JBLM Job Fair Showcases State Employment Opportunities
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Staff Sergeant Danika Nolan’s military exit date is a couple of weeks away, and she’s preparing for [empty] the transition at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
As part of a group of about 30 job candidates, she participated in a hiring fair Jan. 30 that showcased Washington State career opportunities at JBLM’s Hawk Career Center.
“I simply attempt to take advantage of all the resources and services that the (Transition Assistance Program) Center needs to provide, just to make sure I’m as prepared as possible,” she said.
The focus of the task fair on state work, instead of employment in various industries, made it different than others on the setup. Sponsored by the Veterans Employee Resource Group, WorkSource and the TAP, it started with a panel of veterans from state firms, who shared their experiences and weldersfabricators.com addressed concerns. Following the panel, recruiters from state agencies were offered to address employing questions, said Frank Handoe, deputy shift services supervisor for the TAP.
Informational tables represented organizations including VERG, WorkSource and Small Amount Loan Washington State’s Department of Veterans Affairs and VA Apprenticeship Program; Department of Children, Youth and grainfather.co.uk Families; Department of Social and Health Services, Community Services Division; and Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
A quarterly event, the task fair is “a low-stress, low-pressure chance to find out what kind of chances exist here outdoors your back door,” stated Christopher Gentz, shift services manager for the Directorate of Human Resources.
Additional task fairs like the Jan. 30 occasion will be held May 8, July 10 and Sept. 11.
To get ready for them, “dress for success,” bring your resume and practice your elevator pitch, Gentz said.
An elevator pitch is a “quick intro of yourself, who you are and what you’re aiming to do,” Handoe said, mentioning that the skill is taught as part of the TAP.
Among the task fair’s goals was to help people discover profession chances and how their abilities line up with them, Gentz said.
Education is a crucial advantage of going to a task reasonable, as about 40% of those who begin with the TAP discover they’re “not ready to make that dive yet,” or they have seen the available opportunities and decide to continue serving, Gentz stated.
“We see that generally every year,” he said. “We desire them to make an informed choice about their career.”
Part of the education piece is finding out about finances, studentvolunteers.us including credit reports, budgets and “building a savings so you have something to deal with when it’s time to go out,” Handoe stated.
“Everybody’s going to get out of the Army one day,” he stated, “however while you’re in, are you doing whatever you can to prepare to go out?”
Job fairs also exist to help individuals with networking, seeing what individuals in the outdoors world are searching for [empty] – consisting of certifications, accreditations and education – and discovering about their employing practices, Handoe said.
“You ought to be doing prep work now for what it is you wish to do in the future down the road,” he stated.
That prep work includes getting ready for task fairs.
“You require to go into a working with reasonable with a strategy of what you’re going to do and not simply meander around,” Handoe said.
He explained that participants ought to determine the business they want to talk with and handsfarmers.fr research them ahead of time, to enable educated conversations with .
Nolan delighted in the Jan. 30 task reasonable and talked to some employers. A senior infotech specialist with the 16th Combat Aviation Unit, she has found she wishes to serve those who serve in her approaching civilian role.