipRecruiter and Call of Duty Endowment, which is a nonprofit foundation helping veterans find jobs, found that nearly a third of veterans are underemployed. A separate survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that about 44% of veterans quit their first post-military job in less than a year as they felt that it wasn’t the right job for them.
Similarly, military spouses also face the same challenges as military persons and often have to relocate to different locations. A June 2017 survey by Hiring Our Heroes foundation found that the unemployment rate among military spouses was 16%, four times more when compared to the national average for women. Underemployment is also a major concern with military spouses.
Thus, to overcome such concerns and help veterans get a proper job, the search giant has updated its search feature, and all you need to do is enter your military job codes to get the corresponding roles. These new initiatives from the search giant is a part of its “Grow with Google” career services program.
“At Google, we believe technology has the power to improve lives. With today’s announcement, we look forward to working with America’s transitioning service members to help them succeed in civilian life,” Google’s vice president of Grow with Google, Lisa Gevelber, said in a statement.
How Google aims to help?
Google’s latest feature works with any job portal using Talent Solution, including FedEx Careers, Getting Hired and CareerBuilder. Additionally, Google’s new initiative also supports veteran entrepreneurs. One can now mark a business as veteran-run on search and Maps. Citing data from the U.S. government, Google says there are about 2.5 million small businesses which are owned by U.S. military veterans, or 10% of all U.S. small businesses.
In March, Google made a similar initiative for women entrepreneurs by adding a “women-led” attribute to Google My Business profiles. Further, Google is also offering a $2.5 million grant to the USO for assisting service members and military spouses in earning the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. Though Google’s program does not guarantee a job, it however does give you an edge over others competing for the same job.
“The transition process is complex, and we hope Grow with Google’s new tools and resources can play a part in making that easier,” Gevelber said.
Google’s IT Support Professional Certificate was launched about seven months back. It is an online-only program that takes about 8- to 12-months and usually costs $49 per month. According to the company, about 40,000 people have already signed up for this program, which trains students for an entry-level job in IT.
Encouraging others to do the same
Google’s latest initiatives are commendable, considering about 245,000 U.S. service members are estimated to get back to civilian life this year. Google now joins companies like Walmart and Home Depot, which are already making efforts to help U.S. military veterans get a good career.
Moreover, Google is also encouraging other companies to add its veteran search function into their own job portals. So far, names like Pepsi, FedEx and Getting Hired employment have adopted the new Google feature. These companies are using Google’s Cloud Talent Solution to integrate the new features. The Cloud Talent Solution is Google’s new enterprise-level product which uses artificial intelligence to help companies find a better match for their job positions.
In May this year, President Donald Trump also came out with an executive order to make it easier for military spouses to get work at federal agencies. Trump also made efforts to address the skilled labor shortage in the U.S. He signed an executive order last month expanding the federal job training and apprenticeship programs.
