NSW Government Veterans Employment Program workshop
The NSW Government was the first to commit to supporting veterans through a specific employment program. The Veterans Employment Program (VEP) was launched in March 2015 as a Centenary of Anzac initiative. At launch the Program’s key objective was to create and grow awareness of veteran employability. By the end of the commemorative period in 2018, VEP had supported numerous veterans and helped public sector agencies exceed the State Government’s veterans’ employment target by 315% (831 in total).
The Premier committed to a four-year extension of the program in November 2018 with a new target of 1000 veterans recruited into the NSW public sector roles by 2023. Eighteen months into this target we have 644 veterans employed. This means we have seen almost 1500 veterans find roles within the New NSW public sector since the program was established.
The Program sits within the NSW Office for Veterans Affairs (OVA) in the Department of Communities and Justice as an education and communications platform. Helping hiring managers and human resource personnel understand the skills and attributes veterans can bring to government. VEP supports veterans searching for public sector employment with tools and information available on the VEP website. VEP also provides financial assistance to eligible veterans for vocational study who have undertaken TAFE NSW, Rank to Recognition Program. The next round of applications for the education program is due to open in November.
Most recently VEP has designed and delivered a Veteran Employment Workshops. A two-day workshop designed to help veterans actively seeking NSW Government public sector employment.
The workshop, streamed online during the COVID-19 pandemic, explains the public sector job application process from job search, though to interview. Once public health order restrictions lift, workshops will be held at the Anzac Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park (online versions will continue to be delivered to veterans in regional areas).
Each participant is provided with resources they can use to confidently put themselves forward for NSW public sector roles. It should be noted that the workshop does not teach resume-writing skills, so it is an advantage to have completed the ADF Job Search Preparation workshop prior to attending the workshop.
The pilot course was held in June 2020. One veteran has successfully won a role and another candidate has made it to the interview stage twice having submitted 42 applications without success prior to completing the workshop.
The next workshop will be held online on the 27 and 28 October. Register your interest for the workshop on the Veterans Employment Program web page.
To keep up to date with the Veterans Employment Program initiatives subscribe to their mailing list via the VEP website.
