
DATE: Thursday, September 11, 1997          TAG: 9709100706

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MILITARY

SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   86 lines

CHANGING CAREERS JOB FAIRS GIVE THOSE IN MILITARY OPPORTUNITY TO FIND WORK IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

Uncle Sam wants you.

And so might Procter and Gamble. Maybe the city of Baltimore or the Indiana Department of Corrections.

A good way to find out just who might want you for a second career is to attend the first Southside Regional Armed Forces Job Fair on Wednesday at the Virginia Beach Pavilion.

Nearly 100 national and local companies will be represented at the fair. It is co-sponsored by the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines, as well as the armed forces committees of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce's Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach divisions, and Norfolk's Department of Development.

The one-day event is being held in conjunction with the chamber's annual BizExpo, a two-day trade show.

Free and open to just about anyone associated with the military - active duty, Department of Defense civilians and family members with valid ID cards (or DD Form 214) - the fair includes seminars, a guest panel of employers and the chance to step right up and have a job interview with company reps.

This isn't practice. It's the real thing. So bring at least 100 resumes and your best smile, advises Dorothy Hundley, a Navy Family Services program specialist and chairman of the job fair committee.

``A job fair like this empowers the job seeker,'' she said. ``It offers actual face-to-face interaction with many, many employers.

``It's a good partnership because it gives the business sector an opportunity to connect with the military. They can see many prospective employees and take a lot of applications in a short amount of time.''

Job fairs aren't new to either the Hampton Roads business community or the thousands of local residents who have some connection to the military. Two joint armed forces fairs have been held on the Peninsula each year since 1990. The most recent one, held in April, netted at least 130 hires, Hundley said.

Past experience with the Peninsula fairs have shown that those who attend are a combination of active duty service members who are leaving the military or retiring, current Department of Defense employees or family members. But most of them are ``transitioners'' - people getting out of the military, Hundley said.

``The companies feel it's a productive way to recruit, especially targeting the military. They take applications all day, and do some initial screening, so they know who they might want to hire,'' she said.

The list of business representatives varies widely, including some defense contractors - who often have overseas job openings for the adventurous - national companies such as Circuit City and Pizza Hut, and plenty of local agencies such as the city of Virginia Beach and Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Hundley suggests getting to the event in time for the first seminar: ``Networking and How to Work a Job Fair,'' scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dress for an interview, attend some of the 45-minute seminars and keep an open mind, she said.

For instance, if you're looking for a job in computers, don't just talk to the computer company representatives. Check out the technology possibilities with every employer, since virtually all businesses use computers nowadays.

And if you can't attend next week's job fair, plan to go to either the Noncommissioned Officers Association Fair at Scope on Sept. 19 or the next semi-annual Peninsula fair at the Holiday Inn in Hampton on Oct. 24. Both are joint armed forces events, open to all military members and their families.

Also, a one day Career Connection workshop to help military spouses prepare to find jobs will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., call the Navy Family Service Employment Center in Norfolk. Call 444-2102 to reserve a space. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN EARLE/The Virginian-Pilot illustration

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JOB FAIR

Monday What: Southside Regional Armed Forces Job Fair

When: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17

Where: Virginia Beach Pavilion

Schedule

8:30 to 9 a.m. - Networking and how to work a job fair

9:30 to 10:15 a.m. - Job searching electronically

10:45 to 11:30 a.m. - Employer panel: what they really think

12 to 12:30 p.m. - Networking and how to work a job fair

1 to 1:45 p.m. - Negotiating job offers

2:15 to 3 p.m. - Understanding benefit packages