Over 65 employers attend Hire Our Heroes Event

Photo By Spc. Anthony Martinez | Amanda Lupton, recruiter for Constellis, shares company information with attendees during Hiring Our Heroes job fair held at the Community Club on Fort Buchanan, May 18th.  

PUERTO RICO

05.23.2017

Story by Spc. Anthony Martinez 

1st Mission Support Command

FORT BUCHANAN, Puerto Rico - Veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses attended a Hiring Our Heroes job fair, which provided endless job opportunities and a variety of services from sixty-nine participating employers and service organizations. The event began with a workshop focused on helping the attendees build their resumes and sharpen their interview skills at the Community Club on Fort Buchanan, May 18.

Rafael E. Contretras Espinosa, Transition Service Specialist for Soldiers For Life - Transition Assistance Program, partnering with the American Legion and the Hiring Our Heroes U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Foundation, made this job fair possible for the benefit of the Veterans, service members and military spouses in attendance.

“I take a lot of pride in this,” said Mr. Contreras. “I did 22 years of active duty service myself and every time I see a Soldier, a Veteran, a Sailor, an Airman, a Marine or Coast Guardian and they are getting out of the service, I take a personal responsibility to see how can I impact that at an installation level.”

Hiring Our Heroes, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, launched in March 2011 as a nationwide initiative to help veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses find meaningful employment opportunities. Working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s vast network of state and local chambers and strategic partners from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, our goal is to create a movement across America in hundreds of communities where veterans and military families return every day.

“Everybody in here, is here because they are committed to helping a Veteran today,” said Brig. Gen. Jose R. Burgos, Deputy Commander, 99th Regional Support Command. “I want to make sure that everyone in here understands there is a lot of companies that invested their time and resources to spend the whole day on Fort Buchanan, because they want to help you.”

Through their commitment-based engagement of the business community, more than 1,025 job fairs held across the country and on military installations overseas, and a suite of free online career tools, they’ve worked with their partners to help hundreds of thousands of veterans and military spouses find jobs.

“I’m here to explore the different type of jobs and get information how to build a proper resume,” said Sgt. Antonio Cintron, assigned to the 941st Quartermaster Company. “I really appreciate all these employers coming down here and offering me and my family different job opportunities.”

“We feel very happy to be here, this is an extension of what we do in our stores day by day,” said Nannette Ramirez Delfaus, District Human Resources Manager at Home Depot in Puerto Rico. “We have hired Veterans and they are currently working at all levels; managers, associates, and supervisors. They live the values that our organization seeks for our clients and they help us work hard to be number 1 in customer service in the world.”

To date, more than 28,000 veterans and military spouses have obtained jobs through Hiring Our Heroes events. More than 2,000 companies of all sizes have committed to hiring 710,000 veterans and military spouses as part of the Hiring 500,000 Heroes campaign. Of those commitments, there have been more than 505,000 confirmed hires.

• Date Taken: 05.23.2017
• Date Posted: 05.23.2017 17:26
• Story ID: 234975
• Location: PR