Nicki Stewart
Nicki discusses her experience working with veterans and their families through KY VALOR.
Why does the work that KY VALOR does matter?
Often service members leave the military and there’s a gap before their next step into a civilian position. Many installations do a great job helping them prepare with job search support, resume help and guidance on targeting jobs and next steps. However, we often see that this support is not always available, and service members end up learning those steps the hard, discouraging way.
We get to be part of the bridge from military to civilian work, which is incredibly vital for service members who are extremely qualified for jobs everywhere, especially here in Kentucky, and for the workforce needs here in the Bluegrass.
What’s the benefit for veterans and their families?
It’s having a real person who can answer questions, make networking connections, advocate and help translate service experience into job openings and civilian equivalencies. When someone separates into civilian life, there’s a lot of 1-800 numbers to call and long waits for responses. We get to be humans helping humans, which is far better than feeling stuck in the dark or on a wheel of rejections without progress in the job hunt.
What about VALOR’s services do you think veterans value most?
Most importantly, they find a new job that values their experience and supports them and their families. I think our licensures are so unique too – being able to give credit for work and training that’s already been done is incredibly important!
What do you find most rewarding about working with veterans and their families?
It’s incredibly rewarding to receive a phone call or text that says, “Nicki I got the job!” after working with someone. I also connect with so many employers who say, “we love our service members” and want to connect with this demographic, but they just don’t have the manpower to do so. It’s so exciting each time because I know how hard these men and women are working to find their next jobs, and how eagerly businesses want to hire, so seeing that connection between the two work out is really humbling to be a part of.
Is there anything else you’d like to add about working with service members or helping with job placement in Kentucky?
I have learned so much in my role here. One of the biggest things is the incredible assets service members bring with them – their resumes and experience alone is incredible. I think if I had a magic wand, I’d open our employers’ eyes across the state to see that too. There’s so many barriers that employers put up that inhibit them from seeing applicants from the military as assets. If this could be lifted, there’d be even more impactful individuals entering the workforce in Kentucky.
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