Episode 12. Lab Notes on Visibility: Veterans, Overlooked Workers, and Taking Up Space

In the last episode of Season 1, Hannah closes the Overlooked Workers series with an exploration of another group of overlooked workers: veterans transitioning into the civilian workforce. Veterans aren't necessarily struggling to find jobs. They're struggling to find the right ones. Veteran unemployment sits at or below the national rate, yet veterans are more likely than nonveterans to be underemployed – this is despite more education and more work experience. That's not a talent problem. It's a seeing problem: military experience is systemically undervalued by the civilian workforce. 

Hannah also reflects on the series as a whole – the different structural ways that workplaces overlook people, all running on norms. Then she turns the lens on herself: what it's been like to create, host, and produce the first season of Office Hours solo, what she’s learned about herself along the way, and what’s coming in Season 2.

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Music: “Feel Good (Instrumental Version)” by PØW via Epidemic Sound

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References

Blue Star Families. (2026). 2025 Military Family Lifestyle Survey. https://bluestarfam.org/research/mfls-survey-release-2026/ 

Davenport, K. E., Morgan, N. R., McCarthy, K. J., Bleser, J. A., Aronson, K. R., & Perkins, D. F. (2022). The subjective underemployment experience of post-9/11 veterans after transition to civilian work. WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 72(4), 1349-1357. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-210029 

Institute for Veterans and Military Families. (2026). Employment situation of veterans [Monthly series]. Syracuse University. https://ivmf.syracuse.edu/?p=100907

Korn Ferry. (n.d.). A covert job problem for military veterans. https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/veterans-hiring-retention-memorial-day

LinkedIn. (2023). Veteran opportunity report: Understanding an untapped talent pool. https://socialimpact.linkedin.com/programs/veterans/veteran-opportunity-report

Pu, W., Roth, P. L., Thatcher, J. B., Nittrouer, C. L., & Hebl, M. (2023). Post-traumatic stress disorder and hiring: The role of social media disclosures on stigma and hiring assessments of veterans. Personnel Psychology, 76(1), 41–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12520

Schafer, A., Swick, A., Kidder, K., & Carter, P. (2016). Onward and upward: Understanding veteran retention and performance in the workforce. Center for a New American Security. https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/onward-and-upward 

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). (2024). Best practices for recruiting and hiring veterans: SHRM research report. SHRM Foundation. https://shrm-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/v1728927785/Foundation/Research_SHRM_Research_Report_on_Recruiting_and_Hiring_Veterans.pdf

U.S. Department of Defense. (2025). 2024 Active duty spouse survey (ADSS): Key findings. https://download.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Presentations/2024-active-duty-spouse-survey-key-findings.pdf

VetAdvisor & Institute for Veterans and Military Families. (2014). Veteran job retention survey summary. https://ivmf.syracuse.edu/article/veteran-job-retention-survey/

Yucel, D., & Fan, W. (2023). Workplace flexibility, work–family interface, and psychological distress: Differences by family caregiving obligations and gender. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 18, 1825-1847. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10164-1

Resources

DoD SkillBridge. https://skillbridge.osd.mil

Institute for Veterans and Military Families. Onward to Opportunity. https://ivmf.syracuse.edu/programs/o2o 

American Corporate Partners. Mentoring program. https://www.acp-usa.org

O*NET OnLine. Military crosswalk search. https://www.onetonline.org/crosswalk/MOC/