We hear a lot about the shortage of technology talent to meet the needs of businesses that are striving to digitize their operations. Another problem that we don’t hear about quite as often is the difficulty veterans face getting good jobs when they’ve completed their service. Sharp Decisions’ V.E.T.S. Program offers a solution to both problems.
The acronym stands for the Vocation, Education and Training for Service members. The program trains veterans and matches them with open jobs, helping them leverage what they learned in the military.
In that way, vets can overcome the career obstacles they often face, as described in “5 Reasons Why Employers Are Not Hiring Vets.” Much of the hesitancy is because employers don’t realize that the skills and abilities honed during military service can meet their need for technical expertise, teamwork, and the ability to come up with solutions under pressure.
This is not a government-funded program or one that taps into GI Bill benefits. It grants veterans paid training in Quality Assurance, software testing, user acceptance testing, project management, business analysis, cyber-security and cloud security. Upon completion of training, the veterans are placed at Sharp Decisions client locations in groups of at least three in order to maintain the “unit-based culture” they developed in the military.
Sharp Decisions CEO Karen Ross was quoted in a press release saying: “Three years ago, I started the V.E.T.S. program because I knew how much sense it made, from a business standpoint, for our veterans and for our country, to get veterans working in the technology space.” She also reiterated the company’s pledge to hire 500 veterans and military spouses.
It’s a win all around. Veterans get good jobs, and companies get the skilled workforce they need without having to go through the hassle and expense of sponsoring employees on H-1B visas. Plus, the jobs that may have been outsourced abroad stay in the country.
