Recently, VetsFirst’s Vice President of Veterans Policy Heather Ansley sent me a one-page PDF about a U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Hiring Our Heroes” Veterans Event at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina on March 6, beginning at 9:45 AM and concluding at 4:00 PM. This event is a free hiring fair for veteran job seekers, active duty military members, Guard and Reserve members and eligible spouses.
It’s important to mention that both employers and job seekers must pre-register for this job fair at hoh.greatjob.net. There, job seekers should upload their resume and they will be distributed to employers within one week after this fair. If you need help in registering for this event, you can send an e-mail to hiringourheroes@uschamber.com.
At the bottom of this flyer, I found a URL: www.uschamber.com/veterans/events. I opened it and I felt as if I had hit the jackpot!
Beginning this coming Friday, there are similar job fairs in February in New Orleans, LA; Atlanta, GA; Fayetteville, NC; Charlotte, NC; Bakersfield, CA; Richmond, VA; Washington, DC; Lawton, OK; Tampa, FL; and, Seattle, WA.
The list of U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Hiring Our Heroes” job fairs in March is quite a bit longer than the scheduled February events: Dallas, TX; Philadelphia, PA; Colorado Springs, CO;
the above-mentioned Columbia, SC; Pittsburgh, PA, Springfield, MO; Smyrna, GA; Nashville, TN; Columbus, OH; Fort Carson, CO; Eau Claire, WI; Chicago, IL; Fort Hood, TX; New York, NY; Fort Mitchell; KY; Philadelphia, PA, a second time around; and Louisville, KY.
There are additional hiring fairs for military personnel, veterans and spouses scheduled in April, May, June and beyond in many other venues but registration for these events has not yet started. You may want to check back often to the Chamber’s veterans events website, for instance, if you are finishing your education, a jobs training program or being discharged from military service soon.
What impressed me the most about this great program is that most hiring fairs will be held at or near military bases or in “big population center” cities. So far, I counted planned hiring fairs in 26 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
In fact, if you visit the Chamber’s hiring fairs website, their goal is stated clearly: it is “to connect 100,000 veterans and military spouses with employment opportunities in 100 hiring fairs in our first 12 months.” While this is an ambitious goal, their progress toward it is impressive.
For me personally, being employed for 36 years after my disability improved the quality and dignity of my life beyond measure. Kudos to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its growing number of local partners for helping “…those who have borne the battle…” to find the available jobs.
Terry Moakley
Chair of the VetsFirst Committee