I wanted to take the opportunity to bring to your attention a new program to help veterans seeking employment. 

The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) recently established a program to match military veterans with jobs, internships, mentorships and certifications, while also providing support to local technology companies in their efforts to hire, train and retain qualified veteran employees. For more information about the NVTC Veterans Employment Initiative, visit www.nvtc.org/veterans or visit the veterans online community and resource center at www.nvtc.monster.com.

If this isn't for you, please forward this message to someone you know who might be interested.

The NVTC online veterans community provides tools designed to assist service members' transition into the civilian workforce. Veterans can use the military skills translator to match their skills to civilian jobs, access a searchable database of jobs at NVTC member companies and tap into educational resources to help them develop skills to thrive in a private sector career. NVTC companies get free access to a resume database of over 800,000 veterans, state of the art search tools to find the right potential employee, and other tools to post and manage job openings.

NVTC is the largest technology council in the nation and the voice of the technology community in Northern Virginia.  Many NVTC members consider finding qualified employees difficult and believe overall workforce development is one of the greatest long-term challenges facing our technology community.

As of February 2013, Post-9/11 veterans faced an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent.  The employment situation is more challenging for veterans less than 25 years of age, among whom the 2012 unemployment rate was 20 percent.  In addition, a million more service members will be leaving the military in the next five years.  These veterans have earned the right to have an easy transition back to civilian life.