Last July 29th and 30th , over 800 troops returning from active service in Afghanistan and Iraq attended a pilot 2-day event at Ft Dix, NJ. 

Volunteers included Tip of the Arrow, Fort Dix staff, ESGRA, and NJ SHRM members led by Sherrill Curtis from the NJ SHRM Garden State Council along with hundreds of professional coaches and 50 employers with openings.

Information about the event was promoted extensively including through my blog and summarized later in John Zappe’s article for ERE..

...but the core of this event, what made it a bit different from other initiatives was the time devoted to personalized, face-to-face career guidance.

Many lessons were learned from the pilot. Among them wrote Sherrill: “Service members are not fans of concurrent sessions (preferring crowd experiences…if they are short and to the point) and they definitely require time to adjust to the overwhelming onslaught of re-entry information that comes their way (from every direction including and especially online).”

The feedback from the troops confirmed that having knowledgeable, caring professionals step-up and take the time to talk them through their individual issues and concerns was unique and absent in the resources available from other sources.

The volunteer career coaches Sherrill writes “offered a unique perspective that ignited a spark so the service member could successfully engage in their job search and present themselves with confidence to prospective employers.” I absolutely agree.

Sherrill’s committee (Mission Career Success) has continued to develop partnerships in the last few months and to engage in discussions around the US to with folks in and out of the military toward refining

"a goal of easing our returning warriors transition through personalized attention and guidance from insiders -Human Resource, Staffing and Career Coaching professionals."

 This morning, Friday, Sherrill is in Alexandria, VA at a SHRM Leadership Conference. The NJ Council is one of several finalists that could win an award for its initiative (maybe in the next hour or so). For my money…and I’m sure for hers winning is incidental to the reward of seeing the difference the volunteers have made. (I am moderating a panel next April on this and similar initiatives for a Career Management Alliance conference in New Orleans- Military in Transition: Paying it Forward.

However, with thousands of soldiers returning from service each month and estimates that as many as 25% are seeking jobs with little or no personal guidance, we should be able to do more.

The need isn’t an event but a continuing process to help individuals assess the resources everyone knows are there.  

The opportunity for HR professionals, Life or Career Coaches and Recruiters to volunteer to provide one-on-one career coaching is continuing.

Mission Career Success is geared to returning Veterans- providing guidance and information about their career path choices, how to translate their skills and knowledge to civilian occupations, create a professional resume, and offer job search as well as interview tips.

Anyone with applicable experience in Human Resources or Career Coaching interested in participating in the knowledge sharing is welcome.

To receive details about the program logistics and be matched up with a Veteran, contact the Tip of the Arrow Co-Founders: carlblum@tipofthearrow.net / 973-727-5651 or bobdeissig@tipofthearrow.net / 908-303-6720

Oh! And give a shout out to Sherrill (sherrill@curtisgroupllc.com) while you are at it. I'm sure she could have been doing some other things this Summer and Fall.