When Rich Horan and Randy Kenny completed their military service, they knew they had their strengths when it came to finding a career in the civilian workforce.
But like many veterans, they didn’t have a network to connect them to civilian jobs. They worried if they would ever get a chance to apply their military skills for a job that could lead to a career.
That’s where nonprofit Edge4Vets stepped in, helping Horan and Kenny find employment through its partnership with Draper in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Created in 2011 by the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University in New York, Edge4Vets combines workshop training with online instruction that teaches veterans how to turn their military experience into skills for the business workforce and then connects them with jobs.
Following a workshop, Horan and Kenny found positions at Draper, one of eight Edge4Vets partner companies in Massachusetts. Partner companies provide financial support and mentoring in exchange for access to eligible veterans and military personnel who participate in Edge4Vets.
Horan is a U.S. Army veteran who served from 2011 to 2015, including a deployment to Afghanistan. He was responsible for forming new recruits into a unit.
“Edge4Vets helped me identify the value of that skill, my ability to form teams, and present it in a way that companies could see the value I could bring,” he said.
Following his military service, Horan earned a degree in mechanical engineering from UMass Lowell, an Edge4Vets partner school that introduced him to Draper, where he currently works on programs for the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense. Horan co-leads Draper’s employee resource group for veterans.
Kenny was introduced to Edge4Vets through a partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Career Services. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and later worked at various companies in procurement. He learned about Draper through Edge4Vets during his job search.
“That was huge for me since I didn’t have a network, which is true for a lot of vets,” Kenny said.
Kenny is currently a senior buyer at Draper.
Edge4Vets has trained nearly 2,000 veterans and other former military members in seven states, the majority in Massachusetts, according to Tom Murphy, founder of Edge4Vets and director at the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham.
“Edge4Vets gives veterans and other military personnel the support business leaders say they need most; that is, we teach them how to translate their military strengths, including values and skills, into tools for success in the civilian workplace, then we connect them to jobs that can lead to careers,” Murphy said.
The next workshop series is scheduled for 1 to 2:30 p.m. EST on April 15 with a follow-up session on April 30. Registered participants attend both sessions through Zoom video conferencing.
During the two-week interval between the two sessions, participants can access the Edg4Vets online course. Learn more and register for the spring workshop series here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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