Hiring Our Heroes career fairs
(Photo by Eldon Lindsay)

Hiring Our Heroes career fairs

Through the end of the first quarter next year, Hiring Our Heroes will conduct more than 200 career fairs around the country. The events feature employers from the public and private sectors, and from all fields and industries. Companies like State Farm, Speedway, PNC Bank, Amazon and many more have attended in the past. Government entities, like the Department of Labor and the FBI, also are usually on hand accepting résumés and interviewing candidates.

More information on specific locations for the fairs and a full listing of upcoming fairs can be found on the U.S. Chamber’s website. Attendees can also preregister there and submit their résumés for pre-review by employers attending the fairs.

Hiring Our Heroes is a joint initiative of The American Legion and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Legion helps the U.S. Chamber organize career fairs across the country, often using Legion posts as sites for the fairs. Military employment companies like RecruitMilitary or Military.com frequently help host the career fairs, providing assistance with logistics and bringing additional employers to the fairs.

Around 250 career fairs have put about 10,500 veterans to work this year. In August, a career fair in Detroit produced about 1,300 job offers for veterans in attendance.

Preregistration is never required for career fairs but is recommended, as preregistering gives attendees an opportunity to pre-submit their résumés and review the list of employers at the event. Attendees are asked to wear professional attire and be prepared to interview on the spot.