Veterans Returning to Civilian Workforce - Thesis Proposal Example

Veterans Returning To Civilian Workforce Veterans Returning To Civilian Workforce Background Summary In the U.S, about 200,000soldiers transition out of the military every year. The veteran soldiers seek to return to civilian workforce after a long military experience. Employers can utilize the rich leadership and technical skills possessed by the veterans for the benefit of such companies. Indeed, as a matter of respect for their sacrifices and honors, employers need to absorb the American disabled, ill, and injured Veterans into the civilian workforce. This will grant them an opportunity to live full and productive lives after the military experience. However, reliable statistics confirm that the unemployment rate of military veterans is higher than the unemployment rate of nonveterans of the same age in America. Indeed, after years or months of military service, the veterans find it hard to transition into the civilian workforce. The study will address the barriers that hinder the transition of veterans into the civilian workforce that include cultural shocks, poor communication skills, economic hardships, negative employer perception, disabilities, and military culture. Returning to the civilian workforce provides a motivation to curb the negative feelings possessed by the veterans. However, many veterans do not encounter these qualities in the civilian workforce that derives a disconnection between civilians and veterans in the civilian workforce. Successful veterans must adopt new ways of functioning in the civilian workforce, which is quite different from the military experience. In helping veterans in transitioning to the civilian workforce, the study quotes the efforts of the Transition Assistance Program that enable veterans find jobs. Moreover, various agencies like the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and organizations like Non-Commissioned Officers Association help veterans to return to the civilian workforce and recover from mental and physical injuries from the military service. The study will equally use cognitive information processing (CIP) theory and the CASVE cycle to address the problem by helping the veterans to gain the knowledge and skills to make effective career decisions in returning to the civilian workforce. The cognitive information processing (CIP) theory uses decision-making cycle, self-knowledge, military knowledge, and executive processing to enhance career decisions and reduce the negative perceptions about the military service or the civilian workforce. These aspects will be significant in helping the veterans to solve career problems and make fundamental decisions in their transition into the civilian workforce in the tight U.S labor market. The aspect of individual knowledge will explore the veteran’s employment preferences, skills, hobbies, and values while the veteran’s occupational knowledge will explore the veterans’ military and training experience, work history, and life experiences that would influence the transition. Relying on the CASVE (communication, analysis, synthesis, valuing, and execution) model, the theoretical approach will analyze the veteran’s decision-making skills which will help the veteran to attain the basic requirements of getting a job and develop the capacity to secure better jobs in the future. The theory will also analyze the metacognitions that relates to negative perceptions possessed by the veteran or employer that hinders the veteran’s job searching process. This will help the veteran to challenge and influence their negative career thoughts and stigmas. The CIP theory and the CASVE cycle will enhance the veteran’s decision-making process and help them o transit into the civilian workforce that will address the unemployment problem among the veterans. As such, the purpose of this study is to address the problem by helping the veterans to gain the knowledge and skills to make effective career decisions in returning to the civilian workforce. This will involve the use of the cognitive information processing (CIP) theory and the CASVE cycle. This theoretical approach seeks to reduce the negative perceptions about careers and military service and enhance career decision states. It also aims at enhancing the veteran’s decision-making process that would enable the veteran to satisfy the basic conditions of getting a job and develop decision-making skills that will secure better jobs in the future. Problem Statement A veteran returning to civilian workforce is a fundamental topic that this research will explore. This emanates from the fact that many military veterans are seeking to return to the civilian workforce after the war or expiry of the military service. Despite the fact that most veterans suffer from war injuries, they possess capabilities that are significant in the civilian workforce. . However, it is worth noting that this transition is very challenging subject to the eminent barriers that hinder veterans from returning to civilian workforce. In the current economic levels, military veterans face a major challenge of finding employment in a very tight job market subject to the recovering economy that depicts high levels of unemployment. As such, various studies have been addressing this topic within the boundaries of the levels of unemployed veterans in U.S, types of challenges encountered by veterans, capabilities of the veterans, and the efforts geared towards helping veterans return to civilian workforce. Various reports and findings from U.S agencies, private institutions, and non-governmental programs have addressed this problem in details. They depict the challenges faced by veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan war in seeking civilian employment. They establish that the American labor market fails to offer sufficient employment to the veterans subject to the global recession, negative employer perception, and military