Rachel Sokol

 

VETERANS BRING A DIFFERENT VALUE SET TO THE WORKPLACE. AS NOTED ON FINANCIAL TITAN CHARLES SCHWAB’S WEBSITE. “WE KNOW THE DISTINCTIVE VALUE SERVICE MEMBERS BRING TO THE WORKPLACE – DEVOTION TO TEAMWORK, DISCIPLINE, TENACITY, AND PROVEN LEADERSHIP – ALL OF WHICH HELP BRING OUR VALUES TO LIFE. WITH MANY IN THE MILITARY INCREASINGLY MOVING ON TO NEW CHALLENGES, SCHWAB REMAINS DEDICATED TO AN ONGOING RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS COMMUNITY OF AMERICA’S HEROES.”

 

STILL, FOR US MILITARY VETERANS, TRANSITIONING BACK TO CIVILIAN LIFE CAN BE DAUNTING. FOR THOSE WITH AN INJURY, IT CAN BE EVEN MORE SO. HOWEVER, APPLYING THE SAME DEVOTION AND TENACITY TO THEIR CIVILIAN CAREERS, MANY ARE FINDING SUCCESS IN CORPORATE AMERICA.

 

THEY ARE BEING HELPED BY ORGANIZATIONS THAT RECOGNIZE THEIR VALUE, COMPANIES LIKE CHARLES SCHWAB AND THE OTHER FIVE SPOTLIGHTED IN THIS FEATURE— BOEING, EMBLEM HEALTH, NORTH SHORE-LIJ HEALTH SYSTEM, SALESFORCE, AND UPS. THE SIX VETERANS PROFILED IN THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBE THEIR PERSONAL PROCESS OF TRANSITIONING TO CIVILIAN LIFE. ALTHOUGH THEIR EXPERIENCES ARE DIFFERENT, THEY SHARE A COMMON FEELING OF GRATITUDE TOWARD THEIR EMPLOYERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF VETERANS IN THE WORKFORCE.

 

UNITED STATES MARINE JUAN SERRANO SERVED NINE YEARS IN ACTIVE DUTY AND WAS MEDICALLY DISCHARGED IN 2009 DUE TO A NECK AND ARM INJURY SUSTAINED WHILE CONDUCTING COMBAT AND TRAINING OPERATIONS IN SUPPORT OF OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM AND IRAQI FREEDOM. THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION AWARDED SERRANO A 40 PERCENT PHYSICAL DISABILITY RATING.

 

“I was a careerist, but unfortunately, my body gave up before my heart did,” Serrano explains. During his time in the Marines, he was Staff Non-Commissioned Officer and served as Section Leader, Platoon Sergeant, Operation Chief, Officer In- Charge and Recruiter.

 

Returning to civilian life in 2009, Serrano enrolled at St. John’s University in his hometown of Queens, NY, where he helped launch an oncampus veterans support group. At a career fair in 2012, he met arecruiter from North Shore- LIJ Health System. “She said I had the skill set that may be a good match for an administrative job. In 2012 I was presented with the opportunity to work with the Queens World Trade Center Health Program at North Shore-LIJ, which is federally funded and provides services to first responders and volunteers of 9/11. I accepted the job of office administrator.”

 

Serrano is now director of the Office of Military and Veterans Services, an administrative position he escalated to in two and a half years—a true test to the professional development opportunities the North Shore-LIJ Heath System provides returning veterans.

 

“I’m grateful to North Shore-LIJ because they afforded me the chance to continue with my service,” Serrano says. “I went into the Marines to serve and make a difference, but I never thought when I met that recruiter I’d be able to continue my services in a different way—just not overseas.”

 

Serrano, who has a degree in legal studies from St. John’s University, “loves the interaction and the opportunity to help our heroes. The population we are helping is a very special one. They were here for New York and now we’re here for them,” he says.

 

All military service members have something in common, Serrano says. “Leadership, dependability, and commitment to duty. We are exposed to the experiences that are life-changing; it’s hard to describe unless you’re there. Veterans share a special bond; we understand; we’ve been through it. Both veterans and first responders have put someone else before them.”

