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TODAY
A crowd of veterans and military spouses attend a career fair on the NYC USS Intrepid.
Updated April 6: The numbers are in: Hiring our Heroes helped tens of thousands of veterans in their search for employment.
Nearly 5,000 veterans and military spouses attended the New York, Chicago and Texas job fairs, which were held in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
More than 19,000 people registered for the Military.com and Monster.com virtual career fair. Visitors came from all 50 states and dozens of overseas locations.
Organizations came with job opportunities in hand, including rock band KISS, who received more than 500 applicants for their roadie job. NBC News' parent company Comcast pledged to hire 1,000 veterans over the next three years, and Capital One announced that they will join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's program in a bid to engage the business community in hiring 500,000 vets and military spouses over the next three years.
This is just the start: There will be more than 400 other job fairs throughout the next year. Find a list of upcoming events here.
Here are some resource links for veterans:
- Military.com's jobs board, where you can also find a skills translator and a network of veterans
- Race to Hire, an organization that will host 20 career fairs over the next year
- Milicruit, a group that aims to find jobs for 10,000 vets and military spouses
- Navy Times career site, which also offers information about transitions, college and the G.I. Bill
- Wounded Warrior Project, an organization aimed at honoring and empowering injured service members
- Department of Labor Vet Employment Assistant, a government resource that offers recovery and employment assistance
- FedsHireVets, a government website to help vets find jobs in the federal government
- National Resource Directory, a partnership with the Departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs
Hiring our Heroes is an initiative from NBC News and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that aims to get veterans back into the workforce. Find a list of upcoming job fairs here.
More on Hiring our Heroes:
Ann Curry's photographs reveal courage, grit of America's soldiers
To land jobs vets should leave ‘yes sir!’ at door
Jill Biden: 'If you want to get the job done, hire a veteran'
Portraits of veterans looking for work
Leave a Comment:
My wife has been on active duty for 17 years. And all during that time she has never been assigned to an army post. So I have never had any help in finding work. I have went through periods where I couldn't find work for a couple of years. Because the employer knew I was going to leave when my wife got orders. I have even tried walmart and lowes who brag they hire vets and dependents(I am both).
And here we again getting ready to move. And I will probable be unemployed still. I wanty to know why there is no help for male dependents? The only thing they do for me is ship my crap. I get no job hunt assistance. When people find out I am a dependent they just stare at me. They automaticaly think I am moving soon.
I am 54 and I have medical problems linked to the military. I have no income (no retirement or disablilty) except what my wife makes. Every time we move I have to start the job hunting routine. Asd it gets harder and harder, because I get older. Sometimes I feel like I'm leeching off my wife. I just want people to know that not everyone who is a dependent is female, and not everyone is benifiting from these Hiring our Heroes events.
The Hiring our Heroes are all well and good, but one thing of note I saw in all the reporting is that you must be in a large city in order to find any help. I am a 20 year Vet who lives near Madison WI, my wife has a good job. All the jobs I am seeing that fit my military skill set are out east or north west. We do not have the ability to take on the expenses of moving in order for me to find a good job, and not to mention my wife would be without a job if we moved and who knows how long it could take for her to find a job.
I looked at going back to school but the University and Collages in the area are not very military friendly, and the schools that offer night classes have a very limited degree selection. I have skills, I have knowledge, I know what my strengths are but I am losing hope.
Michael, if you are not in the area of a Hiring Our Heores event, you may want to try one of the virtual career fairs instead at www.veteranscareerfair.com They work just like a traditional career fair except you join online.
EXSSG, there are several employers in the virtual career fair who offer work from home opportunities which are great if you move alot, and also several of the employers in Milicruit also have great programs especially for the military spouse. I am sorry you are having such a hard time, and I agree, more needs to be done to recognize a military spouse doesn;t always have to be a woman.
Good Luck
Kevin, I have looked at and used virtual career fairs in the past few months. But I will level with you, were I live is a highly over educated part of the state. Employers are being ultra picky, I am in a jobless black hole when it comes to using my military job skills, if you are not in the medical field, education or computers you are limited to part-time or service jobs which are in short supply do to the State University in the area. I have been using the services available to me but needless to say Wisconsin is not a hotbed for Ex-Intelligence analyst, Egress tech or Weapons Tech. I was more or less denied unemployment insurance do to my jobs skills being to specialized that they could not com-pair it to anything in the state in order to give me a rate.
Kevin, a man can only beat his head against the wall before he realizes it is starting to hurt.
Kevin, I have looked at and used virtual career fairs in the past few months. But I will level with you, were I live is a highly over educated part of the state. Employers are being ultra picky, I am in a jobless black hole when it comes to using my military job skills, if you are not in the medical field, education or computers you are limited to part-time or service jobs which are in short supply do to the State University in the area. I have been using the services available to me but needless to say Wisconsin is not a hotbed for Ex-Intelligence analyst, Egress tech or Weapons Tech. I was more or less denied unemployment insurance do to my jobs skills being to specialized that they could not com-pair it to anything in the state in order to give me a rate.
Kevin, a man can only beat his head against the wall before he realizes it is starting to hurt.
I'm sure this will either not make it to the comments section or be removed shortly after posting. But as a higher education teacher I am tired of this campaign. Veterans of the military are not more deserving of jobs than "civilians". Last i checked they were paid to be in the military and had jobs for a pretty long time and are often still collecting pension money from retirement. Why should they be favored over a 20 year old who has nothing and is trying to start their lives. I can tell you from first hand experience the for profit schools educating our military are a big part of this problem. From my experience, and I have a good bit, the ex-military need to get out of those for profit schools and into non-profit schools who focus on education.
My company is looking for some workers in all areas of the united states. We are interested in self motivated hard workers interested in helping others( which is a perfect fit for our military). We understand our military persons needs for flexible schedules, and if having to deploy we WILL still be here for you. If intersted feel free to contact me for more information at AHOLLON@PRIMERICA.COM .
Primerica is a scam? Well, from what I googled online, it sure seems like it. It's sad how certain people try to take advantage of us veterans who are so unemployed and desperate...