Employment Resources

As a veteran who is interested in employment opportunities in the oil and natural gas industry, here you can access information about some of the key resources offered by the industry and by government agencies. In addition, you can access sources of information on occupational credentialing which can assist you to qualify for jobs in the oil and natural gas industry, as well as in other industries.

Finding Jobs

The oil and natural gas industry, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Labor sponsor resources and provide services intended to assist veterans wanting to enter jobs in the oil and gas industry. Six internet-based resources and a source of direct services are summarized below.

• Oil and Gas Workforce Website – The Oil and Gas Workforce website provides information on job opportunities in the oil and natural gas industry, as well as information on the types of education, certification, and training that will enhance a veteran’s prospects to be hired by a company in the industry.
• Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Employment Center – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has created the Veterans Employment Center website for veterans seeking civilian employment opportunities and for employers seeking qualified veterans. Veterans can post their resumes and other relevant information about themselves for employers to review. Employers can post jobs, make a commitment to hiring veterans and transitioning service members, and review resumes posted by veterans.
• American Job Centers and Veterans’ Employment Representatives – American Job Centers, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, provide a full array of job placement services to job seekers and employers. Over 2,400 American Job Center local offices nationwide operate under different names within each state and serve both urban and rural areas. The staffing at many American Job Center local offices includes veterans’ employment representatives, commonly known as “vet reps,” whose work efforts are specifically devoted to veteran job seekers and to employers seeking to hire veterans.  The veterans’ representatives who typically serve veteran job seekers are known as Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialists (DVOPs).
• Department of Labor Veterans Website – U.S. Department of Labor website resource to help veterans find jobs.
• Helmets to Hardhats – Helmets to Hardhats connects quality men and women from the Armed Forces with promising building and construction careers.
• Veterans in Piping (VIP) Program – The Veterans in Piping program offers high-quality skills training and jobs in the pipe trades to active duty military personnel preparing to leave the service. The VIP program consists of 18 weeks of highly specialized, intensive training in highly marketable skills such as welding, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR), and sprinkler fitting.

Civilian Career Resources

The U.S. Department of Labor sponsors three internet-based resources that are intended to support workers at all stages of their civilian careers. Whether you are a veteran seeking your first civilian job, planning to make a civilian career change, or hoping to advance in your current civilian career, you will find helpful information from the resources summarized below.

• USDOL Career One Stop is a source for employment information to assist users in managing their careers and identifying a pathway for career success. This resource contains tools to help job seekers, students, and business and career professionals to locate credentials, explore new careers, and find support during times of unemployment.
• Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Online is the nation’s primary source of occupational information. This resource contains information on hundreds of standardized occupation-specific descriptors. O*NET Online contains information about tasks and tools, required knowledge, skills and abilities, and education and training requirements.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook is a comprehensive guide to hundreds of careers and occupations. The Handbook provides information for 334 occupational profiles covering about 84 percent of the jobs in the economy. Included are what workers do, the work environment, education, training, and other qualifications, and pay levels. The Handbook is especially recognized as a key source of information about the projected growth rate for each occupation.
• U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship provides information about Registered Apprenticeship programs for employers and workers. Registered Apprenticeship offers workers opportunities to earn a salary while learning the skills needed to succeed in high-demand careers. Registered Apprenticeship has a long history as a civilian career entry point for veterans, partly because veterans in Registered Apprenticeship programs are qualified to receive GI Bill Monthly Housing Allowance benefits along with their apprentice wages.

Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers a wide range of benefit programs for veterans. The VA benefits that are the most relevant to veterans interested in employment in the oil and natural gas industry are summarized below.

• Education and Training Resources – The Post 9/11 GI Bill is the primary education and training program for veterans and it is widely recognized as a key source of tuition and living expenses for veterans seeking academic degrees. It is less well known that the GI Bill also provides veterans with benefits for occupational training, as described below.
• OJT and Apprenticeship – For veterans, two key occupational training programs are the OJT and Apprenticeship Programs, through which veteran trainees and apprentices receive entry level wages from employers and sponsors and also are eligible to receive the GI Bill Monthly Housing Allowance, in amounts that decline as their wages increase. The combination of living expenses and apprentice wages is especially helpful to overcome the “earnings gap” that many veterans experience upon leaving military service and entering a new civilian career.

Civilian Occupational Credentialing

In recent years, civilian occupational credentialing, such as third-party certification, has received increased recognition by employers, along with traditional academic degrees, as a source for validating the knowledge, skills and abilities of job applicants. In response to this development, the military services maintain websites to inform service members and veterans about civilian credentials that are relevant to their military specialties. The U.S. Department of Labor also maintains websites that perform a comparable function for civilian workers. Both sources are summarized below.

Service Member and Veteran-Oriented Websites

• COOL Sites: COOL (Credentialing Opportunities On-Line) helps Service members and veterans to obtain information about civilian certifications and licenses. The COOL sites provide information linking military specialties first to related civilian occupations, then to civilian credentials helpful to qualify for those occupations and finally to the requirements for attaining the credentials. Information on educational, financial and training resources to help bridge the gaps between military training and experience and the civilian credentialing requirements are also provided. Recognizing the important role that civilian credentials can play in assisting service members and veterans to transition to the civilian workforce upon completion of military service, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps each maintain their own COOL websites:
• Army COOL – Army COOL provides enlisted soldiers and veterans of Army service with information on certifications and licenses related to their Military Occupational Specialties (MOS). Service members can find snapshots of credential requirements and identification of gaps between Army training and civilian credentialing requirements.
• DON COOL – The Department of Navy COOL program is a Joint-Service initiative to promote civilian credentialing opportunities for Sailors and Marines. It is the umbrella site that serves as a gateway to both Navy COOL and Marine Corps COOL.
• Navy COOL – Navy COOL is a Navy site with general and occupation-specific information on credentialing opportunities for Sailors.
• Marine Corps COOL – Marine Corps COOL is a Marine Corps site with general and occupation-specific information on credentialing opportunities for Marines.
• Air Force COOL – Air Force COOL helps airmen and veterans of Air Force service navigate the civilian credentialing opportunities available for their military specialties. Air Force COOL enables airmen and veterans to explore credentials recognized in the civilian community to help them to prepare for the transition to the civilian workforce.

Civilian Worker-Oriented Websites

• America’s Career InfoNet: Certification Finder is a certification tool that provides lists of certifications by occupation or industry. It provides information on whether the certification or certifying organization is industry-endorsed, related to or accredited by a third-party organization or program, and if the certification is related to military occupational specialties.
• America’s Career InfoNet: Licensed Occupations – To ensure that an individual is competent to work in certain occupations, states may require workers to have licenses. Licensing requirements for the same occupation often vary by state. This tool provides, for each state, a list of the occupations for which licenses are required, descriptions of the required licenses, the requirements to attain licensure, and a link to the state licensing agency.

Documentation

Service members can request that formal copies of the documents listed below be sent directly to an employer. Employers can use the information to verify military training and experience, but they may not already be aware of the documents or know to ask for them.