Legion job fairs reach 150 venues in 2013

Legion job fairs reach 150 venues in 2013

As servicemembers come home from deployments in record numbers, The American Legion is doing all it can to help them find jobs.

A key cog in that mission is the organization’s efforts to bring veterans job fairs to all parts of the nation. This year alone, the Legion has participated in more than 150 job fairs and hiring events, which have landed in major urban hubs like New York City and rural areas like Eau Claire, Wis.

In conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Legion has hosted 91 Hiring Our Heroes events in 2013. Sixty of those have been held at Legion posts, and another 57 have involved RecruitMilitary - a veteran-owned company that the Legion has worked with in arranging job fairs and other hiring initiatives.

This week alone, the Legion and the Chamber of Commerce have brought five career fairs to venues in Seattle, Portland and Warwick, R.I. Tomorrow, the Legion and Chamber of Commerce will host a career expo in Atlanta, which will bring William H. Rogers, Jr., CEO of SunTrust Bank, to the event to address attendees on dealing with financial issues and navigating the process of finding a job. The expo will give attendees a chance to network with SunTrust’s veteran employees, attend seminars on financial readiness and learn about open positions with SunTrust.

Additionally, the Legion will provide support for Hirepurpose's Industry Exposure event at Pricewaterhouse Cooper's offices in New York City on Nov. 18. The event is tailored specifically to veterans who wish to work in public accounting and professional services. Attendees will get the opportunity to network with employees from Pricewaterhouse Cooper and gain insight into what it's like to work for a company that is consistently ranked in Fortune Magazine's "Top 100 Companies to Work For."

The career fairs have produced tremendous results. Estimates have found that 119,000 veterans have been hired through Hiring Our Heroes events since the initiative began in March of 2012. Countless job offers have been given, and interviews have been known to be conducted on the spot.

To help veterans keep track of job fairs and career events coming to their area, The American Legion maintains a comprehensive list of veterans career fairs on its webpage. Users can reference the Job Fairs Calendar on Legion.org as a launching point for attending a career event near them. Outbound links to registration pages give attendees a chance to upload their résumés before attending a fair and to learn more information about employers that will be present.

Often in attendance at the events are employers from the private sector like Microsoft, Amazon.com and State Farm Insurance, and employers from the public sector like the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs.