VES call center representative uses military experience to care for fellow veterans

Julia Rosenbaum, U.S. Army

With more than 17 years of military experience, Julia Rosenbaum chose a career that allows her to serve her fellow veterans. 

Rosenbaum is a veteran liaison lead for Veterans Evaluation Services (VES), a Maximus company. She found VES nine years ago while serving as district commander at her local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, an organization in which her father, a World War II and Korean War veteran, got her connected. 

"An employee at VES reached out asking if I knew of veterans looking for a job," she said. "This opportunity was ideal for veterans, so I replied, and that's how I started. I was the seventh person they called to hire in the call center."  

Rosenbaum brings a military perspective to VES from her background as a service member and military spouse. She enlisted in the Army in 1981 after graduating high school and later joined the Army Reserves. 

Over the years, she served as a dental assistant, engineer, firefighter, and unit administrator. Rosenbaum also deployed to Bosnia while serving with a psychological operations unit and traveled to Guatemala and Panama.  

"I became a unit administrator for the Army Reserves, which meant I was the full-time civilian in between drills, so I was basically the commander's right-hand person," she said. "I was able to serve in five different military occupational specialties because while I was married, my husband was in the Active Guard Reserve. Every time my husband would have to move, I would have to change my civilian job."  

Now, as a veteran liaison lead, Rosenbaum answers veteran feedback, handles emails, and resolves veteran medical examination cancellations and no-shows. "My team is so collaborative and helpful. I've never felt like I was left in the dark or out on my own," she said. "There is always someone to ask, and if they don't know, there's someone else. We are pretty good about looping in the right person."  

She added that her military experience helps her empathize with the vets who call to relate to them better. She said she also loves connecting with veterans to help them with their problems, ease their anxieties, and point them in the right direction.