Photo By Mark Getman | New York Army and Air National Guardsmen assigned to COVID-19 response missions in...... read more read more
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New York--Soldiers and Airmen facing unemployment when the New York National Guard’s COVID-19 mission ends later this year had a chance to look for employment opportunities June 10-11 thanks to a “job fair” held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Six hundred and fifty, Soldiers and Airmen attended the two-day event sponsored by New York National Guard Family Programs, and the 174th Attack Wing Family Readiness Program.
“The fair was designed to give those who have been serving on the mission for the past year a chance to find a job which matches their skills, and to prepare them to obtain work when the mission ends," said Kelly Bice, the Airman and Family Readiness Program Coordinator for the 174th Attack Wing.
Many of the 2,900 Soldiers, Airmen and members of the Naval Militia and New York Guard have been volunteering for the COVID-19 mission since March of 2020. They have stayed on the mission because their civilian jobs were eliminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to do something proactive for all the military forces who have been working on the COVID-19 mission.” Bice added.
The event connected service members with employers such as Amazon, ConEd, NY State Police, NYPD and many other Federal, State, City and local employers. The Job Fair also helped employers understand the various skill sets that service members have to offer.
Over 2,000 service members working in the downstate New York region were eligible to attend.
Approximately twenty agencies made themselves available to service members. "Our intention was to give the service members the tools they need when they aren't working to find civilian work and rejoin the civilian workforce", Bice added.
Employers provided the service members with information regarding positions in which they were immediately hiring for as well as upcoming state and local jobs tests.
For some service members this was their first job fair they have attended while being in the military.
“This was a good morale boost for us on mission, it shows that the military cares”, said Army National Guard Specialist Belkis Guzman, a member of the, 101st Expeditionary Signal Battalion.
In addition to the workshops, the New York National Guard's Employment Initiative Program also helps Soldiers and Airmen refine their resumes while providing them with information on employers who want to hire veterans.
“In my 29 years of service, I have never been to a job fair hosted by the military outside of a Yellow Ribbon event. This was a great opportunity for service members,” said Major Michael O’Hagan, a member of the 106th Rescue Wing.
New York Guard Sergeant Michael Bilski contributed to this article.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2021 12:14 |
| Story ID: | 399269 |
| Location: | NEW YORK, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Job Fair helps NY Guard Soldier, Airmen on COVID-19 mission find jobs, by Mark Getman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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