Of the nearly 1.5 million men and women serving in the U.S. military, more than 250,000 re-enter the civilian work force each year, and an estimated 1 million are expected to leave the military by 2016. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate for returning veterans “has consistently outpaced the rate among civilians,” according to The Washington Post – which reported a 12.1 percent October jobless rate for veterans. And no wonder. Many of these transitioning service members are pursuing their first non-military careers, and resources for them – and for those still deployed, but thinking about transition – are few and far between.
That’s why I founded American Corporate Partners (ACP) in 2008 with the goal of assisting Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans re-integrate into civilian life with free career counseling and mentoring by corporate and academic professionals from our member organizations. ACP was the first nationwide corporate mentoring program for returning veterans, and today partners with 35 corporations and universities whose employees volunteer as mentors. IBM is one such corporate member, and has provided more mentors than any other corporate partner. IBM also has contributed two technology solutions to support our one-on-one mentoring efforts.
Over the last three years, the response to ACP from military service men and women has been overwhelming, and we anticipate the demand for career support to continue growing as the military draws down troop levels from abroad. To help meet the increasing demand for career counseling for returning veterans, we’re launching ACP AdvisorNet this Veterans Day, November 11. ACP AdvisorNet is an online “Quick Question Community” in which veterans and their immediate families can ask business-related questions and gain advice from business and academic leaders nationwide.
ACP AdvisorNet is unique in that it provides guidance to both service members and their spouses and family members – a population that is often overlooked. Using ACP AdvisorNet, veterans and their immediate families can query business and academic professionals on topics related to employment, career development, or starting a small business. Questions ranging from how to prepare for a job interview to how to write a winning business plan will be answered by professionals who want to give back to our nation’s veterans by sharing their advice and expertise.
“ACP AdvisorNet is helping me transition into the corporate world both personally and professionally, and I would recommend this program to all my veteran friends. It’s really essential to have a program like this. It is a wonderful platform.” – Samuel Shim, USAF Iraq, now studying finance at Fordham University
With the launch of ACP AdvisorNet, we hope that many more veterans will benefit from the insights of concerned professionals from a variety of business backgrounds. If you’d like to join the ACP AdvisorNet community, please create an account and start engaging with returning service members and their families today. We look forward to seeing you online, and we thank you for your service.
After a successful career on Wall Street, Sid Goodfriend founded American Corporate Partners (ACP) in 2008 to help returning veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars make the transition to productive civilian life. ACP offers free career counseling and mentoring by professionals from America’s finest corporations and select universities.
Read the September 2011 Wall Street Journal article “From Battlefront to Boardroom” about the ACP program, and find out about the newly-announced White House initiatives to assist returning vets.
