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 preparing 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 just try to take benefit of all the resources and services that the (Transition Assistance Program) Center has to provide, just to make sure I’m as prepared as possible,” she said.

The focus of the job fair on state work, [empty] instead of employment in various industries, made it various than others on the installation. Sponsored by the Veterans Employee Resource Group, WorkSource and the TAP, it began with a panel of veterans from state agencies, who shared their experiences and responded to concerns. Following the panel, employers from state companies were offered to answer hiring concerns, Handoe, deputy shift services supervisor for the TAP.

Informational tables represented organizations including VERG, WorkSource and Washington State’s Department of Veterans Affairs and VA Apprenticeship Program; Department of Children, Youth and Families; Department of Social and Health Services, Community Services Division; and www.opad.biz Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

A quarterly occasion, the job fair is “a low-stress, low-pressure chance to discover what kind of chances exist here outside your back entrance,” said Christopher Gentz, shift services supervisor for the Directorate of Human Resources.

Additional job fairs like the Jan. 30 occasion will be held May 8, July 10 and Sept. 11.

To get ready for them, “gown for success,” bring your resume and practice your elevator pitch, Gentz said.

An elevator pitch is a “fast introduction of yourself, who you are and what you’re wanting to do,” Handoe said, discussing that the ability is taught as part of the TAP.

Among the job fair’s objectives was to help individuals find out about profession opportunities and how their abilities align with them, Gentz stated.

Education is a crucial benefit of attending a task reasonable, as about 40% of those who begin with the TAP learn they’re “not all set to make that jump yet,” or they have actually seen the available opportunities and choose to continue serving, Gentz said.

“We see that essentially every year,” he stated. “We desire them to make an informed choice about their career.”

Part of the education piece is learning more about finances, including credit reports, budgets and “developing a nest egg so you have something to work with when it’s time to go out,” Handoe said.

“Everybody’s going to get out of the Army one day,” he said, “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 trying to find – consisting of accreditations, accreditations and remotejobscape.com schooling – and https://www.opad.biz/ discovering their working with practices, hirerightskills.com Handoe said.

“You should be doing prep work now for what it is you desire to do in the future down the road,” he stated.

That prep work consists of preparing for task fairs.

“You need to enter into a hiring reasonable with a strategy of what you’re going to do and not simply meander around,” Handoe stated.

He described that attendees need to identify the business they wish to speak with and https://redefineworksllc.com/ research study them ahead of time, to permit educated discussions with recruiters.

Nolan enjoyed the Jan. 30 job reasonable and spoke to some recruiters. A senior details technology professional with the 16th Combat Aviation Unit, she has discovered she desires to serve those who serve in her approaching civilian function.