In some respects, it seemed like a typical job fair, with a mixture of well-dressed applicants equipped with briefcases, and others decked out in windbreakers and jeans. What was different was the number of young men with crew-cuts or closely shaved heads. And everyone seemed to be walking around with a stiff, upright posture --- like Greg Stanley from Brimfield.
GREG STANLEY: I was in the United States Navy from 1983 to 1987, and then I joined the Reserves and retired out from that in 2007.
Once he got home, Stanley was ready to settle down and find a job. So, he went to a career coach who helped re-tune his job-seeking skills. Stanley says he got some unexpected advice.
GREG STANLEY: I've been told to keep the military stuff off of my resume, because they'd be afraid that maybe I'd be mobilized or something like that.
Air Force veteran Mark Smith has heard that line before. As a restaurant manager, he's actually had to face that dilemma from the other side --- when he considers an application from a vet.
MARK SMITH: Deployment is a huge issue. Me being a manager myself, you don't want to lose that body, but also, in this day and age, you also as a company have to guarantee that position if somebody gets pulled for government duty. And most businesses don't want to put them selves in that situation.
The Cincinnati-based organization RecruitMilitary was formed three years ago to address the challenges that vets face in the jobs marketplace. RecruitMilitary puts on these career fairs across the country, featuring employers that are "veteran friendly". In some cases, they are looking for very specific military skills. Take Dave Gold whose Columbus-based firm "Mission Essential Personnel" recruits translators for some far flung outposts.
DAVE GOLD: We are looking for people with former military experience who understand day-to-day military operations. I've got about 100 resumes here and I'm hoping to get through them and hopefully we'll get some people on board.
Then, there was the aptly-named Charisma Harris, whose enthusiastic presentation on behalf of Walgreens drew consistent crowds most of the day.
CHARISMA HARRIS: Military is all about discipline and continuous training. We find that our military employees that we have currently working for us are good employees; they tend to hang around for ten, twenty, fifteen years, which is what we value.
Paul Volk is a National Guardsman on emergency leave from Afghanistan. He left a danger-laden battlefield only to face an employment crisis back home.
PAUL VOLK: I lost my job with DHL, so I came to this event to hopefully find future employment.
He's hoping to nail down some sort of management job before the end of summer --- something that will match with the skills he got in the military. But, he's not so sure such experience gives him an edge over other job seekers.
PAUL VOLK: We're just like anybody else --- went and did our job and we come back and we're looking for a job, like everybody else in the US.
