Soldiers think differently. We’re five steps ahead. We know 100 percent of every plan fails. And we know how to prepare for every variability. This mindset, which comes from serious training and experience, can be an incredible asset (particularly in the channel). It can also be tough to translate into a civilian career.
In the Channel Partners Studio with TrainOurTroops
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Glen Brynteson, founder of TrainOurTroops, at the Channel Partners Expo, where I was invited into the Channel Partners Studio to talk about opportunities for U.S. Military Veterans in the technology space and channel.
One of the important points Glen stressed during our conversation is that people who go the traditional college route after high school typically graduate with a clear focus and plan of action to secure a job in a particular field, like sales, marketing, communications, engineering, etc.
Yet, women and men who enlist in the military often, regardless of the intense levels of training and experience they gain, leave the service only to be lost in a crowded and competitive civilian marketplace. They may have been a highly skilled mechanic or intelligence analyst or training leader in the service. But connecting with employers who need their skills and successfully transitioning to civilian employment is a real challenge. Many vets take positions far below their skill and pay level just to take a job. And far too many of our veterans are lost after they serve.
A Difficult Reality
Unemployment is the reality of nearly half a million of our Gulf War-era II U.S. veterans, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classifies as those who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time since September 2001 to now. This often leads to frustration, depression and, at an alarming rate, suicide for our soldiers. It crushes me to see that veteran suicide rates in the U.S. have increased by 25.9 percent in the last decade alone.
Thankfully, dedicated organizations like TrainOurTroops and its strategic partners are jumping in to help. TrainOurTroops provides U.S. veterans, and their spouses, with advanced online training and certification solutions to give them a competitive advantage in the civilian marketplace to ignite their careers. Their courses are absolutely free to vets and their spouses — and they do a whole lot more than training. Sure, there is fun stuff in the mix like major concerts and fundraising events. But I’m talking apprenticeships with the US. Department of Labor, getting vets into the largest tradeshows in the country, and in front of the very best employers, to capture those higher-paying civilian positions and careers.
The Stats Are Tough – But There’s Hope in Action
The latest report from the USBLS notes unemployment rates among vets are now edging down, in part due to organizations like TrainOurTroops and commitments from their partners, which include industry leaders like Amazon, eBay, Ferrari, Juniper Networks and MGM Resort, among many others, along with Wells Fargo, who has pledged to add 20K vets to their workforce by 2020.
At the heart of it, Glen and TrainOurTroops are enabling and ramping up vets to do more, connecting them with the tools and resources they need, and streamlining their path to success. (Much like what Zift does for channel organizations and their partners.)
For My Brothers and Sisters in Arms
This Veterans Day, it’s important to take time to remember and thank those who have served. It means a great deal. How do I know? I’m not just a loud-mouth channel sales strategist — I am also a proud veteran who served in the Active U.S. Army and National Guard. I know I’m not the only vet who’s found solid footing in the channel sales and marketing arena.
Raise your hand in the comments section below if you are a fellow Brother or Sister in Arms working in the channel, so we can thank you for your service. And consider picking up a hat, T or mug from the TrainOurTroops Patriotic Collection for yourself or someone else. I dig their stuff as it’s just patriotic, not political, and all of the sales go directly to creating more online courses for vets and their spouses. Check out their T’s, hats, mugs and more here: https://trainourtroops.org/collections
Sean Lardo
Sean Lardo is a channel sales, marketing and enablement Jedi. Follow him on Twitter: @LardoSean and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanlardo/
Great article Sean. Another aspect that most people aren’t aware of is that veterans aren’t just walking the streets unemployed after their service wondering what to do. Just the opposite. Of the thousands of veterans at TrainOurTroops – 68% classified themselves as “underemployed”. Which means when they finished their service they took a job because they had a mortgage to pay, etc – they needed stability.
TrainOurTroops is in the middle of partnering with some massive firms in the US where we will be bolting their online training and certifications onto our existing course offerings – allowing each veteran, and their spouse, to fulfill the thousands of roles these organizations are hiring. We’ll be rolling that program out in the upcoming weeks and we’ll announce each one of those firms and how veterans and their spouses can participate.
Fantastic article Sean! So many don’t know or understand the struggle. TrainOurTroops is a great organization and I’m glad to be part of it! And a proud partner of Channel Partners!
I have a tremendous amount of respect for our soldiers and veterans. THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING THIS GREAT COUNTRY. You hit the nail on the head Sean. All these guys need is a nudge in the right direction. That’s exactly what TrainOurTroops is doing. Great article.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I am a veteran and it is very difficult to get a job that we deserve once we are out. Keep up the good work. God Speed.
This is a great article. Sean captures and highlights the challenges for all transitioning service members into civilian life. I served 25 years on active duty, it was difficult to land softly on the other side. I like to say I was fortunate, and lucky, to be a small part of the inception of Train our Troops. In my final months of service I was traveling to many different conferences and special events. One of the events I met, Glen and the rest is history. His energy, personality and drive for excellence captured my attention at one of his presentations. At the end of his set we talked, and with his help and insight I started my online training with his program. The education allowed me to land softer on the other side by teaching me about customer service, consumer related intelligence, and connecting the dots from my last military chapter to my next civilian adventure. Train our Troops is like the Rosetta stone, translating military experience to non-military work. I have been all over the world representing the United States without a college degree. I have thrived in uncertain environments, selling the idea of democracy to men and women, knowing it was impossible for them to comprehend. I have briefed and implemented strategic, national and tactical plans to all levels of leadership. I have led teams of men and women in dangerous or ambiguous situations with success, completely without a college education. The old saying is you cannot teach experience but you can manipulate it. The classes provided by Train out Troops enables veterans and their families the same opportunities fortune 500 companies use to develop up-and-coming leaders, along with employees motivated to become better at what they do. I have used Glen’s material and have shared it with my wife. She is actively involved and soon will open her own small business. Train our Troops can help you like it helped my family succeed.
An amazing company and charity working together to help our veterans. We as a country and businesses should have no limits on how we help our veterans. Train our Troops is unique in helping veterans find the right jobs for their qualifications and higher paying jobs. Thank you Sean and Glen.
I become involved with Train Our Troops in the spring of 2018 and have this to be an awesome opportunity to not just learn how to fine tune my skills but also get certifications that will allow me to keep growing my resume on the civilian side. This is definitely a benefit our younger troops need to take advantage of to help them not just find decent employment but allow them to work their way up the corporate ladder to management level careers.