 

Educating others—veterans and non-veterans alike—about your experiences can be helpful, says Serrano. “It’s important for veterans to share their experiences. Find what makes you happy, and decompress. Seek help. Talk to someone else, open up. It’s a big part of the healing progress. I spent the better part of 2013-14 working with organizations in New York seeking different services for veterans and came across many vets who didn’t know how to seek services. So, after serving, reach out to fellow veterans in need.”

 

Serrano’s advice to other veterans? Adapt and overcome. “The traits you learned while serving are marketable and extremely important—stay positive, don’t close doors to opportunities, and rely on the skills that are second nature for veterans such as leadership, and the ability to work well under pressure,” he says.

 

VIRGINIA NATIVE DONALD HARRIS SERVED NINE YEARS AS MARINE SERGEANT AND VEHICLE MECHANICWITH ONE DEPLOYMENT TO IRAQ. DURING THAT TIME, HE WAS PART OF A SECURITY DETAIL WITH EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL (EOD); AN IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE HIT THE TEAM’S VEHICLE, LEAVING SGT. HARRIS WITH A BRAIN INJURY.

 

Preparing to leave service in 2012, Harris reached out to the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces, which referred him to UPS, where he accepted a job supervising mechanics at a building near the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. “As automotive fleet supervisor, I’m responsible for maintaining a safe, reliable, and cost-efficient fleet of 211 vehicles,” he comments. “That includes supervising eight mechanics, including their training and safety compliance, as well as the effective performance by outside vendors.”

 

Harris, a father of two with another on the way, notes “the best thing about my job is the chance of advancement and moving forward in my career. UPS takes pride in hiring veterans and I look forward to being promoted and advancing my knowledge within the company.”

 

Veterans have many skills and will be an asset to any company, he adds. “Don’t be afraid to take chances,” Harris advises fellow veterans transitioning to the workforce. “A friend of mine was told he is a liability because of his disabilities and companies wouldn’t hire him because of this. I disagree. Everyone is responsible for his or her own actions, and just because someone has PTSD doesn’t mean they’re a liability. Never take ‘no’ for an answer, always continue to move forward, and take pride in yourself. Set goals and do what you must to achieve them.”

 

And finally, Harris says, be grateful. “After a stressful day I turn the radio on low and listen to my favorite music. I go home and see my children and say to myself, ‘This is why I do what I do.’ Always be thankful for what you have and know that things could be much worse.”

 

UPS employs nearly 26,000 veterans, representing about 7.5 percent of UPS’s domestic US workforce. The company is committed to hiring 50,000 veterans by the end of 2018 as part of the Obama Administration’s Joining Forces Initiative.

 

Search for available positions on: www.upsjobs.com.

 

“I APPROACHED MY TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN LIFE AS A NEW PHASE IN MY LIFE,” SAYS ARIZONA RESIDENT AND VETERAN ALAN HERNANDEZ, A CISCO BACK OFFICE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEER FOR CHARLES SCHWAB. “WHILE ITWAS DIFFICULT TO LEAVE BEHIND THE MILITARY AS A CAREER, I CAN STILL USE A GREAT DEAL OF THE LESSONS I LEARNED IN MY CURRENT CAREER.”

 

Hernandez provides support for Tier-III support escalations along with the engineering and enhancement of the Cisco Back Office voice solution. “I also support other business units by providing a collaboration platform leveraging the Cisco Unified Communications Infrastructure. When needed, I also develop custom programs to facilitate automation and auto-documentation of our architecture.”

 

Hernandez completed 17 years in the military before leaving in 2014 due to injuries. He was drawn to Schwab because fellow veterans accepted positions at the company after their own military careers came to an end. “They only had great things to say about Schwab,” recalls Hernandez, who earned a master’s of science in IT with an emphasis in information assurance from the University of Maryland.

 

“Being in the military,” he says, “is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle and mindset. I found the transition into a civilian career at Schwab to be fairly easy due to the heavily regulated nature of the financial industry, and the structured processes in place at Schwab.”

 

Hernandez also enjoys the flexibility and opportunities to progress and advance. Charles Schwab has community groups within the company that veterans can get together to network and talk about various aspects of life and careers outside the military. Schwab, adds Hernandez, is a “great environment where diversity is alive and well.”

