New Labor Department employment portal targets veterans

The Department of Labor is launching a new web resource for veterans seeking jobs.

Veterans.gov, a product of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, aims to unite many agencies' and states' resources into a central clearinghouse serving both veterans and the businesses that wish to employ them.

"There was really a need for this," said Teresa Gerton, DOL's deputy assistant secretary for policy.

The website currently highlights employment resources from the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Homeland Security and Transportation, and such communication is necessary, Gerton said, because veterans typically don't think to track down particular agencies' offerings.

"Most veterans don't think about checking out the Department of Transportation when they're looking for jobs," she said. "But these agencies are doing amazing things."

The website also offers state-by-state job information, since, Gerton noted, people often seek jobs based on location.

Veterans.gov officially launched May 2, but the site has been going through iterative updates for months. Gerton said the current iteration is version 3.0. Labor took the site through two user-centered-design feedback sessions, with the aid of the U.S. Digital Service.

Gerton added that Labor plans to continuously tweak and update the site. "The veterans' employment problem is never a sort of 'mission accomplished,'" as users find what works and what doesn't, she said.