11th Annual
NOVEMBER 4th & 5TH, 2021
VOWS Symposium 2021 - Breakout Sessions Overview
Transitioning Servicemembers Track
This track is designed for active duty or transitioning service members who are preparing for their first post-service opportunity in the civilian job market.
The Power of Effective Networking: Your network can be one of your most important “force multipliers” when making the transition. Hear from experienced veterans on how to build, grow and optimize your network, including both in-person and virtual best practices and tips.
Developing and Maintaining a Powerful Personal Brand: Translating your resume is just one part of conveying your value and potential to prospective employers. Understanding and conveying your personal “brand” is also critically important. Learn how to build a personal brand and balance those military/service attributes that are important to employers with the “soft skills” that will help you stand out.
Job Interview Best Practices for the Modern Era: For many service members, it has been years since the last time they had to interview for a job. This session will offer a host of “dos and don’ts” from experienced veteran professionals who have made the transition and interview candidates regularly. As many companies now offer more remote work options, get tips on how to discuss your goals and how to interview in person or virtually.
Experienced Veterans Track
This track is designed for veterans with some time in the civilian world since their transition, potentially on their first or second job and looking for opportunities to grow and pursue long-term success post-service.
Veterans - Understanding and Communicating Your Value: More than just MOS/skills translation on your resume, understanding your value to an organization is paramount, particularly as you look for the right fit to realize your potential. Now that you have some civilian work experience, learn more about how to capture important insights from your experience and reinforce your value to an organization.
Making a Career Pivot After the Military: The first job out of uniform may have been a good one or a place to land; either way, your opportunity to grow hinges on your ability to understand your value in corporate terms and understand what type of work and company motivates you. Hear from veterans who have made a career pivot and learn more about how to navigate this process.
Career Mentors vs. Career Champions: Service members know how to spot solid leaders and mentors in uniform; what’s the best way to do this in the workforce? Experienced veterans will help explain the difference between “mentors” and “champions” and why it is important to have both in your corner.
This track is specifically for military spouses and veteran spouses, along with those companies that have a strong interest in recruiting, retaining and championing this growing and incredibly important cohort.
MilSpouse - Understanding and Communicating Your Value: Now more than ever, it is essential for Military Spouses to feel confident and empowered to realize their career ambitions. From addressing resume gaps to the best keywords for recruiters to find you, hear from military spouses and companies with best practices on conveying your immense value.
Navigating Milspouse Resources and Support Offerings: Like many resources available to veterans, there are a wide range of support services for military spouses. Learn more about which resources may be best for you and your career stage and where to start.
Advancing Your Career While Serving as a MilSpouse: Military spouses face a host of challenges, from regular moves, child-care and logistics considerations, and finite windows of availability for hiring managers. Experienced military spouses who have grown their careers will share insights and opportunities that have helped them along their journey.
Corporate Track
This track is for company representatives, including HR, talent acquisition, veteran ERGs, DE&I and other interested professionals who want to hire and retain more veterans and military spouses and continue to support the veteran community.
Building a Business Case for hiring Mil/Vets and Milspouses: While many companies support the military and veteran community, not all have fully established veteran hiring and retention programs. Hear from seasoned corporate professionals on how you can build a strong business case for hiring veterans and military spouses, including opportunities to enhance your DE&I initiatives through this community.
MilVet and Milspouse Recruiting and Onboarding Considerations: Recruiting, interviewing and onboarding shouldn’t be “one size fits all.” Creating a culturally relevant and inclusive process to recruit and onboard veterans is an important way to increase the contributions and success of this motivated cohort. Hear from successful corporate veterans who have developed best practices to optimize veteran employee engagement from Day 1.
Creating and Sustaining a Mil/Vet Employee Resource Group (ERG): Once you have a strong business case for vet/spouse hiring and your veteran cohort grows, your company has the opportunity to galvanize this energized group. Veteran ERG representatives from VOWS partners will share best practices on how to build and grow a Veteran ERG that will benefit your entire company.
Make an Impact
Interested in more? Have an idea for an event that may benefit a veteran seeking a career? Learn more about becoming a sponsor.