The two months that Mark Corbin spent searching for a job were as stressful as his time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Corbin was retiring after more than seven years in the Army. A government job he had lined up fell through and, after sending out more than 100 applications for everything from retail security to bail bonds jobs, he got barely a response.

“It was a race against the clock to feed my family,” said Corbin, 28, of Monroeville, a husband and father of two...