 

While serving, Hernandez sustained some significant neck, spinal, and joint injuries “that have significantly changed my life and lifestyle. Sometimes the simplest task such as picking up something off the ground is extremely painful.”

 

Although he still wakes up in physical pain, “I will not let it define me or limit me. I treat it as any challenge in life. It is something to be defined, mastered, and overcome. I do physical therapy exercises and yoga stretching in the morning to prepare for my day and take every day one at a time,” he says. “On difficult days I remind myself that I am blessed to have returned from combat when some of my friends didn’t.”

 

MICHAEL DANIELS IS LEARNING SOLUTIONS INTEGRATOR/ INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS DE SIGNER AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST FOR BOEING. BASED IN WASHINGTON STATE, DANIELS MANAGES THE DATABASE FOR BOEING DEFENSE SERVICES (JOB AIDS, TIP SHEETS, PROJECT TEAM, COST MANAGEMENT) TRACKING POSTS, ACTIVITIES, AND PROJECT NOTES.

 

“I work with customers, subject matter experts (SMEs), and technical content ex - perts (TCEs) to perform front-end needs analysis on training requests for the Learning Training and Development (LTD)- ADDIE group,” ex - plains Daniels, who served 20 years in the US Navy and earned the rank of Chief Petty Officer. In November 2007, he sustained multiple injuries in Iraq and was in a month-long coma. “Every bone on the left side of my body was broken, my lungs were damaged, and I lost my left elbow, which still affects me to this day,” he recalls. “I also damaged my lower back and my left knee, and lost my spleen; it took me almost a year to start walking on my own without assistance.”

 

In 2013 Daniels was a civilian contractor training the Iraqi military on subjects from leadership development to shipyard repairs when he realized it was time to return home.

 

“I have family members that worked at Boeing for over 20 years and still loved it,” Daniels comments. “I knew that Boeing is where I wanted to work.”

 

Staring out as a Boeing contractor before landing full-time employment, Daniel “loves that I’m creating training programs that touches or has the ability to touch the lives of everyone that has a role in building a Boeing aircraft, including customers flying in the aircrafts.”

 

Not letting his PTSD deter him, in addition to his work at Boeing, he also teaches human resources management at Colorado Technical University (CTU).

 

Education, Daniels believes, is “the best way to stay ahead of the everchanging workforce. Make sure that your pathway includes the ability to change with the times and never get complacent. Always try and work your hardest.”

 

While serving in the US Navy, Daniels studied online with CTU and earned his BS degree in business administration and human resource management.

 

According to Daniels, returning veterans should realize many companies—Boeing, included—are looking for their skill sets. “Whether it’s in 20 years or four years, veterans have gained a solid foundation in leadership, project management understanding, loyalty, teamwork, and have a reliable work ethic,” he says. “As part of a comprehensive communication skills course in the military, you learn to be flexible and understand workplace diversity. Many veterans speak more than one language, have traveled the world, and can relate to international business and the global marketplace, which sets them apart from other candidates. This is what all of us bring to the table as a basic military member.”

 

HILARY ZARENEJAD CURRENTLY RESIDES IN BALTIMORE, WHERE SHE RECEIVED A BS AND MBA IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FROMTHE UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE. ”I’MA SOLUTIONS ENGINEER AT SALESFORCE. AT THE 10,000 FOOT LEVEL I SOLICIT BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS, DEVELOP A TECHNICAL SALES STRATEGY, AND PRESENT SALESFORCE AS THE SOLUTION FOR BUILDING STRONGER CUSTOMER CONNECTIONS,” SHE EXPLAINS.

 

Drawn to the Marines while in high school, Zarenejad aimed for the military service that she thought was the most challenging. The fact that they would help pay for college was also an important factor.

 

Following her years as a Marine, Zarenejad finished her Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) schooling and transitioned into the Marine Reserves. This path helped make her transition to civilian life less stressful. “However, this isn’t typically the case for many veterans,” she explains. ”The transition back to civilian life is often rough and filled with an extended period of time of attempting to readjust and find a career.”

