A coalition of Bay State companies, advocates and veterans is aiming to help vets translate skills they already have to the offices of tech companies.
"The goal is to help employers connect more effectively with a growing number of veterans who are reentering the workforce," said Chris Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and one of the leaders of New England Tech Vets. "No matter what a veteran did in the military, there is an equitable civilian skill."
The military has long been on the forefront of emerging technologies, so many vets have technical skills from flying drones, or operating sophisticated weapons.
And as the country's wars continue to wind down, roughly 1 million servicemen and women will leave active duty and enter the workforce, according to some estimates, but the unemployment rate for veterans remains high. Overall, the rate is 6.6 percent for vets of all wars — but 9 percent for veterans of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Major Bob Kinder, an Army Ranger who served on active duty for 20 years, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, said it took him a long time to find a job.
"It's not a piece of cake," Kinder said. "I have finally landed in a job just this week. It took me nine months."
He said the transition back to civilian life is hard for many vets, and a job can make a world of difference — far beyond a paycheck.
"They're leaving a very insular, cohesive society with a unique culture," he said. "One of the things to help form a community is a good job. It gives them a sense of purpose."
Kinder now works for G2 Capital Advisors.
One of the challenges many vets face is the struggle of describing the skills they have developed in the military, said Susan Fallon, who helps run the Tech Vets program for job site Monster.com.
"People out here in the business community, they speak a different language," Kinder agreed.
To address that, Tech Vets automatically converts a military job title to incorporate its standard requirements — which are often valuable in the civilian workforce. For example, an "infantryman" entry will automatically include skills such as advanced first aid and knowledge of blueprints and technical diagrams.
"An individual may not even know they have (certain) skills, but they've been doing that their whole career," said Ted Wadsworth, also of Monster.com.
Then there are the character attributes that employers may find even more valuable in a new employee: for many, a military background translates to a strong work ethic and discipline.
"Those intangibles," Kinder said, "are much more difficult to train."
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