Marine reservist Wesley Cho of Arlington, Va., speaks with Miesha Williams of the U.S. Patent office at the RecruitMilitary Career Fair in Washington, D.C., February 23, 2012. Photo by Noel St. John

Washington job fair a success

The American Legion, along with co-producers RecruitMilitary and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has sponsored another successful career fair for military veterans in Washington, D.C. According to Davy Leghorn, assistant director of the Legion’s Economic Division, nearly 700 job seekers in four hours walked through the Washington Hilton exhibit hall doors during the Feb. 23rd employment expo.

A survey by event facilitator RecruitMilitary revealed that over 60 percent of veterans who registered to attend the job fair were interested in applying for government jobs. Reflecting that interest, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Energy, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Department of State, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office all sent recruiters. In fact, said Leghorn, VA representatives stayed long after the official end of the career fair to talk with candidates.

The remainder of the 55 exhibitors represented a cross section of retailers, associations, insurance companies, financial institutions and defense contractors, among others. The Legion itself manned a recruiting booth and collected nearly 50 resumes from veterans interested in current positions available at the organization’s Washington and Indianapolis headquarters.

Leghorn noted that RecruitMilitary, with whom the Legion has co-produced a long series of veterans’ job fairs, received an award during the event from The Sierra Group, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based consultancy advocating on behalf of unemployed persons with disabilities. RecruitMilitary was recognized for staging wounded warrior-friendly hiring events.

The Legion is participating in a continuing series of veterans’ career fairs across the country as part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes initiative this year. The event immediately preceded the opening of the Legion’s annual Washington Conference, where the high (26 percent) unemployment rate among young veterans, and proposed solutions to the problem, will be discussed at length.