Job fair draws hundreds of veterans

Warren Elly Reporting – These days it may be easier to fight a war overseas than finding a job in the tight civilian job market here at home.

Just ask Army Veteran Michael Eligon, who told us he “got hit by two IEDs, but I rode a big truck, I was lucky.” He was lucky to survive Iraq, but now there’s a different war to fight, with wife Lachelle by his side.

“So how’s the job hunt going?” I asked.

“It’s tough,” Eligon said. “It’s hard, I had a contract position with the Florida National Guard, but money was too tight.”

At the job fair, a sheriff’s deputy talks to a young man in a suit with a military haircut.

“Have you thought of going into law enforcement?” he asks.

“Yeah, the thought has been there,” the veteran answers, but his lack of a college degree could be a problem.

Law enforcement is a natural, recruiters say, and they point out that Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is hiring, with some 260 job openings.

Standards though, are high, according to Sgt. Chris Powell.

“The guidelines have gotten a lot stiffer, and we’re facing a lot of applicants coming through. But only a few are getting through,” Powell said.

Many who do get hired are ex-military, which comes from “their discipline, their trainability, leadership qualities they have,” said Robert Walker of Recruit Military, the job fair’s sponsor.

“I truly believe a veteran can walk into any work place and make an immediate impact,” Walker said.

But they’re not all young. After 25 years in Marine and Army uniforms, Tim McNeely worked as a civilian contractor in the Middle East. His dream job?

“A managerial position helping a company solve some of their toughest problems,” he says. Adds wife Arlene, “we’re looking to do something as a team, as a husband and wife team.”

This 68th Military Job Fair of the year is a part of a White House initiative to put veterans first in hiring. So far they’re seeing about a 20 percent success rate, but it could be higher.

“We did some studying on our own, because of course, companies don’t always report back once they’ve hired someone, and veterans, even though they may say thank you, they don’t always report back when they’ve got a job,” Walker said.

For veterans young and old then, it’s a leg up in a tough job market.

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