Returning from War to Fight for Jobs
Maryland veterans talk about getting passed over for jobs—and how to change that.
Stephanie Gilbert of Pasadena served six years as an Arabic linguist and was an Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan before being honorably discharged last year. The former staff sergeant is now pursuing a degree in financial economics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. But when it came time for the 27-year-old veteran to seek financial services internships this summer, Gilbert was shocked when she was passed over. Twice. “I’m 27 years old and I’m applying for internships,” she said. “It’s disconcerting when a 19-year-old gets the internship instead of me. It’s like, ‘What?’” With a resume stacked with wartime leadership experience, a 3.8 GPA and Arabic fluency, Gilbert said she assumed she would have been at the top …
Terry Griffith
8:36 am on Friday, May 4, 2012
I spent 30 years in the US Army Reserves, and am currently a member of a reknown national veterans organization. That said, there is a type of military reservist sometimes refered to as a "career reservist." This is a person who seeks out and volunteers for every short term active duty tour he can, and expects his civilian employer to allow him to park his butt at the civilian workplace during … more ›