culture, culture shock, disabilities, and poor communication skills. It is evident that the unemployment rate for veterans has reached significant levels in U.S compared to the employment rates for all Americans. Notably, the veterans possess unique set of skills, experiences, and leadership abilities that are significant in the civilian workforce. As such, various programs and laws like the Transition Assistance Program’s (TAP), United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program, and the Veterans Employment Bill seek to reduce the veteran unemployment rate and hence the need to explore this topic. Purpose Statement In addressing this problem, I will first recognize that there are many unemployed veterans in U.S. These veterans have been trying to return to the civilian workforce but face numerous barriers in their career success. Using the cognitive information processing (CIP) theory and the CASVE cycle, I will address the problem by helping the veterans to gain the knowledge and skills to make effective career decisions in returning to the civilian workforce. The cognitive information processing (CIP) theory will reduce the negative perceptions about careers and enhance career decision states by advocating for the adoption of a decision-making cycle, self-knowledge, military knowledge, and executive processing. These aspects will be significant in helping the veterans in their transition into the civilian workforce in the tight U.S labor market. Notably, the CIP theory will help veterans with current career choices and enable the development of fundamental skills for future career decisions. This theoretical perspective will help the veterans to solve career problems and make fundamental decisions using individual knowledge, executive processing, military knowledge, and decision-making skills. Individual knowledge will involve an assessment of employment preferences, skills, hobbies, and values of an individual veteran. On the other hand, an analysis of the veteran’s occupational knowledge will explore the veterans’ military and training experience, work history, and life experiences using a spreadsheet. Furthermore, an analysis on the veteran’s decision-making skills will rely on the CASVE (communication, analysis, synthesis, valuing, and execution) model. This will model will define the decision-making process which will help the veteran to satisfy the basic conditions of getting a job. It will also help them to enhance their decision-making skills that will enable them to get secure better career options in their lifetime. Ultimately, the analysis of the metacognitions will relate to any negative perceptions that the veteran or employer may have which can hinder the veteran’s job searching process. This will include the stigma that employers have about disabilities and military service. The analysis will also consider the veteran’s negative perception on certain careers, which discourage military veterans from returning to the civilian workforce. The theoretical approach will help the veteran in challenging and influencing negative career thoughts and stigmas in the job searching process. The CIP theory and the CASVE cycle will thus decrease the negative perception and increase the veteran’s confidence in making sound career decisions that will help the veterans to transit into the civilian workforce. This will effectively increase the employment rate of veterans in the U.S civilian workforce. Methodology To collect data and carryout the study, I will use various methods. A mixture of a qualitative and quantitative approach will be efficient for the study to establish the number of unemployed and employed veterans in the civilian workforce as well as the quality of jobs they get and services offered. This approach will equally define how to help veterans transit into the civilian workforce. I will rely on open-ended questionnaires and structured interviews to collect the relevant data from the selected sample. Random sampling will apply in selecting the population for the study. Moreover, I will use graphs and tables to present the collected data. The analysis of the collected data will rely on regressions, correlations, and specific theories like the CIP theory and the CASVE cycle. Summary of Academically Sound References for the Literature Review Boutelle, C. (2014). Veterans Bring Key Skill Assets to the Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://www.siop.org/Media/News/veterans.aspx This source establishes that veterans from the military possess marketable technical and leadership skills that are valuable in the civil service. However, the source finds that the stigmas managers and employers have about disabilities and military service itself discourage military veterans from returning to the civilian workforce. Butcher, D. (2013). Military Veterans’ Unique Barriers to Civilian Employment (and Efforts to Help). Retrieved from: http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2013/03/04/military-veterans-unique-barriers-to-civilian-work-and-efforts-to-help-2/ This article recognizes unique barriers faced by military veterans as they return to the civilian workforce leading to high unemployment rates of veteran military officers. The article discusses various efforts geared towards absorbing military vets’ skills and experience into the civilian workforce. Buzzetta, M., & Rowe, S. (2012). Today’s veterans: Using cognitive information processing (CIP) Approach to build upon their career dreams. Retrieved from: http://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/66290/_PARENT/layout_details_cc/false This source presents the statistics of veterans in the workforce in U.S. It also presents the barriers faced by veterans in their career success. It depicts the use of Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) model to help veterans gain the knowledge and skills to make effective career decisions. Faurer, J., Rogers-Brodersen, A., & Bailie, P. (2014). Managing