 

Adds Zarenejad, “every veteran is unique and deserves the chance to fully represent themselves to a potential employer. The best career advice a fellow veteran gave me was to always look for ways to improve my skills and put in the time to do so. In the past, this ranged from taking free online courses for various technology courses and studying for advanced Salesforce certifications. Most of the time this was at night or on weekends, but I knew it was critical to my future success. If you want to be successful in your craft sometimes you need to put in that extra effort—even if nobody is watching!”

 

In the Marines, Zarenejad heard the rallying cry “failure is not an option” often, and she believes that veterans carry that same mentality into every area of their lives. ”The Marine Corps values instilled in me of honor, courage, and commitment have helped prepare me for not only my career, but all facets of my life,” she says. “A veteran once told me, ‘You feel sorry for the man with no shoes until you meet the man with no feet.’ When I worked with blind veterans in the past, I was constantly inspired by the sheer motivation and willpower that they put into every task. There was never a question of, ‘Is that your best?’ and it inspired me to always give 100 percent and overcome any obstacles in my path.”

 

Dan Streetman, Salesforce.com’s SVP, WW Alliances & Channels, is also a veteran. “Salesforce is a very supportive and inspiring place for veterans to work” he says. “We use our own Chatter Community to connect Salesforce veterans and provide mentorship, advice, and support to one-another. What’s great is that we have several other programs like this at Salesforce that nurture diversity and innovation. Salesforce’s commitment to veterans also extends beyond our company, with programs such as Vet- Force, which supports all veterans’ transition from military to civilian life. We encourage every veteran to follow Hilary’s example, and learn more about VetForce, our partners like Veterans Workshop, and the many different careers opportunities that Salesforce training can enable.”

 

BRONX, NY NATIVE NICK LOPEZ SERVES AS QC/ALM ADMIN FOR THEMANHATTAN HEADQUARTERS OF EMBLEMHEALTH.

 

“My duties include maintaining and reporting on current testing projects and defects related issues,” explains Lopez, who has a degree in computer information systems from DeVry. “I also run automated test scripts.”

 

Lopez is actually an employee of Sharp Decisions, an IT consultant firm in New York City that deploys veteran specialists through its V.E.T.S. Program (Vocations Education and Training for Service members) to companies like EmblemHealth.

 

“We all work together as a team [through V.E.T.S.], much like we were deployed in the military. Through these veteran squads we get a lot more IT work done at EmblemHealth,” says Lopez, who served in the military for 14 years. “I miss it,” he says. “If I did not have a family I would have spent my life in the military.”

 

Tom MacMillan, vice president at EmblemHealth, is a big supporter of Sharp Decisions’ V.E.T.S. Program. “EmblemHealth has enjoyed a huge degree of success working with Sharp Decisions’ V.E.T.S. Program. The individuals in the program and their accomplishments at Emblem have far exceeded our expectations,” says MacMillan. “Specifically, the V.E.T.S. team demonstrates dedication, attention to detail, and a strong desire to ‘get it right’ in all of their work.”

 

Initially, Lopez struggled to transition back to civilian life after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I was cautious for so long; having to watch for myself and others all the time. Coming back to a peacetime setting, it was hard for me to become comfortable again,” he recalls. “As a member of the Signal Corps, I repaired radio arrays and networks in the field. I had all these skills but still needed to go to school when I came back. I couldn’t find a job from 2010 through 2012 and it was frustrating because I knew I was qualified.”

 

Additionally, Lopez was dealing with the effects of PTSD, such as headaches, which made the stresses of looking for a job and caring for his family even more difficult. However, Lopez chose to focus on the positive, and has since found ways to manage his migraines. “I have a job now and I know my family is taken care of, and that reduces my other cares,” he says. “If I am having a rough day, I take a walk, get a coffee, or play video games with my children when I get home. My dad suggested I join the military, which made me who I am today and, eventually, led me to Sharp Decisions and EmblemHealth. Without the military, I wouldn’t have the career I have today.”

 

Lopez wants fellow veterans to remember: “You have value. Use what you have learned in the military and apply it civilian life. Most of it translates over, and the parts that don’t translate, like discipline and integrity, can make you an invaluable asset.”