Celebrate Hire a Veteran Day with a new VA career

To recognize the employment needs of Veterans and support them on their job journey, this Monday, July 25, we will join many other organizations around the country in celebrating National Hire a Veteran Day.

A day of recognition

Just as we commemorated our country’s Independence Day, July also offers a chance to celebrate the people who supported that independence with their service, especially those looking to transition into a civilian career.

National Hire a Veteran Day was established in 2017 and founded by Dan Caporale, a Marine Corps Veteran and founder of Hiring Our Heroes, a national nonprofit organization. This special day is set aside to raise awareness of civilian employment for transitioning service members and Veterans after their military service, a call to action for those who hire and those who apply.

The Veteran difference

Employers are encouraged to consider and hire Veterans, because the reality is that hiring Veterans helps organizations in many different ways. During their military service, Veterans acquire a variety of skills and expertise that can provide tremendous value to organizations in the civilian sector.

Veterans bring leadership, work ethic, teamwork, tenacity, dedication, determination to succeed and many other “must-have” traits to their careers.

They have been trained to plan for and deal with contingencies and are skilled in working in different types of environments, from the office to the field to out on deployment. They have also worked in diverse (and often challenging) settings and are skilled at being part of a team.

Veterans belong at VA

Even as we celebrate Hire a Veteran Day on July 25, we encourage Veterans and transitioning military personnel to apply at VA any day. Veterans are not just our patients, but also one of our greatest resources, and we welcome them onto the team at every opportunity.

As a Veteran, the best place to start your journey is on our VA Careers website, where you’ll learn that there are many different types of employment available. You don’t have to be a doctor or nurse to qualify for jobs at VA facilities (though we still encourage you to apply if you are).

Instead, you’ll find careers that run the gamut of training and experience, from positions in senior leadership to jobs in information technology, police and much more.

Helping you on your journey

On our website, and in blog posts just like this one, you’ll find numerous resources to help you make the leap to a civilian career. We’ve also taken steps to make sure that it’s easier to find jobs open to you, including specific search functions tailored to Veterans.

For example, when your search brings you to USAJobs.gov, you’ll want to check the “This job is open to” section in each advertisement, because we’ve taken the time to tag those that are tailor-made for Veteran applicants.

When a job is open to Veterans, you’ll see an icon that looks like a white shield or a badge on a green circle. And if you want to narrow your options down to jobs specifically offering preference to Veterans, you can also select the “Veterans” filter in your search. Your results will then display only jobs open to Veterans.

But that’s just one of the things we’ve done to make the journey to a job easier for Veterans. Take a look at our site and see everything that VA has to offer.

Work at VA

Whether it’s on Hire a Veteran Day or any other day, join a team where your experience matters, and where you can help Veterans just like you.

• LEARN what VA has to offer Veteran applicants.
• EXPLORE our step-by-step guide to the application process.
• READ about using Veterans’ preference to assist your application.
• SEARCH for jobs at VA at VACareers.va.gov.