Photo By 1st Lt. Christi Richter | Tech. Sgt. Jonathan Walker, a Production Recruiter at the 121st Air Refueling Wing,...... read more read more
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Tech. Sgt. Jonathan Walker, a production recruiter at the 121st Air Refueling Wing in Columbus, Ohio has recently been named the Ohio Rookie Recruiter of the Year for 2019. This award goes to individuals in their first two years of recruiting who have gone above and beyond.
Walker uses his recruiting position to spread awareness about the guard and to change many young people’s lives in the process. He focuses on what potential recruits want to do in life, and sees if a military career can help make that happen.
“I like to get to know the person,” said Walker. “I find out what they want to go to school for, what their goals are, and I try to work backwards from there. I use their goals to try to see if I can get them where they need to be.”
Walker is on his 20th year of military service, and his Air Force background is incredibly diverse. He served in security forces for 12 years and then cross-trained into the fire department as a traditional guardsman. He then served on the Ohio National Guard Counterdrug Task Force. All of these experiences have given him a unique perspective when it comes to helping young people start their careers.
“Ever since I’ve been in, I’ve always been interested in recruiting,” said Walker. I applied multiple times, but I think it took the growth and development of being in the military and working different positions with different people to get me where I am today.”
The prospect of helping people has been his driving force as a recruiter.
“I wanted to give people the opportunities I was afforded,” said Walker. “The things that were given to me because of the military and the guard. I wanted to let people know, 'Hey, these opportunities are there for you'.”
Although he is excited and honored by the award, Walker says he couldn’t have done it on his own.
“This award took everybody, it wasn’t just me. I’m on a great recruiting and retention team for Ohio. The other recruiters and flight chiefs throughout the state really helped me out. I wouldn’t have gotten this if these men and women hadn't guided and helped me. It really is a team effort to be able to do this, it takes everybody out here.”
Walker’s best advice for new recruiters is to take a step back and focus on the people.
“Be yourself,” said Walker. “And be honest. Not everybody is joining for the reasons you would think. It’s about the applicant. It’s about that person who's sitting across from you.”
| Date Taken: | 10.31.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.31.2019 13:09 |
| Story ID: | 350055 |
| Location: | COLUMBUS, OH, US |
| Web Views: | 198 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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