For many veterans, the transition from active duty to civilian life can be daunting. How do you successfully apply years of specialized service to an entirely new, unprecedented chapter in your life? Fortunately, dedicated leaders like Thomas LaRose are ready and willing to help. LaRose is the Director of Veterans Employment, Education, and Training (VEET) within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Veterans’ Services (EOVS). But before taking on this role, he was an armor officer in the U.S. Army. His expertise and insider knowledge have paved the way for a rewarding career that allows him to make a positive impact on the local veteran community.
“I always took great pride in helping my fellow soldiers during their transition process,” he says. “When a service member transitions out, they often don’t get the best support, and I wanted to ensure all my men and women got the help they needed.”
Here, LaRose shares the scope of his specific duties as Director, how VEET collaborates with local and federal partners to deliver life-changing services to veterans, and why VEET’s core values resonate with him.
What led to your job at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Veterans’ Services (EOVS), and how did you know the role would be a good fit? How did your past professional experiences prepare you for your role?
When I transitioned out of the service, I used my GI Bill to go to graduate school and spent a few years working in the museum field in Boston. Before that, I worked in development at the USS Constitution Museum (USSCM), where I planned and coordinated military functions. These were mainly commissions, promotions, and retirement ceremonies.
Utilizing the GI Bill—and having helped several soldiers previously—I gained a very solid grasp of the Veterans Affairs (VA) education process. During my time at the USSCM, I was fortunate enough to meet many individuals within the local veteran community. Whether helping a soldier through their educational enrollment or ensuring an event ran smoothly, I gained experience helping individuals through important transitional moments. I’ve learned that it’s important to be attentive, readily accessible, and understanding—just by doing that you can make a considerable impact on someone.
What are your core responsibilities as a veteran’s employment and training coordinator? Why does this work inspire you, and how does it contribute to the overarching EOVS mission?
The mission of EOVS is “to provide the highest quality programs, benefits, and advocacy to Massachusetts veterans alongside federal and local partners.” As a subdivision of EOVS, the vision for the Veteran Education, Employment, and Training (VEET) program is “to empower veterans and their families with competitive employment and career opportunities.”
Veteran employment is the end goal for my program—whether by attending school, directly receiving a job offer, or earning an apprenticeship or training program. Employment directly impacts an individual’s mental health, and when you have a well-paying job, the stressors associated with the cost-of-living decrease. Overall, your quality of life improves.
I’m inspired by this work because when you can help a veteran attain employment, you see the weight immediately lift off their shoulders. With gainful employment, social and economic stressors decrease, and your mental health improves. It’s here that all the other services come into play, helping holistically.
When was EOVS officially established, and how have the office’s goals changed or evolved since then?
EOVS was established in March 2023; the VEET program hit its one-year anniversary this past August. Before VEET was created, our office had no direct role in veteran employment. This was a big change in and of itself. The program goals have stayed the same, but over the last year, we’ve begun strengthening partnerships with other state-governed agencies—the municipal Veteran Service Officers (VSO) and other organizations.
Specific to VEET, it has been a great year of networking and building relationships. At VEET, we’re here to help veterans and aren’t concerned with who gets the credit. If our department doesn’t have the answer, we’ll find someone who does. At the end of the day, we’re all working toward the same goal.
Can you elaborate on some of the specific services that your team provides to veterans? How does your team work with federal and local partners to successfully deliver these services?
VEET works hand in hand with the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD)—predominantly with MassHire—which runs the career centers that provide phenomenal career counseling to our veterans on an individual level. We recently launched our Employment Referral System, which constitutes MassHire, our VSOs, and our office working toward the same goal of veteran employment. The way this process works is any veteran can visit their local municipal VSO and inquire about employment. Then, that person will get referred to our office, and we loop in the team at MassHire. So, now you have your local VSO assisting, our office providing statewide resourcing, and your local MassHire Career Center (a network of 29 centers across the state) providing direct support. I urge anyone looking for employment support to contact their local VSO, which you can locate here.
What are the eligibility criteria a veteran must meet to access these benefits?
The great part about this referral system is that it’s open to any veteran, regardless of Chapter 115 eligibility or a service-connected disability rating. This process can be used for veterans returning to the Commonwealth after their transition out or for a veteran looking to make a career transition later on down the road. We’re here to ensure all our veterans have access to the employment resources they need to meet their goals.
Have you seen a good response rate regarding the programs and services offered by the VEET Office? If you’re tracking metrics on your programs, what story do these metrics tell?
Yes, we’ve had a great success rate with the new EET referral system. Since launching it in April, we’ve received more than 150 referrals from over 35 different towns during this period, with a 71% success rate. From that percentage, we have a 95% success rate for educational-based referrals. These can range from funding issues to educational benefit enrollment inquiries and qualifications.
For the employment referrals, 42% have received a job offer or been connected to a training program, with another 15% currently in the interview process or still ongoing. The system has been very well received; it continues strengthening our interagency and municipal partnerships to ensure no veterans slip through the cracks.
What is one project or accomplishment you’re particularly proud of achieving during your tenure thus far?
One project I’m most proud of so far is our Veteran Ready Business program (VRB), which we also launched in April. This is a great program designed for businesses looking to hire and retain veterans. The program requires a short online training, offered via the free SHRM Foundation’s Veterans at Work course. Nonmilitary individuals learn about military culture, how to break down barriers, and how and where to place a veteran within a company to enable their success.
In addition to the training, VRBs need to earn a certificate of good standing with the Department of Revenue, sign the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Pledge (ESGR), and attend one veteran-specific hiring event throughout the year. VRBs that complete the training receive an official designation for their marketing materials, get listed on Mass.gov, and get access to valuable resources tailored for their company. The program allows companies to be recognized for going above and beyond regarding veteran hiring, opening businesses up to the vast veteran talent pool in the state. For businesses interested in the program, this page provides additional information.
How can veterans successfully navigate the transition to civilian life? What are some of the biggest challenges they can face, and how does your team help solve or alleviate them?
One of the biggest issues we see is veterans pigeonholing themselves into a certain career field. Vets are often instructed to go into security or law enforcement because that’s all they are qualified for. This couldn’t be further from the truth—the soft skills you learn in the military can translate to any career field.
If you decide to use your educational benefits when getting out, take the time to seriously think about the path you want to take. Once you expend those benefits, they’re gone. Too often we see our veterans jump into a degree program to prepare for a job they don’t like, and 10 years down the road they make a career pivot and have to start over. This is something we try and limit.
When you make your transition, our office is here to help. We can connect you with resume writing resources so you can “demilitarize” your resume. We can refer you to great educational programs to help with the college transition or put you in contact with employment programs to find your “why.” Making the transition out can be daunting because it’s the first time you’re not told what to do by your leadership, so I’d say take a second and figure out what that passion is first.
VEET’s CAREER values are: committed, accessible, responsive, empowering, empathetic, and realistic. Why do these values resonate with you, and how do you apply them to your personal and professional life?
These values are so important to me because the transition out can be a scary endeavor. Just picking up the phone and returning a call or responding to an email can go a long way. The number of times I’ve had veterans be surprised or incredibly thankful for a returned call is eye-opening. Too often, once you get out of the service, you’re left to your own devices. However, you’re not on your own. We can get you the assistance you need and connect you with others who have been through the same thing. It’s a small community of veterans here in Massachusetts. We all help each other so that later on you can help out that next service member too.