Veterans and retiring service members develop invaluable leadership and technical skills while they serve their country, but outside of the military they sometimes face challenges translating their military skills into civilian sector careers. The UWUA is working hard to change that for all veterans, and especially those who are interested in utility sector careers.
Working in close partnership with the American Legion, UWUA is pursuing efforts that will make it easier for servicemembers and veterans to seek new and exciting employment opportunities and that will create a pathway to the utility sector.
Director of Veterans Affairs Rick Passarelli, with other industry leaders and the American Legion, are working together to study and identify the barriers to entry veterans face, including how credentialing costs create obstacles for veterans seeking civilian employment and what kinds of gaps between military training and civilian sector requirements currently exist. The Department of Defense (DOD) will incorporate the findings of the study in future training program curriculums.
This effort represents a significant step toward helping veterans translate skills they learned while in the military into civilian sector careers in the utility industry. This also supports efforts allowing servicemembers with the ability to apply their military training and coursework to bachelor’s and graduate degree programs. The study, led by Passarelli as part of the Legion’s Military Credentialing Advancement Study Ambassador Roundtable, will be completed and shared with DOD in the first quarter of 2021.
The UMAP program will continue to benefit even more veterans in the coming years. The overall program has been extended to 2023, which means 200 more veterans will have the opportunity to build a career and earn a quality, family-sustaining paycheck and benefits. In Michigan, the UMAP program recently celebrated the milestone of graduating 200 veterans.
For more information about how UMAP can benefit your local or work with employers in your area, reach out to Rick Passarelli at rpassarelli@uwua.net.