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'This one is really dynamic': Job-seekers line up for Military.com Career Expo in Shalimar
SHALIMAR — Lines for some employers extended into the lobby at Bob Hope Village on Thursday during this year’s Military.com/Non-Commissioned Officers Association Career Expo.
The expo featured vendors who were targeting veterans for employment. Proceeds from the vendors’ fees to participate were earmarked for the Air Force Enlisted Village.
The Enlisted Village found a few prospects for the 10 openings it has, said Human Resource Director Sharon Behenke.
“We love to employ military families because our residents are military,” Behenke said. “I got a lot of good contacts from this event.”
Veteran Allen Eichenberg drove from Mossy Head to apply for positions in the mechanical field.
“I’m tired of selling auto parts,” he said.
Vendors included colleges from around the country and employers such as Northrop Grumman, ManTech and Lockheed Martin.
Six months away from retirement, Chief Master Sgt. Kenny Trawick was attending his first job expo to put out a few feelers.
“I was expecting a lot more vendors,” Trawick said as he stood at end of a long line of Northrop Grumman hopefuls.
The event normally attracts an average of 30 vendors, although only 20 made it this year.
“Because it’s so early in the year, we’re probably a few vendors short,” said Clifford “Scoop” Davis, executive director of the Non-Commissioned Officers Association. “But the quality of the vendors we do have are fantastic.”
AAR Corp., an aerospace and defense company on hand, had 500 jobs to fill, Davis said.
The vendors said they were impressed with the applicant pool.
Kelly Gaskell, University of Oklahoma’s site director for advanced programs outreach at Hurlburt Field, said the school was participating in the expo for the first time, but that it would not be the last.
“This one is really dynamic. There are a lot of career-minded, qualified, motivated job seekers at this type of event,” Gaskell said.
Oklahoma’s outreach program has 40 offices — 30 of them in Europe — to cater to military members. Gaskell said she has nearly 300 students at Hurlburt.
Trawick found a few prospects.
“Believe it or not, the most promising was the Waffle House,” he said.
