Seeking IT help? Hire a veteran

In a region that’s growing increasingly hungry for skilled workers, Joseph Tucker and Tammy Richardson bring glad tidings.

They’re working to find jobs for dozens of members of the National Guard and Reserve, veterans and members of veterans’ immediate families.

And many of those folks have high-demand skills in fields such as information technology, security, logistics and medical administration, said Tucker, a veteran employment coordinator with the Nevada Beyond Yellow Ribbon Program.

Richardson, an employment coordinator with Hero2Hired, a Defense Department contractor, helps service members and veterans translate their service experience into terms that private-sector employers are likely to understand.

Few employers, for instance, run ads calling for someone with “25-Bravo” skills. But many are looking for information technology professionals — the same skill set as the military’s 25-Bravo.

“We help them break it down to something that can be understood in the civilian world,” said Richardson.

Richardson and Tucker believe the potential pool of members of the National Guard and Reserve, veterans and their family members available to northern Nevada employers may be as many as 1,000 people — enough to put a sizable dent in the demand from employers.

Richardson said Hero2Hired has been working with about 30 people a month, and most of them are moving into private-sector jobs fairly quickly.

Along with the skills that they learned during their service — skills that often earn college credit — Tucker said workers with military experience bring valuable personal traits as well.

Veterans and others with military experience are typically loyal, highly adaptable and have developed good leadership skills, he said.

The Nevada Beyond Yellow Ribbon Program got underway in October, and staff of the program have been knocking on employers’ doors across the state to find openings, Tucker said. (He’s at 775-384-5848 or joseph.j.tucker9.ctr@mail.mil.)

They’ve also been attending job fairs and building relationships with other organizations that help get veterans into civilian jobs.

The Nevada Beyond Yellow Program provides services to members of the armed services, National Guard, Reserves, any honorably discharged veteran, as well as the spouses and direct dependents of veterans and service members.

As it works with them, it provides assistance with resume-preparation, mock interviews, career goals, identification of jobs that match their skills and networking, Tucker said.

Richardson, meanwhile, is working to open connections with employers — particularly human relations departments — with whom she can work to place active-duty service members, veterans and their immediate family members. (She’s at 775-384-5849 or tammy.b.richardson.ctr@mail.mil.)

Hero2Hired works closely with Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense office, to use business owners and managers during mock-interview sessions as well as classes in resume-writing and other job-search skill.

Richardson notes Hero2Hired works statewide, with job fairs scheduled this year in smaller communities such as Winnemucca in addition to the metropolitan areas of Reno and Las Vegas.