Veterans: Turn Your Military Service Experience Into a Civilian Job

By Brett Harris

A veteran typically brings a wealth of skills to the table that a civilian job applicant can't. Military service teaches leadership, teamwork, decision-making and even engineering and technology. And yet, CNN reports that veteran unemployment rates are almost always 2 percent higher than the national average, and 34 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed for more than a year after returning home.

It's not that employers aren't interested in military veterans. They just often misunderstand what a veteran applicant is capable of, because the applicant either downplays their military experience or doesn't know how to explain it. In order to enter the job market successfully, you must represent yourself well on paper and in person.