Providing Training and Employment Opportunities to Veterans

Providing Training and Employment Opportunities to Veterans

Veterans in the United States are the most under-served community in the area of workforce development Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). While the focus of many Veteran Agencies at the federal, state and local level has been to provide good medical care and benefits, the process of assimilating them into the civilian workforce as self-sufficient, working professionals has been largely lacking.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in October 2011, veterans, ages 18 to 24, had an unemployment rate of 30.4 percent (almost double the non-veteran unemployment rate in the same age category).

One of the problems cited by veterans groups includes skills acquired in the military not always transferring to the civilian world. The element missing is often a system of certification, verifying that the veteran has the skills and knowledge to meet the requirements of the job. Absence of training opportunities continues to hamper veterans with a smooth transition into the civilian workforce.

Halcyon Solutions is taking the initiative to address this critical gap that exists in our society. By combining our technical expertise with training and resource development, our goal is to equip veterans with the necessary skills so they can become productive and successful IT professionals with Fortune 1000 companies.

Program Benefits

Halcyon’s Veterans Workforce Development Program, a non-profit initiative, will provide companies with the following benefits:

Qualified and trained IT professionals that can take on the normal IT responsibilities in the company’s IT department

Option to “try before you buy" allowing companies to verify that the resource is a good fit with the organization and with the position

Access to disciplined, reliable and motivated individuals that can take on the most challenging assignments within the organization

Opportunity to meet the company’s diversity and social objectives while giving an opportunity to veterans to pursue their dreams as productive citizens in the US workforce

Program Approach

The Veterans Workforce Development Program is designed to help participants quickly learn the basic skills of software development and software quality assurance through classroom training, reference materials and hands-on workshops and lab exercises. The program will cover the following aspects:

Provide basic skills in the area of software development life cycle and Business Analysis to allow all participants to have a common terminology and understanding of the techniques and tools.

Train on specific development and testing skills, including Software Testing Methodology, Automated Testing Tools and Test Script Development.

Assistance in obtaining industry standard certification that will provide a testament to their skills and knowledge.

Offer coaching in soft-skills allowing participants to combine their technical skills with excellent communication skills to become effective workers in a corporate environment .

Ongoing support during the first 12 months of the assignments in the form of technical support, professional coaching and mentoring programs.

Re-training opportunities that allow participants to continue to gain new skills and become key players on their projects.