January will make the fourth year the San Diego-based nonprofit Reboot Workshops has been helping military veterans transition into a new career.

Reboot is different from other veteran job placement organizations because it uses psychology and behavioral modification to help those transitioning out of the military decide what else they want to do with their lives.

“We have roughly 15,000 military veterans leave the service in San Diego per year, and so many times we see veterans get help after their downfall. But we need to get to them before this. We need to help veterans and their families as they are exiting the military,” Maurice D. Wilson, executive director and president of Reboot, said.

“Reboot is like a reverse boot camp,” Wilson, a former U.S. Navy hospital corpsman, explained. “We address their fears and reboot their skills so they can realize what they value, and find a career that helps them achieve their vision of a successful life.”

The organization does this via a three-week workshop, with 25 maximum people per session.

The first week deals with the personal transition from military to civilian life, addressing individual effectiveness and well-being.

The second week tackles the lifestyle transition, including living situations and functioning in a nonmilitary community.

The third week takes on career transition and gives assistance on job preparation, resume writing, interviewing techniques, job searching and determining the best career fit after the military.

“Our goal is to get these people ready for civilian life and to have no sense of dependency,” Wilson said, adding that spouses and family members of veterans are also welcome in the program.

Reboot works with roughly 230 corporations, organizations and small business, including Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM), San Diego Gas Electric and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., to help introduce veterans to the field they choose after their three-week workshop.

The nonprofit also works with employers to calm any fears of hiring a veteran and to emphasize what a wounded warrior can bring to the workplace, Wilson said.

Veterans who go through Reboot take surveys based on personal feelings before and after the 15-day workshop to track their progress as well as that of the program.

Wilson said 98 percent of the participants have found a job, went back to school or are seeking employment.

The demographics of the veterans in Reboot is approximately 70 percent male and 30 percent female, or about the same divide as in the military, he said.

But for the first time last month, Reboot held workshops exclusively for women.

“Women veterans are the fastest-growing population among the homeless,” said Kelly Price Noble, the nonprofit’s business development director.

The class was geared toward the questions and fears women have, including how to dress at the workplace and how to pay the bills.

“These women wore a uniform and boots pretty much every day, and if they lived on a military base had their water, electrical and other bills paid,” Noble said.

During this three-week period in October, a panel of former female military veterans spoke with students and gave them firsthand information and guidance on transitioning into civilian life.

Operation Reinvent, a New York-based nonprofit dedicated exclusively to female veterans, came to San Diego to give makeovers to 25 women veterans. Volunteers from Fantastic Sams hair salons and Stila Cosmetics created a new and professional look for each participant.

Noble said that seminar was so successful that another one is scheduled for February.

Reboot is now on its 59th workshop course and is free to all outgoing and discharged military. The three-week seminar costs $2,500 per veteran, according to Wilson, and the nonprofit is funded via donations, fundraisers and sponsorships from businesses, foundations and individuals.

“We have a one-year waitlist for the program,” Wilson said. The program currently holds one to four workshop courses a month at its Mission Valley headquarters and at Camp Pendleton.

“We would like to add more workshops but it’s all based on the funding we receive,” Wilson said.

Wilson hopes to implement a children’s Reboot program next year on the USS Midway Museum for those who are having challenges or needing some guidance in the transition of their parent coming back home into civilian life.

“For us, every day is about Veterans Day,” Wilson said, “so we are trying to help as many veterans as we can each day.”