by Bradley Hood
In Military Education Contributor

In 1871 the Federal Civil Service was established, and by 1909 most positions required an examination, a method designed to promote merit based selection in government service. Today this federal practice is no longer common, but many states in the US continue to use Civil Service Exams for competitive positions. Although I cannot claim to know about the process of every state, I recently went through part of the Civil Service process for my current state of residence: New Jersey. In NJ, most state and some county positions require a Civil Service examination.

by Bradley Hood, Contributor
A few days ago I read an article by Kathleen Lucadamo in the New York Post regarding the difficulties of a sample of New York based veterans in finding employment. While the article was brief one of the veterans, a Marine by the name of Luis Correia, made a statement which made a lot of sense to me: “They wanted a veteran – but not a veteran’s experience”.

by Bradley Hood, Contributor
During my time in the Marine Corps Reserve, I often encountered references to the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP), but never quite knew what it was or how to get involved in it.

by Bradley Hood
Contributor, InMilitaryEducation.com

On September 1^st Gary Peterson wrote an article for the Contra Costa Times on the natural fit many veterans find police work to be after their service. His article addressed a trend which is far from new – Police Departments have been hiring veterans for a long time.

By Karin S. Conradson
Full-Time Faculty, Real Estate Studies at American Public University

When you are the spouse of active military member, the spouse of a retired military member working a government contract, or the spouse of an employee who is transferred from state to state for a position, it is not always easy to find that new job or to transfer with your current job.  Real estate is a career than can take you around the world.

by Bradley Hood
Contributor, In Military Education

Dennis Phillips wrote a special to the Observer which has brought to my attention a new NY Job Initiative for transitioning military personnel which falls within my current line of civilian work. While a student at AMU I paid my bills by working as a Healthcare Security Officer, and continue to do so during the wait time for an active duty slot at The Basic School in Quantico.

By Bradley Hood
In Military Education Contributor

A little over a week ago, President Obama discussed his commitment to veterans and their families. He broke down his plan for the future into five parts: Employment, Education, Healthcare, Resources (VA claims), and Dignity (Homelessness, etc). For the purposes of this blog, the two areas of his plan I will focus on are new or future endeavors by the administration to improve veteran education and employment opportunities.

by Bradley Hood
Contributor, In Military Education

While many veterans come to the end of their initial enlistment and decide to come out, it does not always mean an end to the desire to serve.

By Leischen Stelter It’s no secret that today’s job market is competitive. It can be difficult to find a…