Job fair for veterans held at Globe Life Park

No veteran looking for work left Globe Life Park in Arlington empty handed on Monday at a job fair designed to help those who served.

While most job fairs are held inside hotel ballrooms, Hiring Our Heroes has found veterans are more likely to turn out at non-traditional venues – like baseball stadiums.

“We definitely find attendance at these events to be overwhelmingly positive,” said Andrea Hutchins, Hiring Our Heroes. The group puts on job fairs, like the one on Monday, all around the country.

“Veteran unemployment was near recession levels. it was really a turning point in the country when they realized veteran unemployment rate was skyrocketing. Back in 2011 a number of companies got together and committed to hiring 500,000 veterans in five years.  They beat that goal in two years,” Hutchins said.

Now the veteran unemployment rate is no longer higher than the national average, so hiring our heroes has set a new goal.

“We have made a commitment to hire 100,000 military spouses by 2021,” Hutchins said.

Pat Wible, like a lot of veterans, is working to see how his military skills can translate into the corporate world. In the international guard he was a jet engine mechanic and also did non-destructive testing.

“I found someone in the pipe business that needs someone like me,” Wible said. “The training I got in the military would allow me to do those inspections.”

In addition to job contacts, job seekers received tickets to Monday night’s Texas Rangers game.