Christina's Story

Christina was a National Guardsman who returned from her 2nd deployment three years ago, where she was a Sergeant overseeing Military Police activities in the Middle East. In her previous deployment, she held an administrative position managing supply requisitions for a large transportation unit. Christina completed her enlistment with the Army National Guard shortly after returning from her 2nd deployment. She then got married and became pregnant with her 1st child.

After a year at home with the baby, Christina was ready to return to the workforce, and started looking for a stable civilian job. Christina's past civilian work was limited to part-time retail positions – changing jobs frequently to accommodate her schedule of military drills, training, and deployments. Now she was looking for a "career job," something rewarding with room to grow but she did not know where to begin. She wrote a resume highlighting her background in retail work, and started applying online for supervisory and management positions in retail settings. She was not getting any interviews. She sought assistance at the local Employment Security office. She spoke with an employment rep and talked about her many jobs at several different store chains in the area.

When the employment rep asked the question, "Have you ever served in the military?" Christina told the rep about her service in the Guard and her two deployments. At that point, the rep referred her to the Veteran Representative at the Employment Security office. In her first meeting with the Vet Rep, they were able to tease out all the skills Christina developed through her military service, including security, leadership, supervising others, and supply acquisitions and management. They created a new resume, highlighting Christina's leadership and administrative abilities. Additionally, the Vet Rep connected Christina to employers who had a strong track record for hiring veterans. She landed several interviews and ultimately accepted a supervisor position in the inventory department of a auto-supply chain – a position that tapped into her leadership, supply/acquisition, and transportation expertise.

Had the employment representative not inquired about military service, Christina likely would not have connected to the Vet Rep and might not have ever sought positions that highlighted her military experience.