National Hire a Veteran Day — July 25 — is the day each year we tout the amazing skills, knowledge, and energies our military veterans bring with them into the civilian workplace. 

It’s not simply a one-day event, though. Employers can and should hire veterans anytime, all the time, and — there’s no time like the present. 

At the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), we connect veterans with their education and job-training benefits that prepare them for, and propel them into, their post-military careers. We continue to help them in many other ways throughout their lives as veterans. 

Often, the CalVet employee who assists them is a veteran, too. In fact, CalVet employs veterans from the very top down, beginning with Secretary Lindsey Sin (Navy) and most of her executive team, to staff members throughout every level of the agency. Nearly 8% of CalVet’s 2,774 employees served in the military, including some who remain in the Reserve component of the various branches. 

It’s CalVet’s vision that the state’s roughly 1.5 million veterans and their families become the most connected, protected, and respected veterans in the nation. Who better to lead the way than veterans themselves? 

We featured 18 CalVet employees in our “Veterans Serving Veterans” series of stories in 2023. See those stories at calvetconnect.blog/category/veterans-serving-veterans.

Our Veterans Services Division, led by Deputy Secretary and Air Force veteran Roberto Herrera, relies on the expertise of 45 veterans on staff. 

“Our veteran employees bring a unique and invaluable perspective to the Veterans Services Division at CalVet,” Deputy Secretary Roberto Herrera said. “Many of us have taken advantage of the very same benefits we now connect other veterans with on a daily basis. We speak their language because it’s our language.”

Our California Transition Assistance Program staff meets with veterans on college campuses and with soon-to-be veterans on military bases to explain their available benefits. Others work in outreach and community engagement. Our California State Approving Agency for Veterans Education team protects veterans from bad-actor schools that can prey on veterans and their GI Bill benefits. 

Our Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention team helps at-risk veterans rebuild their lives through supportive housing. And they are also deeply involved in Proposition 1, the California Veterans Health Initiative, and the Veterans Support to Self-Reliance programs — all aimed at addressing mental health issues impacting veterans through the state. 

We’re always looking for more veterans, and especially at our eight Veterans Homes of California that offer career opportunities ranging from medical to custodial care. See our current career opportunities at www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalVet.

The June 2024 unemployment rate among California’s veterans was 2.9%, compared to 3.9% for nonveterans that month and lower than the statewide average of 5.4%. 

Veterans in California receive a hiring preference for all state jobs, meaning they and select veteran beneficiaries who pass the exam go to the top of the resulting eligibility list. The Veterans’ Preference benefit gives them a higher likelihood of being selected for an interview from the eligible pool of candidates for the jobs to which they apply. Learn more about the Veterans’ Preference program at calcareers.ca.gov/CalHRPublic/Landing/Veterans.aspx.

“That in itself is one of the many underrated benefits of military service,” said Jesse Killingsworth, an Air Force veteran and procurement specialist since 2013 at the Veterans Home of California-Redding.  

He is among the 18 veterans working at the Redding Home. Five signed on in 2024 alone, including Army veteran and rehabilitation therapist Rebecca Goheen. She joined the Redding staff in February and soon learned that some veterans’ military experiences weren’t as enjoyable as hers.  

“It helps me to be more empathetic towards veterans who encountered physical injuries or sustained post-traumatic stress disorder,” Goheen said.  

The support Goheen receives from the Home management “makes my job rewarding knowing that I have the freedom to enrich the residents’ lives and mine in truly rewarding, memorable, and therapeutic growth,” she said. 

The Chula Vista Home employs 24 veterans, with all but four being Navy or Marine veterans. 

The staff of the Fresno Home includes 20 veterans, all of whom play key roles in caring for the residents. They have the support and admiration of Lawrence Imperial, the Home’s administrator, who is the grandson of a World War II veteran, father and father-in-law of Navy veterans, and has a son in the Army. 

“So, being part of the military is personal for me,” Imperial said. “Here at the Fresno Home, we serve those who have served our country, whether it’s by providing quality care in the final chapter of their lives, or by providing them with a fulfilling position caring for their fellow veterans. Our goal is to help them create a career, not just a job.” 

Which CalVet does routinely, whether it’s hiring veterans ourselves to help veterans, or helping veterans build their futures in the private sector.  

National Hire a Veteran Day? Take it from us: It’s a win-win.