VFW-VetJobs partnership expedites employment search: as part owner of VetJobs.com, VFW offers a tangible, essential benefit for its members. Touted as the "largest military-related job board on the Internet," VetJobs has helped more than 2,000 veterans find jobs in the last three years

VFW Magazine, March, 2003 by Tim Dyhouse

Investing in an Internet firm might have seemed like a good idea three years ago. The highflying darlings of Wall Street appeared to be a sure path to easy money, and their potential in the 21st century looked unlimited. Of course, that was before the March 2000 stock collapse that left a trail of dead dot.coms in its wake.

But in a classic case of economic Darwinism, many of the Web-based companies that managed to survive the carnage were able to increase their market shares. Such is the case of VetJobs.com, a resume database and job-posting Internet company designed for veterans.

That's good news for veterans and VFW, which paid $250,000 for a 10% share of VetJobs in January 2000.

"The success of VetJobs was not so much the goal as was helping veterans," said VFW Quartermaster General Joe Ridgley, who sits on VetJobs board of advisors. "Any success VetJobs has experienced is because the product is good and exists for a good cause--our military veterans--whom VFW is committed to serving."

The relationship with VetJobs is just one element in VFW's Military Assistance Program, which provides financial, tuition and job-transition assistance for active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops, as well as their families.

VetJobs is Free for Veterans

Ted Daywalt, VetJobs president, says VetJobs, which he calls a "niche" site, has 49,000 resumes in its database. He said 80% of those are from veterans who have been out of the military for 20 or more years. With some 4,500 jobs listed on its Web site, VetJobs bills itself as "the largest military-related job board on the Internet."

"The future of job boards is in niche sites, unlike companies such as Monster and Career Builder," he said. "VetJobs now leads the military job board niche market in traffic, customers and alliances."

Daywalt said more than 2,000 veterans have found jobs using VetJobs since it began operations on Veterans Day 1999. VetJobs has had 600 companies as clients over its 3 1/2 years of existence, with around 140 currently on board.

"When the economy picks up, so will the number of employers on our database," he said.

Recruiting firms own other military-related employment sites--such as Transition Assistance Online, Destiny Group and Military Recruiter. Therefore, he believes, they are actually competing against companies on their site for employees.

"By having no relationship with a recruiting firm, VetJobs does not compete with its customers on the outcome of a candidate's employment," Daywalt said. "VetJobs does not place candidates. We are a pure Internet job board."

It costs companies $7,000 to become a member, but it's free for veterans and their spouses looking for jobs.

"This was one of the main reasons I started this job board," Daywalt explained.

He recalls a sergeant who signed up with a corporate "headhunter" that charged the yet a $5,000 fee to find him jobs. Daywalt says he didn't ever want to see a veteran get "ripped off" again when trying to get established in the civilian world.

Web Site is `Easy to Use'

Veterans who have gotten a job through VetJobs recommend the service.

"VetJobs was real easy to work with" said David Pevehouse, a retired Air Force E-8 who worked in intelligence. "The job listings were concise and had a pure definition of what the employer was looking for."

It took him two months after leaving the Air Force to get a job. "The site was easy to use," said Pevehouse, who got his job as human resources manager for Diamond Companies, Inc., a trucking company in Memphis, Tenn., three years ago. "I could cut and paste my resume without having to format anything."

Pevehouse says Diamond Companies hires a lot of veterans, specifically those from the Vietnam-era. He was first introduced to VetJobs during his Transition Assistance Program (TAP) process at Randolph Air Force Base prior to his retirement.

Another veteran says he likes VetJobs "because it was more responsive to his needs, unlike others such as Monster.com and MilitaryHeadhunter.com.

"They are bigger, but I can't say better," said Peter Noll, a production technician at Rogers Machinery Company in Portland, Ore. "Those boards didn't have what I was looking for."

Noll started at Rogers Machinery in October 2001, a month after leaving the Navy, where he served as a nuclear machinist's mate aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Other vets feel the same way.

"VetJobs is smaller, which I preferred," said Mike Harris, who landed a job at Online Suppliers.com in Vienna, Va., through VetJobs. "I like to deal with people of integrity, and after I got to know Ted, I felt like VetJobs was where I should be looking."

Harris, who served eight years active duty in the Navy aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, retired as an E-8 in 1985. Currently, he is a private contractor working as a technical writer. He authored From Dot.com to Dot.coma: The Cause and the Cure about the problems that led to the technology crash.

Beyond understanding the industry, Harris believes VetJobs will be successful because of its target audience.