JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Military ID cardholders interested in pursuing civilian careers can participate Sept. 17 and 18 in the free Hiring Our Heroes Joint Base Lewis-McChord Career Summit, a two-day series of job search-related events, and military spouses can join Amplify, a Hiring Our Heroes professional development workshop being held Sept. 17. The events will take place at various JBLM locations.
LEARN ABOUT THE SUMMIT:
More than 100 employers are expected to be on-site with more than 180,000 open positions. Attendees can plan on learning about SkillBridge programs, fellowships and internships, upskilling and reskilling programs, military spouse professional development and hiring programs, and LinkedIn for veterans and military spouses. They can also expect to “meet with military-ready companies actively hiring locally and nationwide” and to “get insider tips from hiring managers and recruiters,” according to Hiring Our Heroes promotional materials.
“A lot of these are nationwide employers, with really excellent opportunities regardless of where you intend to live post-service,” said Christopher Gentz, JBLM’s Transition Services manager.
The 12th annual summit will consist of three parts. First, a networking reception will be held Sept. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the American Lake Conference Center, Lewis North. Then, on Sept. 18, job-seeker programming targeting service members in their transition window is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Carey Theater, Lewis Main. Finally, the event will conclude with a Sept. 18 hiring fair from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Hangar 9, McChord Field.
“You don’t have to attend all three pieces – you can pick and choose. We tend to see veterans and spouses at the networking event the night before and the hiring event at the hangar,” Gentz said.
Specifically for military spouses, an Amplify workshop is also being offered Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the American Lake Conference Center. The workshop is designed to provide more intensive professional development for spouses leading up to the Career Summit.
Topics covered during Amplify will include resume preparation, networking, LinkedIn, salary negotiation and interview skills. When registering online for this program, spouses should select the “Amplify + Career Summit” option.
At last year’s summit, 380 job offers were made and 395 follow-up interviews were scheduled. More than 64,000 job openings were available, according to the event’s after-action report.
That event drew more than 870 registrants, and more than 560 of them were job-seekers. Of those job-seekers, about 67% were service members, about 23% were veterans and about 10% were spouses.
Also in 2024, more than 150 employers and 12 different service organizations were represented.
REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT:
To register for this year’s Hiring Our Heroes Joint Base Lewis-McChord Career Summit/the Amplify workshop for military spouses, scan the QR codes on the attached flyers or visit HiringOurHeroes.org/jblm.
PREPARE FOR THE SUMMIT:
To prepare for the event, Frank Handoe, JBLM’s deputy Transition Services manager, recommends researching the companies that will be represented, fine-tuning personal introductions/elevator pitches and updating resumes by attending JBLM classes.
“Any day that we are open, service members, spouses and veterans can visit WorkSource JBLM, located here in the Hawk Career Center, or the Employment Readiness Program, located in the Service Member and Family Assistance Center, and receive individual help on resumes, cover letters and interview skills,” Handoe said.
Listed below are some upcoming employment-related classes, recommended by Handoe:
Sept. 3: Course of Action to USA Jobs, hosted by ERP: Visit https://jblmerp.timetap.com/#/ to register.
Sept. 9: Getting Hired in WA State, hosted by WorkSource JBLM: Email [email protected] to register.
Sept. 16: Tailoring your Resume, hosted by the USO: Visit https://www.uso.org/events/3144-tailoring-your-resume-presented-by-rtx to register.
Sept. 17: The Complete Federal Resume, hosted by ERP: Visit https://jblmerp.timetap.com/#/ to register.
To learn more about employment resources at JBLM, visit https://home.army.mil/lewis-mcchord/my-Joint-Base-Lewis-Mcchord/all-services/employment-resources.
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