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Google initiatives target veterans

News-Topic - 8/28/2018

Aug. 27--Google is giving a grant to support computer-related training for transitioning military personnel, military spouses and veterans, and Google also announced some new online tools to help veterans.

The $2.5 million grant will enable the USO to incorporate the Google IT Support Professional Certificate into its programs starting Oct. 1 at the USO Pathfinder Transition office in Charlotte.

The IT Support Professional Certificate is "a first-of-its kind program," Google said in a press release. Because the majority of IT support positions do not require a college degree but do require prior experience, the certificate program is designed to give learners the training and experience they need to get a job, said Lisa Gevelber, Google's vice president of Grow with Google, the company's initiative to give more people access to digital skills.

"The transition process is complex, and we hope Grow with Google's new tools and resources can play a part in making that easier," she said. "At Google, we believe technology has the power to improve lives. With today's announcement, we look forward to working with America's transitioning service members to help them succeed in civilian life."

Those who complete the certificate program will be able to share their information directly with a number of large employers, including Cognizant, Bank of America, GE Digital, Hulu, Infosys, Intel, PNC Bank, RICOH USA, Sprint, TEKSystems, Sam's Club, Shoes.com and Google.

There are 150,000 specific-IT job openings available across the United States, the press release said.

Alan Reyes, USO senior vice president of operations, programs and transition, said the program will help transitioning service members and their families as well as help to minimize the workforce gap in the IT industry.

"There is an opportunity to re-equip service members with IT skills as they move on to their next chapter after military service and to help address the spouse unemployment/underemployment problem with highly portable careers in the IT industry," he said.

The announcement was part of a series of new tools and resources Google introduced to help create economic opportunity for transitioning service members and military spouses, the press release said. Service members can now search "jobs for veterans" along with their military occupational specialty code (MOS, AFSC, NEC) to see relevant civilian jobs that require similar skills to those used in their military roles. Additionally, employers can implement this feature on their own career sites using Google Cloud's Talent Solution API. Fedex, Pepsi and GettingHired have already implemented the API on their job boards.

To help veteran-owned or -led businesses identify themselves to potential customers, Google Maps and Search will offer a "Veteran-Led" designation on Android or iOS mobile device or in Google Maps when searchers open a business listing and tap the two-line description of the business to see the attributes associated with that business.

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