I’ve recently plunged back into the civilian job market after an active duty deployment to Iraq, and I’ve found myself lost in a job market I barely recognize or feel I fit into. The intense desire by employers for candidates with a degree is both a circumstance that I don’t understand or sympathize with; particularly in relation to veterans. A June 2011 Los Angeles Times article cites recent veteran unemployment rates to be over 13 percent and rising with part of the blame being laid at the feet of popular educational requirements. A rise of troops leaving current war zones will only encourage civilian employment seeking and a subsequent further rise in veteran unemployment. It stands to reason that as our economy continues to be in flux, new and innovative methodology and standards need to be reached for qualifying individuals in regards to employment.
Like most of my peers, I have 10 years of progressive experience but no degree to make my resume shine. I have been a critical part of missions that held sway over problem sets within the military, but I have not taken enough classes in any one discipline to fill a university’s degree requirements. This is particularly frustrating for those of us who know an unreliable moron with a master’s degree. Most of us know “that guy”. Some critics might ask why veterans haven’t received some form of a higher education, and the answer is that military life is often not conducive to any form of continuous educational commitment. As a military wife and service member, if it’s not my deployment that life has to stop for, then it is my husband’s mobilization that turns our life upside-down. That doesn’t even take into consideration changes of duty station. At one point in our married life we were averaging one and a half years in each location we were stationed. During our respective deployments I have either been pregnant (and alone), away on military training of my own, or working 17 hour days when it was my turn to serve.
This situation has been especially infuriating when dealing with companies who publicize themselves to be pro-military in their hiring standards and preference but refuse to consider applicants without a degree, despite fulfilling the experience qualifications. It begs the question of where the priorities lay; having a degree or being capable of filling the roles necessary to the company’s functioning. I think giving preference to veterans has become a slogan to promote a company’s worth. Corporate conglomerates use it as a marketing tool, which would be fair if so many of them didn’t seem to be operating on a technicality.
I don’t believe that veterans are necessarily “entitled” compared to other applicants when many other professions such as police officers and firemen have served in their own way, but I do feel that I am unable to fit into the box that most civilians recognize as fair and typical. I confess I do apply for positions that require a degree despite my perceived lack. It may be that I am simply not as qualified as other applicants or that there may be so much interest in the position that my application does not have the chance to even be considered, but my compatriots and I all have similar experiences and complaints. It’s my hope that as this issue receives more and more publicity, attempts to right any inequality will be implemented and our veterans will receive consideration fair to their situation.
