CINCINNATI -- Making the transition back to civilian life isn't always easy for military veterans, but new research at the University of Cincinnati is helping smooth the process of finding new work.
In the U.S. Army, Evan Terry always had a plan.
"Someone had something for me to do," Terry said. "I knew what I was doing six months from now, I knew what I was doing tomorrow."
Stacie Holloway is an associate professor at UC. When one of her students came in expressing an interest in looking at veterans returning to work, she decided to help initiate the research.
The study was designed to better understand the transition experience veterans have moving from the military to the civilian workforce, according to Holloway. She presented the research Thursday at a conference in Washington, D.C.
"Often times, the skills that they acquire in the military don't translate really well and really easily into civilian sector jobs," Holloway said.
The research is being used at the UC office of Veterans Programs & Services, where they help match veterans with jobs best suited for their skill sets.
"We're removing a lot of military jargon from their resumes, just different attitudes," Terence Harrison, the program manager said of what the office does. "Things that are permissible in the military may not be permissible in the work place."
For Holloway, the research means more than just finding jobs.
"While it's important for veterans to find jobs, the critical piece is for them to find jobs that are good fits where they can thrive," she said.
The next steps are making sure the research is distributed to different resources that help with veteran employment, according to Holloway.
