Veterans flock to Phoenix job fair
Jan 8, 2013, 4:41 PM | Updated: 4:41 pm
PHOENIX — Some of America’s veterans were looking for work in Phoenix on Tuesday.
Army veteran Shawn Brown has been out of work for three years and needs a job.
“Any kind of paying job,” he said. “Any kind.” Brown said he was a military police officer and is looking for security work.
Brown is one of 300 military veterans who showed up at an American Legion Post for a job fair put on Hiring Our Heroes. The group is on a national campaign with a goal of getting 500,000 veterans back on the job by 2014. General Electric, Verizon, and First Command are among the companies that interviewed candidates at Tuesday’s fair.
Hiring Our Heroes Western Regional Associate Virginia Carpenter said a workshop was offered giving the veterans tips on how to better market their skills.
“Because a lot of companies don’t know how to translate what the veterans did into civilian terms, and a lot of the veterans don’t know how to translate their military training into civilian terms as well” [to show how their talents are best suited for the company],” she said.
The group hosts job fairs for veterans all over the country. The next Arizona event is scheduled for March 6 in Flagstaff. Carpenter said they are also hoping to put on another job fair in Phoenix on April 25.
