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Service members find employment opportunities at career fair
NAVY COMPASS
By MC3 Tim Wightman - Navy Compass Staff
Twenty-six companies, covering various work fields such as law enforcement, fitness training, building and engineering, were on hand for prospective employees at the RecruitMilitary Career Fair Jan. 24.
ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Retirees and service members planning to separate from the military met up with prospective employers from 26 different companies that were each looking to hire men and women from the military - at the RecruitMilitary Career Fair Jan. 24.
The four-hour long event took place at the California Center for Arts. The participating companies covered job fields that included law enforcement, fitness-training, building and engineering.
Senior Vice President for RecruitMilitary Larry Slagel talked about the uniqueness of the fair and its importance to the veterans that turn out for it.
"We provide a service that I think is real important; there's a lot of men and women that get out of the military, and the big thing for a lot of them is 'how do I find companies that are veteran-friendly, that appreciate what I've done in the Navy, Marines, Air Force and Army? How do I find them?' And it's hard, because you just don't know where they are," Slagel said.
"And on the other hand, there are a lot of companies out there that want to hire veterans, and they don't know where to find them," continued Slagel. "We try to act as a conduit to help marry up veterans with companies that want to hire them and make it as easy as possible for them."
Slagel said that using the California Center for Arts for the fair's location likely increases the amount of interest the event is able to generate.
"When we do career fairs, we try to do them in unique venues, not just regular hotels or things like that; we want to make them a little bit more fun for people," he said. "In October, we were in Balboa Park's Air and Space Museum. We wanted to get up to Escondido this time around, a little bit closer to Camp Pendleton. It's gone pretty well."
Carlos Gallardo was representing Hanson Building Materials America. He talked about the reasons Hanson is interested in hiring service members.
"We come to the military career fairs because we know they offer some great candidates, a lot of people with technical backgrounds, individuals that can step right in to our industry," Gallardo said.
"We look for individuals with military backgrounds for their maturity, leadership and management skills as well. Some of the positions we're here hiring for are plant managers, engineers, and salespeople to name a few."
Bally Total Fitness recruiter Pedro Cariaga explained why his company likes hiring military men and women.
"Many of them have fitness backgrounds, and a lot of them know how to get from point A to point B," said Cariaga. "Our clients like that. They look at them as drill sergeants; they are very disciplined, organized, structured and very reliable."
Retired Sailor Johnny Mills was one person whose experience at the fair paid dividends for him.
"I came here for two specific reasons and both of them happened to be here," Mills said. "Especially in the case of the sheriff's department, I was able to get a whole bunch of information that I didn't have. You can always go online but it's better to actually talk to a person who knows."
Mills said he appreciated the opportunity the fair gives veterans.
"It's helpful; there are some people here who haven't worked at all since they retired," he said. "An event like this gives them a lot of options with people in different career fields who want to hire them."
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