The 20th Annual Veterans Career Fair was held Wednesday, May 20, at the Heritage Center of Brooklyn Center. An estimated 400 current and former U.S. military service members and their spouses participated in the flagship Hire a Veterans Month event, along with 100 veteran-friendly employers and nine service providers. Job seekers who attended were able to meet with employers hiring now for positions in Minnesota, find out about services for themselves and their families, and access free resume review, interview preparation sessions and get free professional photos taken.
Here’s what a few job seekers and employer participants had to say about the 20th Annual Veterans Career Fair:
Theodore recently retired after 12 years in the Minnesota National Guard and is currently unemployed He is looking for a career in an energy-related field and spoke with several employers at the fair featuring this type of employment. He also planned to speak with Helmets to Hardhats to explore apprenticeship opportunities available to veterans. Theodore said his experience at the fair was “overwhelmingly positive at every booth I’ve been too.”
Kathy was laid off in October from a merchandising position at a national company and she came to the Veterans Career Fair looking for leads on open positions in buying, vendor management and inventory coordination. Her husband is an Army veteran with a 100% disability. She heard about the Veterans Career Fair through the CareerForce job club she attends. “There’s a lot here, much more than another recent fair I attended – you guys have everything.”
LaWonda is an Air Force veteran and is looking for a position in HR leadership. This was her first time attending the Veterans Career Fair and she was very pleased with all of the leads she generated. “Having so many companies in one location is amazing.” LaWonda comes from a family where “everyone is in the military” and she is happy that such an event is held to help connect current or former U.S. military service members with quality employment.
Dan was laid off a year and half ago and he found out about the Veterans Career Fair through his Veterans Service Officer in Scott County. Speaking shortly after he arrived at the event, Dan was hopeful he would find a lead for employment as an IT network manager. He said the fair is “a good thing, a good way to connect with employers who know it’s great to hire veterans.” Dan says he and fellow veterans bring a strong work ethic and sense of mission to the workplace.
Lis is the Human Resource Coordinator at TMI Coatings, a Veterans Career Fair Premier Employer based in Eagan. Before the mid-point of the Veterans Career Fair, she had two sheets full of contact information and a stack of resumes, with 12 standing out as promising candidates for open positions. Lis says she’ll start reaching out next week to those she selects to come in for an interview. Asked why TMI makes a point to participate in the Veterans Career Fair, Liz says, “this job fair is nice compared to many other job fairs because the job seekers have a specialty so it’s easy to see if they would be a good fit.”
Derek, a recruiter for Veterans Career Fair Premier Employer Sanford Health was similarly pleased with results at the midway point of the fair. “We’ve had a really good turnout, 15 really qualified applicants.” Derek had high praise for the job seekers he’d interacted with so far, “Everyone here is very qualified, very excited about opportunities, all are skilled, have experience and know what they want – I'd love to hire them all.”
This annual event was sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs.
