Washington, D.C. - Today Hiring Our Heroes announced a new initiative in collaboration with Google.org. The new program, Career Forward, will provide in-demand training for tech jobs to 8,000 veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses through Google Career Certificates. It will also provide wraparound support to help participants access jobs and career resources.
“Google.org is proud to support Hiring Our Heroes to train veterans for in-demand jobs through their new Career Forward program,” said Jacquelline Fuller, President, Google.org. “Our hope is that increased access to portable career credentials along with the right wraparound support will help veterans, military service members and their families reach their full economic potential."
The 200,000 military service members who leave active duty each year often face unemployment challenges when entering the civilian job market—64% of veterans lack a college degree and nearly 8 in 10 service members leave active duty without job prospects. The Career Forward program aims to bridge veteran employment gaps through the Google Career Certificates, online programs on Coursera that equip learners with job-ready skills for in-demand fields within 3-6 months.
Hiring Our Heroes will place certificate graduates in 12-week, on-the-job fellowships at one of over 400 employers in the Hiring Our Heroes network and provide job placement support including financial stipends, resume assistance, and interview training for their full-time job search. Career Forward participants can also submit their resume to the Google Career Certificates employer consortium of over 150 companies—including Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Freedom Learning Group, Molecula, Verizon, and Google—that considers program graduates for related roles.
“With Google.org’s support, we are launching Career Forward to create pathways for thousands of military community members to complete Google Career Certificates, develop job-ready skills, and connect with employers,” said Eric Eversole, President, Hiring Our Heroes. “And the program’s unique structure will enable us to reach segments of the military community often underrepresented in employment programs, such as our members stationed overseas and transitioning service members who decide to separate after one term, and in particular, those who do not have college degrees.”
Google.org is additionally donating ads to military-serving employment organizations—including Code Platoon, Black Veterans Project, and Minority Veterans of America—to help them better promote their resources on Google Search. Over the next year, Google employees in the company’s veteran employee resource group will volunteer and provide additional career resources to veterans including mock interviews and Q&A panels.
“Booz Allen is thrilled to join this employer consortium to help upskilled veterans and spouses achieve roles in future-forward careers because we understand that military talent has both the mission knowledge and tech expertise to solve our toughest challenges as a country,” said Laura Schmiegel, Head of Military and Veteran Affairs, Booz Allen Hamilton.
Part of the Grow with Google economic opportunity initiative, the Google Career Certificates train learners with job-ready skills in data analytics, it support, project management, and user experience design. The program helps people from all backgrounds increase their economic mobility—over 50% of graduates identify as Black, Latino, female or veteran, and 82% of all graduates report a positive career impact within six months, such as a raise, promotion, or new job.
To date, Google has trained 20,000 veterans with digital skills and provided over $40 million in funding and donated search ads to increase economic opportunity in the military community.
About the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dedicated to strengthening America’s long-term competitiveness by addressing developments that affect our nation, our economy, and the global business environment.
About Hiring Our Heroes
Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) is a 501(c)3 organization under the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The non-profit launched in March 2011 as a nationwide initiative to help veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses find meaningful employment. Working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s vast network of state and local chambers and other strategic partners from the public, private and nonprofit sectors, Hiring Our Heroes has helped hundreds of thousands of veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment through its comprehensive training and hiring events, fellowship programs, and online tools. HOH programs and services are available in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and on military installations around the world. For more information on programming and initiatives: HiringOurHeroes.org; @HiringOurHeroes on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
About Grow with Google
Grow with Google was started in 2017 to help Americans grow their skills, careers, and businesses. It provides free training, tools, and expertise to help small business owners, veterans and military families, jobseekers and students, educators, startups, and developers. Since Grow with Google’s inception, it has helped more than seven million Americans develop new skills. Google has a network of more than 8,000 partner organizations like libraries, schools, small business development centers, chambers of commerce, workforce development boards and nonprofits to help people coast-to-coast.
