Nearly 200 veterans hired after New Jersey job fair
Photo by Lucas Carter/The American Legion

Nearly 200 veterans hired after New Jersey job fair

In the wake of a hiring event that brought jobs to nearly 200 veterans, the Department of New Jersey will host a veterans Resource & Opportunity Fair on Oct. 9 in Atlantic City, N.J., and a Hiring Our Heroes career fair in Toms River, N.J., on Oct. 22.

The two events come on the heels of the department’s New Jersey-New York Shipping Association Hiring Event held in May. That event connected veteran attendees with the New York Shipping Association (NYSA) and the New York & New Jersey Port Authority, providing work as longshoremen to 186 veterans who attended.

The Resource & Opportunity Fair, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, will welcome veterans, servicemembers and their families to the All Wars Memorial Building in Atlantic City for free assistance with VA benefits, mental health issues, finding a job and homelessness.

The Hiring Our Heroes career fair at Post 129 in Toms River, begins at 8:30 a.m. with an employment workshop for attendees and culminates with a career fair that runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Attendees can arrive early and receive one-on-one assistance in drafting a résumé and interviewing for a job. The subsequent career fair will welcome national and local employers who are ready to hire veterans.

The career fair is free, but attendees are encouraged to preregister beforehand. Veterans, servicemembers and spouses are invited.

The Oct. 22 event hopes to build on the resounding success of the Hiring Our Heroes career fair that the Department of New Jersey hosted in May in conjunction with the NYSA. That career fair was arranged as part of the NYSA’s commitment to make 51 percent of its new hires veterans.

“I believe the key to this (event’s) success is that the veteran job-seekers knew exactly what type of jobs they would be applying for,” said Bob Looby, past Department of New Jersey commander and event organizer. “It was a blue collar job fair, not a general job fair with many types of employers. These are the type of vets that choose not to go to college but want a hardworking, good paying job.”

Veterans interested in jobs with the NYSA as a dockworker or longshoreman should email their DD-214s and résumés to portjobs4vets@nysanet.org or vetsjobfair@nysanet.org. Job candidates should be prepared to relocate to the tri-state area.

Thursday’s Resource & Opportunity Fair will bring together employers who can provide veterans assistance with finding a job, homelessness help, and service providers ready to help with VA benefits filing or mental health issues. Additionally, Kira Kazantsev, the incumbent Miss America, will be in attendance, singing the National Anthem and giving keynote remarks.

Further event information:

Career & Resource Fair

Date/time: Oct. 9, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Location: All Wars Memorial Building

1510 Adriatic Ave.

Atlantic City, NJ 08401

Hiring Our Heroes career

Date: Oct. 22

Time:

Employment workshop: 8:30 to 10 a.m.

Career fair: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Location: Toms River Post 129

2025 Church Rd., Toms River, NJ 02857