Human Resources: Employers Targeting U.S. Veterans for Hiring, New CareerBuilder Survey Finds

CHICAGO, September 10, 2009 Re-entering the workforce in today¹s job
market can be a daunting task, especially for those returning from military
service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Earlier this year, the Labor Department
reported an 11.2 percent jobless rate for Gulf War veterans over 18 years
old, 4 percentage points higher than the previous year. A new survey from
CareerBuilder is offering some encouraging news with 41 percent of employers
reporting they have hired U.S. veterans or members of the National Guard in
the last six months. One-in-five (21 percent) are actively recruiting
veterans and members of the National Guard for open positions today.

The top positions employers say they are targeting U.S. service men and
women for include information technology, engineering, management and sales.

Employers Offer Advice to Job Seekers Coming Off of Active Duty
In the survey, employers offered insights into why it can be more difficult
for veterans and National Guard members to find employment even though there
are opportunities out there for them. One of the greatest challenges
employers reported in hiring veterans is understanding how their military
skills translate to civilian positions. Employers recommend that candidates
clearly spell out their military responsibilities and how they are
applicable to the position at hand in their resume, cover letter and
interview.

Employers also said it can be hard to identify veterans because they don¹t
always include that status on their resumes. In fact, 11 percent of veterans
said they don¹t include their military experience when applying for
positions, while 12 percent said they do so selectively. This can work to a
candidate¹s disadvantage as 43 percent of employers stated that if they had
two equally-qualified candidates, they are more likely to hire the person
with military experience. Others did not have a preference either way.

Hiring managers recommend that veterans and National Guard members put a
greater emphasis on marketing their military skills and accomplishments.
They identified the following attributes associated with military personnel
as critical to emphasize in the job search process:

Disciplined approach to work (68 percent)
Ability to work as part of a team (63 percent)
Respect and integrity (57 percent)
Leadership (50 percent)
Problem-solving skills (46 percent)
Ability to perform under pressure (44 percent)
Communication skills (37 percent)

Launch of MissionGetHired.com
To help with the transition back home, CareerBuilder recently launched
www.missiongethired.com, a new site with one objective: helping military
professionals coming off of active duty find jobs. Veterans and National
Guard members can identify employers who are sensitive to their employment
needs and apply for positions in a variety of fields and locations in real
time. They can also view recent news pertinent to veterans and sign up to
receive automatic job alerts via email that match their skills and
interests.

CareerBuilder¹s professional community www.brightfuse.com also offers
military professionals transitioning into civilian roles a resource at
http://www.brightfuse.com/Groups/transitioning-military

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on
behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 4,478 U.S. workers (employed full-time;
not self-employed; non government); ages 18 over and 2,667 hiring managers
and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed;
with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions; non-government)
ages 18 and over and between May 22nd and June 10th, 2009 (percentages for
some questions are based on a subset US HR Managers, based on their
responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 4,478 and
2,667 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results
have a sampling error of +/- 1.46 percentage points and +/-1.9 percentage
points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping
companies target and attract their most important asset their people. Its
online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States
with more than 23 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 32 million
resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world¹s top employers, providing
resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to
talent acquisition. More than 9,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and
broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder¹s proprietary
job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc.
(NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) and Microsoft
Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the
United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit
www.careerbuilder.com.