CTA Increases Hiring and Promotion of Military Veterans Through its Ranks
In recognition of the Veterans Day holiday, the Chicago Transit Authority has announced several initiatives to advance its commitment to United States military veterans. In addition to promoting outstanding veterans currently on staff, the CTA has implemented new community partnerships to aggressively recruit men and women who have served in our armed forces.
The number of veterans working for the CTA has steadily increased throughout the decade, more than doubling in the past few years, from 173 in 2010 to 414 as of Veteran’s Day 2017. Forty-five of those veterans hold management positions, including U.S. Army veterans Don Bonds, who was recently promoted to chief transit operations officer, and Jeremy Fine, CTA’s chief financial officer.
“The CTA is committed to honoring the service and sacrifice of veterans and their families, by rewarding the skills, leadership and dedication they have to offer our riders,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “Veterans are among our most outstanding employees, and we will continue to actively seek and employ these terrific men and women.”
To help increase veteran recruiting and better serve existing veteran employees, CTA has recently implemented several new initiatives, including:
- Participation in multiple local and military based job fairs
- Partnering with organizations such as Recruit Military to post CTA's positions and attending Hiring our Heroes career fairs to further expand the veteran applicant pool
- Establishing an internal veterans’ committee to better serve veteran employees and their families by providing them with information on available benefits, offers, discounts and opportunities.
Prior to any vacancy posting, the CTA reviews and adjusts job descriptions, where applicable, to account for “equivalent experience,” including appropriate military experience. Also, during the interview rating process, a veteran’s experience is factored as equivalent work experience in the candidate’s overall score. That process has led to veterans working in a wide variety of CTA positions, from bus and rail operators to electricians, mechanics and customer-service assistants.