Military Veterans, HR and the Job Hunt: SHRM Networking Event Tackles How to Transition

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Military veterans seeking civilian jobs and HR managers looking to recruit them will gather June 26-27 at the San Diego Convention Center in California to learn how to network with one another, translate the military and corporate lingo that separates them, and adjust to workplace cultural differences.

The military-focused program, "Military Veterans: Transitioning Skills to the New Economy" is a first for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and will debut during the SHRM 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition to address the recruitment and retention issues for U.S. military veterans.

"We plan to do something proactive to curb the high unemployment rate facing veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars," said Laurence G. O'Neil, president and CEO of SHRM. "We created the networking event and sessions to introduce HR managers, corporate executives, and military veterans to one another, and to provide discussion for recruitment solutions."

The event is free for military personnel and veterans (preregistration required).  Among HR professionals, registration for the military program is free but open only to those already registered to attend the SHRM conference at large.

The program features two tracks — one for civilian attendees and one for transitioning military attendees — as well as joint sessions of mutual interest, and a networking reception.

Military participants include the:

• Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR);
• Veteran's Employment & Training Service (VETS, a Department of Labor program);
• Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces; and
• Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP, a Department of Labor program)

Executives, HR professionals, and leadership experts from major companies will round the panels of presenters:

• Amazon;
• Bank of America;
• General Electric; and
• Walmart

Additionally, HR professionals expected to attend work in small, mid-sized, and large companies

The keynote speaker lineup will include Eric Greitens, a Navy SEAL officer, Rhodes and Truman scholar, Draper Richards Fellow, White House Fellow, and founder and chairman of The Mission Continues.

Other speakers from private-sector companies, the ESGR, the VETS, the ODEP, and the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces will be announced as confirmed.

About the Society for Human Resource Management

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world's largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China and India. Visit SHRM Online at www.shrm.org.

SOURCE Society for Human Resource Management