Workforce Opportunity Services and Prudential prepare veterans for meaningful careers

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A cohort of 10 military veterans recently graduated from VETalent, a work study program for veterans, reservists and members of the National Guard jointly sponsored by Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) and Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS). The ceremony was held at Northeast Iowa Community College in Dubuque, Iowa and the graduates will go on to pursue careers in business operations support at Prudential Retirement in the same city.

“I’m extremely proud of all of the graduates and what they have accomplished,” said David Scharnhorst, a WOS client service manager at the ceremony. “Each successful group forges a path for every group that follows and I’m confident they will continue to do well and serve as role models for the next group of veterans. I’m grateful for Prudential’s continued commitment to helping WOS offer life-changing opportunities for veterans,” he added.

VETalent includes extensive job training and classroom work, followed by on-the-job training to qualify for full-time career opportunities with Prudential or other companies. The program provides veterans with the opportunity to learn professional skills in areas such as information technology, sales and business operations. Each program is job-specific and can last nine months to a year.

Training for the graduates began in April and included classroom instruction in financial services, mentoring, data entry, problem solving, decision making, computer literacy, business writing and communication, quality assurance and customer service.

“I’m honored to be here today,” said Sue Unvarsky, a vice president in Operations for Prudential Retirement and keynote speaker at the ceremony. “VETalent exemplifies Prudential's steadfast commitment to those who have served our country, many of whom face significant employment challenges when they return home.”

The graduates are full-time WOS consultants at Prudential Retirement until next January. They then will be considered for permanent, full-time employment with the company.

“VETalent has opened up a whole new chapter in my life,” said graduate Faith Miller, a corporal in the United States Army. “When I left the service, I opened a beauty salon out of my home in Georgia, but I wanted a more financially stable career, so I pursued the opportunity that Prudential and WOS were offering. That decision posed many challenges for me, but it was a risk worth taking. Now, I have the skills to succeed in a meaningful career.”

Since its inception in Newark, N.J. in 2010, VETalent has expanded to Dubuque, Iowa, Dresher/Ft. Washington, Pa. with Penn State-Abington University; Jacksonville, Fla. with the University of North Florida; Hartford/Shelton, Conn. with Western Connecticut State University; Roseland/Newark, NJ with Rutgers University and NJIT; and El Paso, Texas with El Paso Community College.

About Workforce Opportunity Services

Workforce Outsource Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that helps companies build strong talent pipelines through unique work-study programs. WOS accomplishes this by placing talented, driven high-school graduates and military Veterans in scholarship programs that teach them actionable corporate skills as well as interpersonal/communication skills. WOS students complete a semester of classroom instruction, and then, by their second semester, WOS places them in part-time jobs in companies where they can employ those skills in the real world. WOS students graduate to become full-time WOS consultants while working towards full-time employment with the sponsoring company. While in the program, WOS encourages the students, and covers the cost for them to pursue their four-year college degrees. For more information, visit http://www.wforce.org/ .

About Prudential

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with more than $1 trillion of assets under management as of March 31, 2015, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150708005196/en/

Prudential Financial, Inc.
Valerie Tutak, 973-802-517
[email protected]

Source: Prudential Financial, Inc.

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