Transitioning into post-military life is full of emotions for both service members and their families. Leaving behind a position surrounded by so much purpose and camaraderie can leave you feeling lost or out of place. It can be overwhelming and daunting to start fresh in a new environment. It can be discouraging as you face difficulties, especially if they’re financial. Luckily, regardless of the stress that comes with such a big life transition, there are many resources that can help make that change easier. One such resource is Hope For The Warriors’ new military-centered job search program: Warrior’s Compass.

As a nonprofit dedicated to assisting the well-being of veterans, service members, and their families, Hope For The Warriors provides comprehensive support programs that are focused on transition, health and wellness, and sports and recreation.

Warrior’s Compass, HOPE’s new veteran and spouse job-search program, which can be accessed by applying for services, provides transitioning service members, spouses, and veterans with support in many key areas of job searching. Warrior’s Compass provides support, which includes job training, resumé building, military skills translation, and access to companies that want to hire veterans.

Preparing to enter the workforce from any avenue comes with its challenges, and transitioning directly from the military definitely has its own. Applying for a civilian job may be a new experience.

Where should you look for work?

What types of jobs should you seek?

What new skills will you need to learn to succeed?

These are common questions for anyone applying to jobs for the first time, whether in the military or not. Warrior’s Compass provides resources to assist in all of these avenues.

HOPE works directly with both veteran-friendly employers and a pool of more than 200,000 applicants to match candidates’ backgrounds or certifications with positions optimized for those skills. In addition, Warrior’s Compass has a resumé-building tool that pulls experience, education, and skills from a Field Service Record or information provided by the candidate and generates resumés in formats that coincide with current employer needs.

Warrior’s Compass works to address specific transition issues that face the military community. Life in the military is filled with meaning and community support, and transitioning out of that lifestyle can feel empty. The financial transition can also be a burden when budgets are tight and job competition is high.

Warrior’s Compass works directly with more than 1,500 companies that specifically want to hire veterans, and many of these organizations go directly to HOPE to search for the right candidates. Some are looking for veterans, and some are looking to support and provide employment for a spouse or family member.

Warrior’s Compass also works with a network of other veterans who act as mentors to help veterans find the best jobs for them. Military life develops a particular set of skills such as initiative, leadership, resilience, and adaptability. These skills and the military skills translator make each candidate impressive to any organization.

Transition can be tough, but one aspect of military life that always remains prevalent is the incredible support system we have in our community. That support is why we do what we do at Hope For The Warriors to help make transition a bit easier.

In the words of Brian Papakie, Career Transition Program Manager at HOPE:

“as a retired veteran who understands the many different aspects and struggles of transitioning from the service, seeing an opportunity such as Warrior’s Compass would have given me a whole different avenue to start a new career. Many of us jump right into the first thing that comes along as we are separating from the service for fear of being limited with what we can do, how our experience translates and not understanding how a civilian company’s culture, mission and values may differ from our military experiences. Those aspects of an employer can be vital to your long-term stay and every one of those components within Warrior’s Compass helps turn that job into the next career.”

Ready to get started? To begin your job search, go to hopeforthewarriors.org and select “Apply for Services.”

Looking for more? You can find Hope For The Warriors on the following social media sites:

Twitter: @hope4warriors

Instagram: @hope4warriors

Facebook: @hopeforthewarriors

LinkedIn: @hopeforthewarriors

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