DLA recruitment cadre expanding efforts to hire veterans

Photo By Photos DOD | A member of the DLA Corporate Recruitment Cadre speaks with a potential applicant at the “Hiring Heroes” job fair in San Antonio Sept. 18. Photo by Guadalupe Talamantez  

ANNISTON, AL, UNITED STATES

09.28.2012

Story by Amanda Neumann 

Defense Logistics Agency   

ANNISTON, Ala. - The Defense Logistics Agency’s Corporate Recruitment Cadre, an agencywide team of DLA employees, is busy expanding its efforts to hire veterans.

Thirty-two recruiters who each represent specific organizations within DLA are carrying out new procedures aimed at on-site hiring, coaching and focusing on veterans’ recruitment.

“We recruit at whatever employment level an organization needs, whether that is a journeyman or intern level,” said Hettie Holmes-Carter, program manager for corporate recruitment in DLA Human Resources’ Human Capital Program Development Branch. “We recruit for DLA jobs nationwide, but we also send our cadre out to local hiring fairs so they can give information on the organizations they know in addition to DLA as a whole, especially if they have a particular need to fill those positions.”

DLA remains a popular employment agency, Holmes-Carter said, adding that the recruitment cadre stays busy.

“We typically attend five hiring fairs per month, and our DLA booth is always busy,” she said.

Besides giving out fact sheets, handouts, brochures and other information on the agency, DLA recruiters have shifted their priority to make it easier for prospective employees to apply for federal jobs. Part of this shift is helping potential applicants learn how to use the federal government’s primary hiring website, http://www.usajobs.gov/.

“We pay attention to who our audience is. We’re now going to these fairs with job vacancy listings in hand and taking computers along so applicants can apply online, load their resume and use USAJOBS,” Holmes-Carter said. “The National Veterans Hiring Fair in Detroit was one of the first times we’ve interviewed on-site. We had five jobs advertised, including one with multiple vacancies, and made offers to 13 veterans as a result of the event.”

Efforts to hire veterans are an important component of employee hiring, mainly due to their extensive military training and discipline, Holmes-Carter said. Due to the drawdown in Afghanistan, more service members will be returning to civilian life, and DLA wants to take advantage of the opportunity to hire them, she said.

“We participate in a number of veterans hiring fairs, in particular the Hiring Heroes fairs, [Defense Department] transition fairs, Operation Warfighter fairs and the Operation Employment fair in Germany,” she said. “We want to focus on veterans overall, not just the ones stationed in the states.”

Corey Baughman, a human resource specialist based in New Cumberland, Pa., worked a “Hiring Heroes” event in San Antonio Sept. 18. Baughman, an Army veteran himself, said the veteran hiring fairs give him an opportunity to answer questions applicants have about eligibility, qualifications and opportunities within DLA.

“They’re able to get face-to-face time with our DLA recruiters, and we’re able to assist them with anything,” he said. “Having that advice and insight from people such as myself that are staffers who review resumes and determine qualifications, that’s priceless to anyone seeking a career.”

Baughman said the specialized skills that veterans receive in the military help qualify them for many civilian positions.

“We saw about 150 veterans at our booth, and we took a significant amount of resumes back to the hiring managers for consideration,” he said. “A lot of these people have a specialized skill set, and we strongly stress to them to curtail their resume to the position that they’re applying to.”

Baughman said being at hiring fairs provides many benefits not available online.

“We had iPads, and we sat down and helped them with their USAJOBS accounts, getting those set up so they can apply for announcements,” he said. “When you’re online, there’s no person-to-person contact; there’s a barrier and a level of frustration. If you have a question or need clarification on something, you can’t always talk to someone.”

Veterans make up 36 percent of DLA employees, Holmes-Carter said. Disabled veterans, often selected non-competitively due to special hiring authorities, make a great addition to any agency, she added.

“Because of the service they’ve performed, they’ve already contributed to our country, and in addition made obvious sacrifices if they are disabled, so why not take advantage of the skills they have? Just because they have a disability, it doesn’t mean they can’t perform the job. They have skills and abilities that we can take advantage of,” Holmes-Carter said.

Career coaching is another new component of the recruitment process. Among the biggest problems facing applicants is navigating through the complexities of the USAJOBS website, Holmes-Carter said.

“A lot of time, applicants don’t know what kind of jobs they can apply for. For instance, we can talk with them and determine the type of appointing authorities they may be eligible for. Instead of just marketing DLA and telling them to go to USAJOBS, we give them information on how to set up their USAJOBS account, load their resumes and search for DLA jobs. Now we are going to actually help them apply at the event. That’s a new concept for us,” Holmes-Carter said.

In addition to changes in DLA’s hiring mentality, the Corporate Recruitment Cadre is working on other improvements to its approach, including the development of a new comprehensive, recruitment brochure. Due out later this fall, it will be a one-stop handout on the agency, benefits, and the careers that are available.

• Date Taken: 09.28.2012
• Date Posted: 10.03.2012 15:28
• Story ID: 95660
• Location: ANNISTON, AL, US