Remembering our Veterans

This is a guest post from Ryan Daly, one of our summer interns from the Wharton MBA Program who’s had over 5 years of Active Duty Service as an Infantry Officer. This is a continuation of LinkedIn’s various Veterans initiatives over the past few months. Read more about them here.

This past weekend, we reflected on the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. We are a nation with an incredible tradition of sacrifice and military excellence. I was lucky to be a part of this community for a period of my life. The most meaningful experiences I had in the military were related to people — men and women who put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of fellow soldiers or innocent civilians. As I write these words, my mind is filled with vivid images of the heroes I worked with who gave their lives during my deployment to Iraq from 2007-2008: Kyle Norris, Darris Dawson, Wesley Durbin, and Ronald Phillips.

Last November, LinkedIn created a site specifically designed to help Veterans find jobs using LinkedIn. On this page you will find tips, resources, job listings and the opportunity to upgrade your LinkedIn membership to a premium subscription for free. In addition, today we are launching a Veteran Mentor Network group on LinkedIn to help professionals connect with Veterans and provide advice as they start looking for jobs after their service. It will serve as a community of veterans, employers, service members, and leaders. Veteran Mentor Network is a reminder that you are not alone, that dedicated people are waiting to help you navigate the transition, and that we will not rest until every veteran can act on opportunities to launch a new direction in life and achieve their professional objectives.

I personally changed my life using the advice I received on LinkedIn. The community here is dedicated to helping you find answers – not providing another list of resources or literature – but tangibly linking you to the people, opportunities, and jobs you need.

In addition, it is important that veterans and military service members know that they have access to resources like many nonprofit organizations such as IAVA, Team Red, White, and Blue, and the Gallant Few that work tirelessly to bring systems online to support struggling veterans. Employers such as Amazon, Disney and JP Morgan Chase have established military hiring benchmarks. The President is consistently pushing his administration and the Veterans Affairs administration to do more for veterans. There is an abundance of information and advice available but veterans need guidance to navigate this landscape.

Remember that every Memorial day is a day where we re-center and think about sacrifice. A time to honor and a time to connect veterans with opportunities.  Help us connect talent with opportunity - join the Veteran Mentor Network group on LinkedIn.