"This manual is designed to share best practices for transitioning into the civilian workforce. You will customize these best practices to create a plan as a vehicle to attain your goals." -- from p. 2.

The principles of getting a job are fairly simple 1. You will need to think like employers and understand the factors that make them and their organizations successful. You will practice doing that in this section. 2. You will need to identify the skills you can offer that will contribute to the success of both the business you are targeting and the individual hiring decision makers who determine if it makes sense to offer you a job. You will have an opportunity to do this in Section 2 of this Guide. 3. You will need to discover, research, and connect with employment opportunities that are a good match for your skills and interests. Sections 3 and 4 will help you accomplish these tasks. 4. You will need to develop and deliver self-marketing messages that enable civilian hiring decision makers to recognize that they and their organizations will be more successful if they hire you. You will have opportunities to develop these messages in Sections 5 and 6.

"Setting the historical context for this book, this chapter describes the recent history of civilian veteran employment, relaying how the high military veteran unemployment rate in 2010 generated concern and reactions from the government and the public and the private sectors. It then provides examples of how government and companies worked together to improve the employment situation of military veterans through legislation, corporate hiring programs, and corporate partnerships but faced limited success because too few companies were involved. The current situation of veteran employment and retention is outlined, with examples provided of why military veterans may choose to leave civilian employment and suggestions offered to address the issues veteran employees may have in their jobs so that employers can do a better job of retaining them in their workforces"--