The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes program, Toyota, and Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer today introduced the Personal Branding Resume Engine, a first-of-its-kind online tool that captures the entirety of a veteran or transitioning servicemember’s military service and produces a resume in civilian terms. Sgt. Meyer made the announcement at the Chamber’s Hiring Our Heroes job fair today in front of hundreds of job-seeking veterans at the 69th Regiment National Guard Armory in New York City.
“We knew from the outset that we faced a challenge in creating a tool that truly encompasses the totality of a servicemember’s military experience and we’ve tested it with veterans who say it goes beyond anything they’ve seen before,” said Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Schmiegel (Ret.), executive director of Hiring Our Heroes. “The Personal Branding Resume Engine does much more than simply capture a veteran’s Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). This will be a game-changing resource for veterans and transitioning servicemembers in their search for meaningful employment.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time with veterans, particularly in the past year with Hiring Our Heroes at job fairs around the country, and the consistent challenge I see everywhere is the need for a skills translation tool,” said Don Esmond, senior advisor, Toyota Motor Sales, Inc. USA. “By partnering with the US Chamber, we’ve been able to produce a Resume Engine that will have a direct, positive impact on helping lower the unemployment rate among veterans.”
Hiring Our Heroes and Toyota commissioned D.C. marketing agency iostudio to develop the tool, which factors in awards, deployments, and military experience and helps put them in terms employers can understand. The Resume Engine has been tested and reviewed by human resource directors and recruiters from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, as well as by veterans and transitioning servicemembers. It is available free of charge for men and women of all ranks and levels of military experience.
The Resume Engine walks veterans through the process of building a resume, step by step. Users create a profile by selecting and describing their specialties, education, jobs, duties, awards and qualifications, with tips to help along the way. The user’s military career history is then translated into more familiar terminology, or “civilian speak,” in the form of a fully-formatted, email-ready resume (plus a printable business card), suitable for submission to applicant tracking systems or human resource professionals. In the future, the site will also generate case-specific job suggestions according to skill set and experience, and will continue to engage veterans through follow-up emails.
“When I left the military I knew I’d be facing a lot of challenges, but one of the biggest hurdles was when it came to applying for civilian jobs and speaking to recruiters and potential employers,” said Sgt. Meyer. “There has been nothing out there like the Personal Branding Resume Engine until now and I think this will change the game for veterans looking to enter the civilian workforce. The thought and research behind the site really show in the result, which is a site completely tailored to walk a veteran step-by-step through building a personal brand and resumes that will rise to the top with employers.”
Hiring Our Heroes launched in March 2011 as a nationwide initiative to help veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment. Working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s vast network of state and local chambers and other strategic partners from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, the goal is to create a movement across America in hundreds of communities where veterans and military families return every day. To date, Hiring Our Heroes has hosted more than 440 hiring fairs in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. More than 18,400 veterans and military spouses have obtained jobs.
The National Chamber Foundation, a non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is dedicated to identifying and fostering public debate on emerging critical issues. They provide business and government leaders with insight and resources to address tomorrow's challenges.
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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