Opinion Piece – Putting Veterans' Skill to Work a Win-Win Situation

Peter Sanderson served our nation for five years, deploying to Afghanistan in 2007 as a radar operator. In 2011, he was medically discharged from the Army and found himself at a loose end. For a couple of years he did odd jobs, the occasional cashie for a mate, and even sold barbecues. But nothing spoke to him, it wasn’t enjoyable or meaningful. Peter was skilled – he’d been trained to operate sophisticated machinery in challenging circumstances – but on leaving the Army he ran into a disconnect between what he could do and what the civilian world was offering.

Australia’s service personnel are some of the most highly trained and skilled professionals in our nation. The attributes they possess – leadership, teamwork, agility, an ability to work under pressure – are skills every organisation is crying out for.

What employers may not realise is that when you see “Australian Defence Force” on a CV, this means leadership skills, a strong work ethic, ability to work as part of a team and a keen focus to complete the mission.

If you can operate a complicated surveillance and drone system under pressure, you probably have the work ethic to do any number of complicated and sensitive civilian roles. You certainly have the capacity to learn. This is just one example, but one that can be repeated over and over again for roles across the ADF. Our veterans may not even realise the exceptional skills and value they have for civilian organisations. For them, it’s just the way they have been trained.

Moving from the ADF to civilian life can be an adjustment. Many service people join the military straight out of school and they’re not sure how to translate their experience in the ADF to a civilian CV. Leading a team of 20 others on a complicated logistical mission may seem normal to them, but civilian employers would love to embrace this sort of experience.

This is why I am proud our government has established the $24m Veteran Employment Program. The program delivers initiatives that support Australian organisations to improve employment outcomes for ex-service people – our veterans.

So how does it work?

The program encourages organisations to recruit and retain veterans and publishes resources to support employers to implement or improve their veteran employment initiatives.

It also offers organisations an opportunity to be publicly recognised for their veteran employment activities through the Veteran Employment Commitment. It’s a badge of pride for many organisations and is a beacon to veterans – it tells them which employers value their skills and recognise the contribution they can make.

Recruiting and retaining veterans is a win-win situation. By assisting employers to understand the exceptional training they receive, veterans can find organisations where their skills will be best utilised and recognised. For employers who are always on the lookout for good employees, the benefit of gaining highly skilled and motivated employees speaks for itself.

The program also supports universities to recognise prior learning and experience of personnel while in Defence to open up more streamlined routes into university and more quickly obtain starting qualifications, as well as supporting greater recognition of civilian vocational trade qualifications from Defence courses.

We’re working to better recognise the pre-existing capability veterans have and make it easier for them to be more universally competitive in the labour market.

As for Peter, he now works as an application specialist with Caterpillar dealer William Adams, working with GPS and semi-autonomous operation controls on its next generation construction equipment. Sounds complicated right? Imagine how your organisation could utilise these types of skills.

My message is simple: the next time you’re recruiting for your business, consider employing a veteran, to take the opportunity to add new skills to your organisation. Join the Veteran Employment Commitment to be visible to this talent pool. And if you’re a veteran, be assured the skills you learned in the ADF can be applied to almost any other workplace.

We’re committed to improving employment outcomes for ex-service people. To learn more, visit veteransemployment.gov.au
 

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 or the Open Arms website. Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072. Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 or the Defence Health Portal. Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608