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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Job Fair Makes Frontal Assault on Veteran Unemployment

There’s good news on the employment front for Valley veterans. At the Hire a Hero-Hire a Vet Job Fair & Expo, to take place Oct. 25 at the Burbank Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, about 100 employers will turn out in an effort to help military personnel and other job seekers put an end to their employment searches. Television personality Stephanie Edwards will host the event, sponsored by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, Sherman Oaks Hospital, the Economic Development Department and Wells Fargo. The bank alone has hundreds of positions available. “We have so many,” said Wells Fargo regional president Vince Liuzzi. “I think that when we look at our open jobs, there’s at least 500 in the region that we would love to fill.” Liuzzi said that Wells Fargo will have recruiters on site who will offer career counseling and advice to attendees seeking to work for the bank. Because Wells Fargo employees must pass background checks, however, the bank won’t be able to offer jobs to attendees on the spot. This is the first time Wells Fargo has reached out to veterans on such a large scale, according to Liuzzi, who sits on the bank’s corporate diversity council. “I think that in my involvement with diversity issues globally for the company I was talking to one of the members about what we can do to support this segment,” he said. This led him to touch base with the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley who informed him about its plans to sponsor a job fair aimed at veterans. Liuzzi thought, “This is something we’d definitely want to do, not only for Wells Fargo, but it’s also the right thing to do for returning vets. We want to take care of them.” Wells Fargo will offer a full gamut of employment opportunities, from entry-level tellers to financial consultants to management positions within the retail banks and private banks. Kenn Phillips, Director of Workforce & Education Investment for the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, estimates that 5,000 job seekers are expected to turn up at the fair, with 700 to 1,000 coming solely for the 8:15 a.m. employer kickoff. Other exhibitors include Aflac, Anthony International, Avery Dennison, Brice Manufacturing, the Burbank Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. The Small Business Association and related agencies will also be on hand to give advice to veterans interested in starting their own businesses, according to Phillips. That a bevy of employers is lining up to offer jobs to veterans is welcome news to Army reservist Jaime Gonzalez. Active in the military in 2004 and 2005, Gonzales visited EDD veterans employment services specialist Eddie Spatz in July after months of trying to find work. “Jaime came to me as a young, recently separated veteran,” Spatz recalled. “He was confused and discouraged because his job search before he met me had been difficult.” Gonzales felt that employers were reluctant to hire him because of his duties as a reservist. The role, which Gonzalez is contracted to fill until 2012, requires him to leave for training one week of every month for military training. In addition to that, as a reservist, Gonzalez must train for two weeks yearly. “I’ve never been told straight out, ‘we can’t hire you because you’re a reservist,'” he said. Still, he senses, “They don’t like to deal with it.” Gonzalez even flirted with omitting his military background from his resume. “I always thought that would help, but the application would ask for a job reference, and the only job reference I would have would be from 2004, when I got out of high school. I don’t think that would have looked good.” Spatz helped Gonzalez use his military skills as an asset. “He converted my military job into civilian job skills,” Gonzalez said. “He made a short little resume for me.” Spatz said, “Jaime was at a point where he just needed to get a job that was related to his experience in the service. He was a microwave operator technician in the Army, and occasionally we find telecommunications technician positions.” During the time that Gonzalez visited the EDD, Spatz learned that Time Warner was hiring cable technicians. Spatz referred Gonzalez to the company and he was hired in August to install cable, phone and Internet modems. Spatz believes the difficulties veterans have in the civilian workforce often come down to communication, the lines of which he hopes are open at the upcoming job fair. “If you go to work for a major government contractor, they’re very oriented. They know what the terminology is. They understand military speak,” he said. “However, most civilian employers do not. One of the big problems is translating. If you have a resume that’s filled with military jargon presented to a civilian employer, it’s very difficult for them to interpret.” What: “Hire A Hero Hire A Veteran” Job Fair & Expo When: Oct. 25, 8 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with a special morning employer kickoff at 8:15 a.m. Where: Burbank Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank.

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