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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 the shift at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

As part of a group of about 30 job candidates, centerfairstaffing.com she participated in an employing fair Jan. 30 that showcased Washington State career opportunities at JBLM’s Hawk Career Center.

“I just attempt to benefit from all the resources and services that the (Transition Assistance Program) Center has to use, just to make sure I’m as prepared as possible,” she stated.

The focus of the job fair on state employment, instead of employment in numerous 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 companies, who shared their experiences and answered concerns. Following the panel, employers from state companies were available to address hiring concerns, said Frank Handoe, deputy transition services manager for the TAP.

Informational tables represented organizations consisting of VERG, WorkSource and Washington State’s Department of Veterans Affairs and VA Apprenticeship Program; Department of Children, Youth and jobportal.kernel.sa 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 opportunity to discover out what type of chances exist here outside your back entrance,” stated Christopher Gentz, shift services supervisor 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, “gown 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 wanting to do,” Handoe stated, discussing that the ability is taught as part of the TAP.

One of the job fair’s objectives was to help people find out about profession chances and [empty] how their skills line up with them, Gentz said.

Education is an essential benefit of attending a job 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 offered and choose to continue serving, Gentz stated.

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

Part of the education piece is finding out about finances, consisting of credit reports, budgets and “constructing a nest egg so you have something to deal with when it’s time to go out,” Handoe said.

“Everybody’s going to get out of the Army someday,” he said, “however while you’re 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 searching for – including accreditations, accreditations and schooling – and learning about their hiring practices, https://job.da-terascibers.id/ Handoe said.

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

That prep work consists of getting ready for task fairs.

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

He described that participants must pinpoint the companies they desire to talk to and research them ahead of time, to enable informed conversations with employers.

Nolan delighted in the Jan. 30 job fair and talked with some recruiters. A senior details innovation specialist with the 16th Combat Aviation Unit, she has discovered she wants to serve those who serve in her approaching civilian function.