the Re-Employment of Military Veterans through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). Journal of Business & Economics Research – First Quarter 2014, 12(1), 55-60. The source reckons that many veterans are seeking employment in the U.S job market when millions of civilians are suffering from unemployment. The article recognizes the efforts of the federal government to address this problem. The study presents the perception of military veterans on the significance of the Veterans Employment Bill and the Transition Assistance Program’s (TAP) to manage the re-employment of military veterans. James, M. (2006). Bridging the Gap from Military to Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://verticalpath.com/links/WP-Bridge%20from%20Military%20to%20Civilian%20Workforce.pdf This study asserts that we need to support the transitioning from military to civilian careers of veteran service members. It defines the challenges facing transitioning service members, veterans who have succeeded in making the transition, and the capacity that service members bring to the civilian workplace. It also establishes the American corporations working to solve the “translation problem.” Prudential Financial, Inc. (2012). Veterans’ employment Challenges. Retrieved from: http://www.prudential.com/documents/public/VeteransEmploymentChallenges.pdf This study reckons that the federal government is willing to help tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans returning from service and seeking to join civilian careers. The study establishes the challenging economic environment demeaning the transition of military veterans to civilian life. It also defines the gaps and opportunities for support programs. Society for Human Resource Management. (2010). Employing Military Personnel and Recruiting Veterans. Retrieved from: http://hr.ucr.edu/supervisor/military_program_report_fnl.pdf The study confirms that veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing high rates of unemployment subject to the recession and weak labor market. The study notes that the Society for Human Resource Management is focusing on how to support these men and women to get employment despite their disabilities and the high unemployment rates in the U.S labor market. Szelwach, C., Steinkogler, J., Badger, E., & Muttukumaru, R. (2011). Transitioning To The Civilian Workforce: Issues Impacting The Reentry Of Rural Women Veterans. Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 26(3), 83–112. The study defines the findings of the Women’s Research & Education Institute (WREI), which outlined the effects of military service on women veterans’ civilian employment prospects. It discusses three approaches addressing the needs of women veterans returning to rural environments for employment. United States Department of Labor. (2012). Transition from Military to Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/tap/DOLEW-Participant-Guide(Oct%202012).pdf This study discusses the transitioning plan, career exploration & validation, job search plan, and federal hiring & federal programs involved in enhancing the transition of veterans from military to civilian workforce. United States District Court. (2014). District Court Helps Returning Veterans Re-Enter Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/news/district-court-helps-returning-veterans-re-enter-civilian-workforce This source discusses the efforts of the United States District Court for the Central District of California in transitioning veterans back to civilian life. It defines various challenges experienced by our returning veterans while seeking to reenter the civilian workforce in a recovering economy. It discusses the Veterans Affairs’ Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program that assists veterans with service-connected disabilities to prepare for, find, and keep suitable jobs. References Boutelle, C. (2014). Veterans Bring Key Skill Assets to the Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://www.siop.org/Media/News/veterans.aspx Butcher, D. (2013). Military Veterans’ Unique Barriers to Civilian Employment (and Efforts to Help). Retrieved from: http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2013/03/04/military-veterans-unique-barriers-to-civilian-work-and-efforts-to-help-2/ Buzzetta, M., & Rowe, S. (2012). Today’s veterans: Using cognitive information processing (CIP) Approach to build upon their career dreams. Retrieved from: http://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/66290/_PARENT/layout_details_cc/false Faurer, J., Rogers-Brodersen, A., & Bailie, P. (2014). Managing the Re-Employment of Military Veterans through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). Journal of Business & Economics Research – First Quarter 2014, 12(1), 55-60. James, M. (2006). Bridging the Gap from Military to Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://verticalpath.com/links/WP-Bridge%20from%20Military%20to%20Civilian%20Workforce.pdf Prudential Financial, Inc. (2012). Veterans’ employment Challenges. Retrieved from: http://www.prudential.com/documents/public/VeteransEmploymentChallenges.pdf Society for Human Resource Management. (2010). Employing Military Personnel and Recruiting Veterans. Retrieved from: http://hr.ucr.edu/supervisor/military_program_report_fnl.pdf Szelwach, C., Steinkogler, J., Badger, E., & Muttukumaru, R. (2011). Transitioning To The Civilian Workforce: Issues Impacting The Reentry Of Rural Women Veterans. Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 26(3), 83–112. United States Department of Labor. (2012). Transition from Military to Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/tap/DOLEW-Participant-Guide(Oct%202012).pdf United States District Court. (2014). District Court Helps Returning Veterans Re-Enter Civilian Workforce. Retrieved from: http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/news/district-court-helps-returning-veterans-re-enter-civilian-workforce Read More