MNYCCPOA Conference Winter 2012 Meeting: Career Counseling for Veterans

Over the break The Career Center staff attended the MNYCCPOA Conference for this year’s Winter 2012 meeting on the exciting topic of Career Counseling for Veterans. For those who do not know, MNYCCPOA stands for Metropolitan New York College Career Planning Officer's Association. It is a professional organization consisting of career services counselors representing more than 60 colleges in the metropolitan New York area.  

Here are a few highlights:

American Corporate Partners was founded in 2008 to assist veterans with the transition from the military to the civilian workforce through mentoring, career counseling, and networking. The website can be accessed at: http://www.acp-usa.org.

Professionals from ACP’s participating institutions volunteer to mentor veterans in a yearlong mentorship. Currently the members (i.e., mentors) include 40 corporations, 2 universities, and 1 major hospital. The purpose is to give veterans connections in the private sector in order to build a group of civilian contacts. These mentors help veterans translate their military skills into civilian skills (i.e., preparing resumes, interview skills, assisting in the job search process, etc.). The mentors must participate or create twelve significant discussions including in-person meetings, introducing work colleagues, and assisting in the building of a professional network. They must also develop objectives and expectations for the mentee. In order to apply veterans must have served since 2001.

ACP AdvisorNet is a resource for veteran’s that would like to utilize many of these services, but do not need a full mentorship. This is a free resource that connects veterans to business leaders. This can be accessed at: https://acp-advisornet.org/.

"Give an Hour" is a non-profit organization where counselors provide pro bono help to those who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This program also offers free services to the families of veterans. This program can be accessed at: http://www.giveanhour.org/

There are many programs out there that assist veterans in terms of career development and transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce. It is our responsibility as educators, administrators, and faculty to be aware of these resources and how they can best meet the needs of our students and alumni.

-Lauren Behr, Assistant Director