When Army veteran Justin Claus, 26, of Racine, Wis., goes to
job interviews, he brings along his DD214, a document that serves as proof of
military service. Claus is proud of his service and hopes being a veteran will
give him an edge.
But the document, which basically sums up a military career,
includes the reason it ended. In Claus' case, it reads "disability,
permanent." And that little line Claus says, "comes back to get
ya."
He says when employers ask why he was discharged, he
recounts a parachute accident in 2007 that left him with chronic back and knee
pain.
"I'll tell them what happened and then they're like,
'Oh.' Usually they shortly thereafter end the interview and then I don't hear
anything from them," Claus says.
Claus does not share the fact that he also suffers from
post-traumatic stress disorder but suspects employers assume that any veteran
who served after Sept. 11 has PTSD. He has no proof he's not getting hired
because of his disabilities. But for some jobs, Claus says he just cannot make
sense of the rejection. Read more here
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