This 2-minute action will open doors for U.S. veterans: #OfferingVetsHelp

Carlos Franco recently separated from the United States Marine Corps after serving nearly nine years as a communications specialist. He is one of approximately 200,000 service members that will transition from the military this year, each returning to a civilian world that’s much different from what they remembered.

The Marine Corps is highly skilled at transforming a civilian, like Carlos, into a Marine, but is not well suited to transform Carlos back into a civilian after service. That is why we must go beyond words of thanks and offer our military veterans support in their post-military journeys. 

Last year, LinkedIn published the Veteran Opportunity Report. Using LinkedIn data, a team of LinkedIn military veteran employees and allies identified a phenomenon called the “network gap” that impacts veterans. The network gap is the advantage some individuals have over others as a result of who they know. Having a network can give someone a 12x greater advantage in gaining access to opportunities.

Put simply, networks matter. 

Unfortunately, veterans’ networks tend to be more closed than nonveterans, meaning veterans mostly connect with other veterans and members within the military community. In contrast, civilians tend to have more open networks with connections that span organizations and industries. 

LinkedIn data has found that during a veteran’s first year of transition to civilian life, approximately 27% of their network consists of other veterans. Compared to two years ago, we see a slight shift as the networks of veterans and non-veterans are starting to overlap more. However, this overlap is currently being driven by veterans, who, on average, make ten more connections with nonveterans compared to every single connection a nonveteran has made with a former service member.

The network gap underscores how important support from the nonveteran community is in connecting veterans to opportunities once they leave the service. One way to easily do that is to help veterans open their networks. Go beyond words of thanks and offer support. Search #VetsOpenToWork on LinkedIn and start a conversation, or post that you’re #OfferingVetsHelp and connect.

That’s what Jeff Womack did when he saw Carlos’ appeal for help finding an opportunity.

Jeff started a conversation that went beyond simply saying thank you and sent Carlos a direct message on LinkedIn about an opportunity he had and wanted to share with Carlos. Carlos responded, and after a few LinkedIn messages back and forth, the two moved their conversation to text messages and, eventually, a phone call. That call led to an interview, and that interview led to Carlos getting a job as a facilities management specialist in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.

Jeff‘s willingness to be an active ally impacted Carlos’ post-military career trajectory. “The fact that Jeff reached out and showed interest really mattered. I felt like I wasn’t doing my transition into the civilian workforce alone.” 

Carlos has since started his new job in San Antonio and “couldn’t be happier,” all because Jeff offered help.

You can have a similar impact on veteran job seekers this Veterans Day. 

Simply create a LinkedIn post and write a message to let veterans know you’re offering help by including hashtag #OfferingVetsHelp. You can also add a new “Offering Help” sticker to your next LinkedIn Story, letting the community know you want to start a conversation.

You can find veteran job seekers similar to Carlos by searching and following the hashtag #VetsOpenToWork. Go beyond words today by reaching out to veteran job seekers and #OfferingVetsHelp.