Dover Air Force Base-DE -- Dover Air Force Base hosted a free, three-day Transition Summit March 15 to 17 for service members, veterans and spouses to meet with potential employers and attend workshops at various locations on base.
The Transition Summit, sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, offered a 100-employer job fair, a photographer providing LinkedIn profile photos, opportunities for job preparation and interview coaching, panel discussions, motivational speakers, workshops and a networking reception. The hiring fair was a chance for employers and potential employees to meet for the first time.
“You should never stop looking; there are always opportunities; and, there’s always potential that you’ll find your next employee at a job fair by walking around,” said Tech. Sgt. James Harrison, an inspection planner with the 512th Airlift Wing, who was at the event both personal and professional business. “Always have your next step prepared; always be looking for that next level - that next progression. Whether it’s an industry change, a job change or a promotion opportunity, you should never stop preparing for the next step.”
Harrison, who has a 15-year career in healthcare operational leadership, used the job fair to explore other industries and potentially recruit members to his own team in the civilian sector.
“I’ve had the opportunity to meet some amazing people and get contact information, create some additional network growth in my own personal and professional network and hopefully something develops out of this event, so I can continue in my personal career,” said Harrison, who supervises a team of 300 members throughout 14 facilities and seven states.
“Employers love veterans,” said Harrison. “Veterans are instilled with a set of core values and a sense of purpose and duty, that sense of service and knowledge of basic instructions on how to perform, how to act and how to be not only a worker and subordinate, but also a leader both formal and informal.”
Some veterans were looking to jump-start a career; others were looking for a transition from the military.
“I’m about 14 months out from retiring from my current position, and I’m not ready to hang it up just yet,” said Chief Master Sgt. Larry Reed, the C-5M Super Galaxy loadmaster superintendent with the 709th Airlift Squadron. “I wanted to see what opportunities are out there now and start getting smart on the things I need to know to prepare for a smooth transition.”
Reed, an air reserve technician, who supports the Air Force Reserve mission full-time, will have more than 36 years of service when he retires but says he is still too young to ‘call it a day.’
“It doesn’t hurt to see what else is out there or see if there’s an opportunity that suits what you’re looking for,” said Reed. “Maybe there’s a location that is more desirable for your plans, maybe it’s an industry you were looking for in the past and now it’s become available, or maybe there is something out there that may work out better for your family than what you’re doing now.”
The fair also offered opportunities for people who may not be transitioning right now.
“You don’t have to be in the transitioning time frame to take advantage of what is available,” said Laura Kantor-Chupp, Community Partnership Program manager with the 436th Mission Support Group. “Think of it as you are a civilian in training, and this is a time to reach out and learn about what is available for when you are ready to make that decision.”
The job fair was a key event for the three-day summit, but service members also benefits from other events.
“I got the most out of the online resume builder session and the LinkedIn workshop that Hiring Our Heroes ran,” said Reed.
He was looking forward to using the free one-year LinkedIn Premium subscription that is available to all military veterans. He said the summit was a great transition step and thinks it would help others.
“I would encourage folks to be on the lookout for the transition summit in the future.”