I was a member of the military. From 2000-2004 I served in the United States Marine Corps. While in the Marines I worked as a photographer, and when I got out I decided I didn't know enough about Photography to do it professionally and to this day I still believe that and continue to do it as a hobby. Today I am a manager in retail where I make a good living money wise and I have full benefits that cover myself, my wife and our son. I have been trying to find another job for the sake of spending more time with my son and wife. I do like my job, however I don't like the time I spend away from my family and have been searching for a better job for quite a while now.
Before leaving the Marines I went through a week long class on transitioning to civilian life. All Marines have to do these classes where they get "de-programmed" for lack of a better term. There they begin to use first names as a way to address someone and break the habit of calling people by their rank and their last name. It's also during these classes where they tell you how well off you'll be because you have military experience and everyone loves to hire someone from the military. BULLSHIT.
When I left the Marines I fully believed that. I believed that my future was in my own hands and that before you know it I'll be raking in the dough and attending college. I was twenty-two and believed it to be true. Seven years later I'm now twenty-nine and I have figured it out after years of denying it that it's not true at all. I have tried with almost two dozen companies and a few government jobs in the seven years since leaving the Marines and have only been to two interviews.
One with a growing company where the job was set up through an employee I was friends with. The other one was with a government agency I won't name. After going through the process of testing, and an interview and a phsycological test I had two more steps to complete and was called one afternoon to tell me I'm no longer eligible. I asked if it was something to do with my Psych test and was told no. I was told that they had hired enough people to fill all the positions available. That's fine, they told me in a year I could re-apply.
Among the companies I have applied for over the years are Home Depot, Lowes, Southwest Airlines, Waste Management, Philadelphia Police Department, US Capitol Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Victory Beverage, Merck, Wells Fargo, Comcast, Frito Lay, Whole Foods. Not one of those companies have contacted me back about an opportunity to work for them. All of them I have listed my experience in the Marines. Granted I don't necessarily have experience for all of these organizations for what they're known for, but they all have entry level positions.
The problem I have is that they tell veterans they can get a job anywhere. But they aren't telling us the whole truth. What they should be saying is that you can get a job as a veteran if you're an officer because you already have a college degree and none of these organizations believes younger enlisted men and women are the way to go. Why? I don't know. But the truth is that these companies and other companies show up on lists for veteran friendly websites for appearance only. They want veterans spending their hard earned money thinking that if they ever need it these companies will be there for them when they need it the most. They won't be, they'll turn you away and they might give you a letter saying they regret to inform you that they have selected someone else.
Another organization that annoys me is RecruitMilitary.com. Here you have a few guys who were in the military and decided to start a website where employers can get their name out there again as a veteran friendly organization and they can make some money themselves. What a scam that has turned out to be. I have filled out over a dozen in the past year through their website and haven't gotten one call back. Not one. And they hold job fairs where companies come out and will blow smoke up your ass and then probably go back and laugh about it how these veterans believe they have a chance. We don't, they only hire idiots out of college with no real world experience who only go by the manuals given to them by their organizations. I have relayed my concerns to them, and obviously haven't gotten back to me probably because they hope I go away. They realize someone is onto their little game.
If companies really wanted to hire veterans just coming out of the military, why has it been seven years and the only job I have had was the one I had before I was in the Marines? Why have a few that I served with been in and out of work for years since leaving the military? Why do I not know one veteran working for any of these organizations on the list? Why? Because just like everything with government and what they tell service members and veterans it's all lies. We were lied to when were were being recruited, we were lied to while we were active, and we were lied to before we left the service and they continually lie to us today to make us feel all warm and fuzzy and think we're being watched over. Well I now know in my later years that it's not true. My goal is to let everyone know my opinions on everything so that hopefully some idiot from some organization changes things.
