Army Credentialing Opportunities OnLine COOL Brief for Council of College and Military Educators

1
Army Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (COOL)
Brief for Council of College and Military
Educators
2
What is COOL?
COOL is cool! The web site

• Provides background information about civilian
  credentialing, focusing on occupational licensure
  and certification
• Identifies licenses and certifications relevant
  to every Army enlisted MOS
• Identifies gaps between Army training and
  experience and civilian credentialing
  requirements
• Provides information on resources available to
  Soldiers to fill gaps and facilitate credentialing

https//www.cool.army.mil
3
Who should use COOL?

• Soldiers
• Education, Career/Retention and Transition
  Counselors
• Army Recruiters
• Employers and Credentialing Boards

4
Why is credentialing important?

• In service
• Contributes to personal and professional career
  development
• Army Soldiers can receive promotion points for
  approved civilian technical certifications
• Transitioning and post-service
• Federal, state, or local law may require specific
  credentials to legally perform some jobs
• Employers may choose to hire only employees who
  have certain credentials, or to pay those
  employees more
• Credentials may improve prospects for promotion
• Credentials demonstrate to civilian employers
  that a veterans skills are on par with their
  civilian peers

"Civilian credentialing for military job skills
affects the lives of thousands of servicemembers
who return to the civilian work force every year.
It is clearly an issue whose time has finally
come." - Lane Evans of Illinois, Democratic
Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee (9
Sep 99)
5
How was COOL developed?
Comparability Analysis Process

• MOSs were matched to civilian job equivalents and
  associated credentials were identified
• Match was analyzed to assess potential gaps
  between Army training and civilian requirements

• Results provided to training proponent and
  credentialing board for review
• Learning pathways identified to obtain skills not
  acquired through MOS
• Web pages populated with analysis results

6
What resources are identified on COOL to
facilitate credentialing?
Example from MOS Summary Page
Resource Icon Descriptions
7
Do credentials apply to all MOSs?

• 95 percent of Army enlisted MOSs have applicable
  civilian credentials
• 93 percent of enlisted Soldiers serve in these
  MOSs

8
Is COOL being used?
Since launch, over 4 million site hits over
two-thirds of views were MOS-specific
Google search returned 119 results

• COOL has
• 1,028 html pages
• 541 summary pages
• 404 analysis pages

• 19,656 external links
• 101,651 total links
• 106 unique images

9
Outside of the Army, whos linking to COOL?

• Army COOL is featured on a number of national web
  sites

10
How can you help promote COOL?

• Media page provides easy access to

• Site promotional materials (e.g. brochures and
  fact sheets)
• News releases
• Graphics (e.g., COOL screen shots and icons)
• Customizable presentation on credentialing basics

11
What are people saying about COOL?
Thank you for putting together a site that
allows soldiers to better understand their MOS in
conjunction with a civilian job. I truly enjoyed
the ease in which the site was put together. It
is very easy to navigate around and the
information is great. I am recommending this
site to all my Army buddies. I think the
information will help them to better understand
the type of job they have now in the military and
what it is they can do to better their
opportunities in the civilian work force. Thanks
again for such a great site! - SPC
I have over 30 years of active duty and reserve
time. I have looked at all kinds of sites that
the Army has put together. I have used the Army
Ed opportunities, but I think this is one of the
best ones that I have seen. Thanks for the work.
I will be make sure that my troops know about
this site. - CW4
I have been retired from the regular Army since
30 June 90, and was recalled in April of this
year. My MOS is 95B4H. I think this site is great
and wish they had this when I retired.
Sergeant First Class
As I was looking at the PERSCOM website, I
discovered this link. Needless to say, I decided
to investigate. I think it is a great idea. It
will allow soldiers to further their education in
their MOS, should they choose to do so. There
are many soldiers who dont know about this
website. Im going to make sure I tell as many
as possible. GREAT SITE!!!!!! Soldier, AMEDD
COOL is "cool," if you know what I mean. When
will there be a COOL for officers? Lieutenant
Colonel
This is an excellent site. Nurse Executive,
Department of Veterans Affairs
I just visited your website this morning and
found it to be an excellent resource for me and
my customers! I am a Local Veterans Employment
Representative (LVER) with the State of
Washington Employment Security Department. Your
website will be very helpful to me in identifying
the criteria/education needed by our recently
discharged veterans understand the requirements
of employers for their selected field. Providing
a list of names of possible employing agencies is
an excellent resource! So, in conclusion, your
website will be an excellent resource for those
who serve the unemployed veteran. State
Employment Counselor
12
What could be COOLer than providing
credentialing opportunities to Soldiers?
How about providing credentialing opportunities
to both Soldiers AND Sailors?
https//www.cool.army.mil
https//www.cool.navy.mil