MATCH Program
(a Claros Communications, Inc. Program Initiative)

Matching Qualifying Military Alumni with Employers through Targeted Training

The Military Alumni Transition Career Headquarters (MATCH) is a world-class career transition service for those who are leaving the military to access civilian employers. The MATCH Program is an initiative of Claros Communications, Inc. and is in the process of being structured as a non-profit organization that creates cooperative strategies for training and placing military alumni into quality careers. We enable rapid and sustained career readiness through workforce development partnerships with academic and corporate organizations. We will work with government and private organizations to ensure a coordinated restoration process for those military alumni/veterans who are injured and/or disabled. Our operations are designed by military alumni to ensure convenient and comprehensive experiences. Our work is consistently monitored to identify variations in outcome (results?) and opportunities for enhancements. MATCH Program is dedicated to the life-long success of men and women who have committed themselves to military service.

Current Market

Social Expectations
Americans want to know that the men and women who have served our country through the military receive the best possible support as they transition back to their home communities. Currently, no government or civic entity is responsible for ensuring that the transition to civilian life after military service is successful for the 130,000 servicemembers who make this transition each year. While many disparate government and community programs attempt to assist military alumni through different means, no organization takes on the challenge of qualifying all of these men and women through targeted training programs that are matched to the workforce development goals of partnering employers. The absence of such a robust solution means that many servicemembers will waste time and resources struggling to find a quality career path, lose the confidence to re-adjust to civilian life, and perpetuate the trends of poor transitions that become long-term social problems.

Persistent Problem
Trends in national economic outcomes illustrate that the restoration process is not successful for many servicemembers , suggesting that our military personnel are not receiving the best support for their transition to civilian life. A complete transition ensures that despite injuries or lost opportunities, each servicemember can consistently and effectively pursue quality career paths. This is not the explicit goal of any government program. The entire process should be one of restoration, which includes physical and psychological rehabilitation of function and well-being, stabilization of family and home needs, and preparation through educational or vocational training and labor market connectivity that enables career readiness or the option to reinstate into military service (see figure below).

When a servicemember is transitioning out of the military environment, where the only appropriate state is combat readiness, it is very difficult to prepare for what comes next as a civilian. Add to this all of the changes that have occurred in his or her family, work, and community, as well as mind and body, and we see an overwhelming transition experience. While military service is physically and psychologically challenging, each servicemember is trained extensively for their duties so that they are successful despite the challenges. In contrast, none are trained for the transition into the civilian world, which can include unexpected, dramatic, and personal life changes—ones that potentially have long-term negative effects on them and their communities.

Without improvements in achieving rapid and robust career readiness in all servicemembers, these men and women are likely to experience economic hardships because of wasted time and effort, physical and psychological rehabilitation problems due to exacerbated conditions, or additional stressorses, or even worse conditions due to compounding post-separation problems that can result in homelessness, substance abuse, or even suicide.

Disparate Programs
Instead of having access to a restoration process that is designed for continuity, clarity, and convenience, too many servicemembers have to seek help through multiple complex bureaucracies . The bureaucracies are exhausting and take time and energy away from the more important issues of caring for one’s family, career, and personal well-being. Even with the presence of many programs, there remains a major gap in the restoration process—this is identified as a lack of (a) reinforcing the agency, or personal control of the individual, (b) thoroughly accounting for the many elements in the restoration process that affect the individual, and (c) creating access to quality career paths through the matching of qualifications with workforce needs. The agency-accounting-access gap is a systemic problem that may not only hurt military alumni, but also undermine the value of helpful programs offered by government and civic organizations.

Anticipated Change
Servicemembers, their families, and American citizens are expecting the career transition process for military alumni to improve—it is a salient issue in today’s society. The time is right for innovation and systemic improvements. Federal programs are heavily invested in established activities and cannot easily adopt contemporary methods for changing the transition process. Where it has attempted change, the Federal government is unable to address the agency-accounting-access gap that systematically undermines the success of career transitions and the overall restoration process. Meanwhile, civic organizations are working on discrete issues where they are unable to manage the larger restoration process that leads to career readiness. The best resources for change is today’s servicemembers who are technologically savvy and self-determined, and motivated to succeed in their civilian life. They are ready to take full advantage of a solution that enables their ability to access quality career paths that meet their needs and the needs of their family and community. The MATCH Program is creating the change that is anticipated by our society and appropriate for this generation of military alumni.