JBLM Job Fair Showcases State Employment Opportunities

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - Staff Sergeant Danika Nolan's military exit date is a few weeks away, and she's getting ready for the transition at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

As part of a group of about 30 job seekers, she participated in a hiring fair Jan. 30 that showcased Washington State career chances at JBLM's Hawk Career Center.

"I simply try to take advantage of all the resources and services that the (Transition Assistance Program) Center needs to use, just to make certain I'm as prepared as possible," she said.

The focus of the job fair on state employment, rather than employment in various markets, made it various than others on the installation. 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 responded to concerns. Following the panel, recruiters from state companies were readily available to respond to hiring questions, stated Frank Handoe, deputy shift services supervisor for www.opad.biz the TAP.

Informational tables represented companies including VERG, WorkSource and Washington State's Department of Veterans Affairs and remotejobscape.com VA Apprenticeship Program; Department of Children, Youth and Families; Department of Social and Health Services, Community Services Division; and Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

A quarterly occasion, the task fair is "a low-stress, low-pressure opportunity to learn what sort of chances exist here outside your back door," said Christopher Gentz, mobidesign.us 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 prepare for them, "dress for success," bring your resume and practice your elevator pitch, Gentz stated.

An elevator pitch is a "fast introduction of yourself, who you are and what you're looking to do," Handoe stated, pointing out that the ability is taught as part of the TAP.

One of the task fair's objectives was to help individuals discover about profession chances and how their abilities align with them, Gentz stated.

Education is an essential advantage of participating in a task fair, as about 40% of those who start with the TAP discover they're "not prepared to make that dive yet," or they have seen the readily available opportunities and decide to continue serving, Gentz said.

"We see that basically every year," he stated. "We desire them to make an educated decision about their profession."

Part of the education piece is finding out about finances, consisting of credit reports, [empty] spending plans and "developing a nest egg 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 at some point," he said, "but while you remain in, are you doing everything you can to prepare to get out?"

Job fairs also exist to help individuals with networking, seeing what individuals in the outdoors world are trying to find of accreditations, accreditations and [Redirect-307] schooling - and finding out about their employing practices, Handoe stated.

"You ought to be doing prep work now for what it is you want to do later on down the road," he said.

That preparation work includes getting ready for task fairs.

"You require to enter into a working with fair with a strategy of what you're going to do and not simply meander around," Handoe said.

He discussed that attendees should determine the companies they want to speak with and research them ahead of time, to enable informed conversations with recruiters.

Nolan took pleasure in the Jan. 30 task reasonable and spoke with some recruiters. A senior infotech expert with the 16th Combat Aviation Unit, she has found she wants to serve those who serve in her approaching civilian function.