Hire America's Heroes Helps Military Members Transition to new Jobs

A buzz of activity filled a Cheney Stadium building earlier this month, just behind the baseball diamond, in Tacoma. Men with closely-cropped hair talked with employers from some of the largest companies in the Pacific Northwest.

While some attendees wore dark suits to this career fair, a few showed up in green camouflage uniforms. A team of about 60 volunteers from Hire America's Heroes sported red shirts, pointed job seekers in the right direction and critiqued resumes.

Hire America's Heroes - co-founded by and launched in 2007 - organized this Sept. 2 career event. The goal was to let private sector employers know more about the skills of active military personnel, veterans and their families and to give those who have served the country information about jobs.

"People are excited about helping veterans. People want to work for a vision," James said. "The goal is the job offer letter."

About 850 people showed up with resumes and briefcases in hand and questions about making the switch to a company. Employers from Amazon, Microsoft, Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Hyatt and other companies sent representatives, who collected resumes and shared information about job opportunities.

The need for career transition help has certainly accelerated given the number of men and women who have entered the military since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They have served in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Persian Gulf and other places that the nation's leaders have deemed necessary.

Finding private-sector jobs for veterans, especially those under the age of 30, is important, volunteer Owen McCurty said. The unemployment rate in the country for veterans in that age group is 24 percent, he said, citing statistics. Nationwide, the unemployment rate is about 9 percent.

Curtis Dunn, a commander in the U.S. Navy who has served in the Persian Gulf, arrived from Memphis, Tenn. for his second career fair sponsored by Hire America's Heroes. "The first one was so beneficial in creating a network," he said. "I can't tell you how my network grew exponentially after I came here."

On this day, he talked with one company that expressed interest in his background. "I have the management experience that they want," he said. 

He wants to move to the Seattle area because his wife is from Bellevue - and he promised her that they would return to the region after she spent years moving to other cities for his military service.

The career fair included a room for one-on-one interviews with employers. Hire America's Heroes matched those people, based on their skills, with the companies that needed to fill positions, McCurty said.

The result: An efficient use of time, as compared to some career fairs where recruiters collect stacks of general resumes and spend extra time sorting through them - when all they need are people with the right skills, education and background.

Another room had video camera equipment so that job seekers could practice interviewing and review how they come across. Volunteer Colleen Aylward pointed out the importance of this practice, especially given people who are used to following military orders.

"They don't know they're allowed to be themselves," she said.

She found that some in the military reply with one-word answers when asked questions or talk about the royal "we" when explaining experience, jobs and military assignments. In the private sector, she added, it is permissible to talk in the first person and to elaborate on answers.

James, who is the group's board president and works out of her home office, and other volunteers encouraged the job seekers to also do research about companies and what backgrounds are in demand.

"Most companies look at people in their own industry," she said.

But those in the military or who have served have a host of skills that they gained while in the armed forces. That includes leadership, self discipline, motivation, ability to focus and meet deadlines, logistics backgrounds, management and technology work, James and others said.

In addition, members of the military can bring a strong sense of teamwork to projects and jobs, given combat missions and, for some, trying to land large fighter jets on an aircraft carrier. 

Derek Tompoles, a Union Pacific field recruiting manager from Portland, said his rail transportation company looks highly upon people with military experience.

"The skills that military personnel have really parallel what we do," he said, standing next to his recruiting table.

His company, he added, needs people who have the skills to operate trains, assemble numerous box cars in the right order and put them on the right tracks. "We draw a lot of mechanical people from the military," he said.

For U.S. Army 1st Corp Command Sgt. Major Dan Verbeke, the event was helpful on both professional and personal levels.

"We're not afraid to come to work and work hard to get the job done," said Verbeke, who is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord just south of Tacoma.

He was referring to the tens of thousands of enlisted men and women who report to him. He realizes that they, too, will need jobs after their military service.

Retiring from the military also is something that is on Verbeke's mind. He said he has served for about 30 years. But in about 18 months, he is scheduled to leave the U.S. Army.

"I've never had a civilian job," he said.

Editor's note: If you're interested, Hire America's Heroes is hosting a play, "Into the Fire," on Oct. 6 at Boeing Field in Seattle. The play is about returning veterans and their lives with their families, in communities, at schools and at work after military service.